Clara McDaniel (born November 26, 1948) is an American blues singer and songwriter. She released her debut album, ''Unwanted Child'', in 1997 and has worked with notable blues musicians including

Albert King Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps best known for his popular and ...

, Tommy Bankhead, Bobby Bland,

Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his List of number-one R&B singles of 1965 (U.S.), number-one R&B single "We're Gonna Ma ...

Oliver Sain Oliver Sain Jr. (March 1, 1932 – October 28, 2003) was an American saxophone, saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer, who was an important figure in the development of rhythm and blues music, notably in St Louis, Mi ...

, and

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

Life and career

McDaniel was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

, United States, and raised in a musical family. Her uncle, Dusty Brown, played the harmonica and recorded for

Parrot Records Parrot Records was an American record label, a division of London Records, which started in 1964. The label usually licensed (or leased) recordings made by Decca Records, England, for release in the United States and Canada, most notably by th ...

in the 1950s, releasing a single "Yes She's Gone" b/w "He Don't Love You" (Parrot 820). She sang and played the piano at her local church. She moved with her family in 1966 to St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, and here as a teenager McDaniel met

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

. Her musical education continued as she frequented a string of

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s including Ned Love's, Club Caravan, Cass, and Dynaflow at Glasgow. She performed alongside Big Bad Smitty and Big George at Club Caravan, but more significantly for her future career, she teamed up with

at Ned Love's. This led to her touring with King in the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

in the 1970s. When McDaniel returned home she managed King's fleet of taxicabs. She later performed with Tommy Bankhead, Bobby Bland,

, and

among others. Over that period she had to combine two or three jobs, with her singing being mainly restricted to weekends. Billed as Big Clara and the Magnatones, she performed at the St. Louis Blues Festival and, in 1995, appeared at the Blues Estafette in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

as part of a European tour. In 1997, McDaniel recorded her debut album, ''Unwanted Child'', which was released on HighTone Records. It followed a family tragedy, as her husband and the keyboard player in her backing band, the Magnatones, Albert "Falstaff" Foster, (1941–1997) had died earlier the same year. McDaniel subsequently moved to

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, where she gave birth to twins. Her maternal instincts extended to becoming a foster mother for many children, some of whom she adopted. '' Blues & Rhythm'', a monthly British-based blues magazine, named McDaniel 'Discovery of the Year', and in 1998, she was nominated as '' Living Blues'' 'Female Blues Artist of the Year'.

Discography

Albums

References

External links

1998 interview with McDaniel
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDaniel, Clara 1948 births Living people African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American blues singers Electric blues musicians People from Pontiac, Michigan 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers Singer-songwriters from Michigan

Life and career

Discography

Albums

See also

References

External links