On the death of David Clayton-Thomas: He was the king of rock baritones

To sharp brass sections, funky drums and a deep, rumbling bass, David Clayton-Thomas sings: „What goes up must come down / Spinnin’ wheel gotta go ‘round.“ His baritone sounds supple, at one point he flutters a vibrato like an opera hero. “Spinning Wheel,” written by Clayton-Thomas, reached number two on the Billboard charts and became a classic, covered by Sammy Davis Jr., Shirley Bassey and James Brown.

David Clayton-Thomas, born in Kingston upon Thames in 1941 as the son of a Canadian soldier and an English singer, grew up in Canada from 1945. He taught himself to play the guitar, worked from home, and was arrested for vagrancy. The blues influenced him just as much as working in a steel mill.

Clayton-Thomas moved to New York, became lead guitarist with John Lee Hooker and joined Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1968. The group, originally ten members, had been founded a year earlier in Manhattan by guitarist and Bob Dylan companion Al Kooper.

Those were psychedelic times. Rock collectives became fashionable. It was about opening yourself up to all kinds of experiences and breaking boundaries. The hippie-esque, jazz-oriented debut album „“Child is Father to the Man” was critically acclaimed but still flopped. Kooper and two other musicians left the band, and Clayton-Thomas took over his position as lead singer.

Break boundaries

The group achieved their breakthrough with the new vocalist and the second long-playing record, simply titled “Blood, Sweat & Tears”. Ten million records sold, two Grammys. The album was recorded in the New York scene club Cafe Au Go Go and is bursting with joy of experimentation.

It begins with variations on a theme by the French fin-de-siècle composer Erik Satie and repeatedly takes detours and byways. BS&T perform songs by Laura Nyro and Billie Holiday. The cover version of the soul ballad “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy”, carried by Clayton-Thomas’ longing voice, is stunning.

This is also due to the fact that BS&T had their own four-piece brass section. The band Chicago, then called Chicago Transit Authority, followed their example. In August 1969, Blood, Sweat & Tears played at the legendary Woodstock Festival. They performed on the third, heavily rained and particularly muddy day, between The Band, Johnny Winter and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

It was said to be a great, energetic gig. That’s what those who were there say. However, there is no recording of the event because cameramen and the recording team went on strike at short notice to demand better pay.

Crushed on Joni Mitchell

David Clayton-Thomas was inspired by Joni Mitchell for his centenary piece “Spinning Wheel”. He took the enigmatic lyric “Ride the painted pony” from their song “The Circle Game”. He knew the folk singer from Toronto and, according to his own statements, had a “crush”: he had a crush on Mitchell.

When the German producer Frank Farian plagiarized “Spinning Wheel” for the song “All Or Nothing” by the disco pop duo Milli Vanilli, which he created, in 1990, David Clayton-Thomas sued him. The two reached an out-of-court agreement on financial compensation.

After two more albums, Clayton-Thomas left Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1972. There had previously been quarrels between him and guitarist Steve Katz. “You can’t have nine superstars in a group. Mick and Keith, sure. John and Paul, good. But not nine,” the singer later told the Toronto Star. A solo career was largely unsuccessful.

„And when I die and when I’m gone / There’ll be one child born / In this world, carry on, to carry on“sings Clayton-Thomas in “And When I Die,” one of his most beautiful recordings. The wheel keeps turning, even when you leave this world.

David Clayton-Thomas died in Toronto on June 24th, his management announced. He was 84 years old.