Doctor Clayton (born Peter Joe Clayton; April 19, 1898 – January 7, 1947) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer and songwriter.

Biography

Clayton was born in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(though he claimed he had been born in Africa) and moved to

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

as a child with his family. He had four children and worked in a factory in St. Louis, where he started his career as a singer (he could also play the piano and the

ukulele The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...

but never did so on record). Clayton recorded six sides for

Bluebird Records Bluebird Records is an American record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of children's music, blues, jazz and swing in the 1930s and 1940s. Bluebird was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebi ...

in 1935, but only two were issued. Clayton's entire family died in a

house fire A structure fire is a fire involving the structural components of various types of residential, commercial or industrial buildings, such as barn fires. Residential buildings range from single-family detached homes and townhouses to apartments an ...

in 1937; following this he became an alcoholic and began wearing outsized hats and glasses. To pursue his music career, Clayton moved to Chicago with Robert Lockwood, and he received attention from

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, thanks to a helpful recommendation from another musician,

Charley Jordan Charley Jordan (July 11, 1890 – November 15, 1954) was an American St. Louis blues singer, songwriter and guitarist, as well as a talent scout, originally from Mabelvale, Arkansas, United States. He was known for a unique style that drew on ...

. Ultimately Clayton returned to Bluebird, recording with Lockwood, the bassist Robert (Ransom) Knowling, the pianist

Blind John Davis Blind John Davis (December 7, 1913 – October 12, 1985) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. He is best remembered for his recordings, including "A Little Every Day" and "Everybody's Boogie". Biography Davis was born in ...

, and

Lester Melrose Lester Franklin Melrose (December 14, 1891 – April 12, 1968) was a talent scout who was one of the first American producers of Chicago blues records. Career Lester Franklin Melrose was born in Sumner, Illinois, the second of six childr ...

, in 1941–42. He also recorded for

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

at this time. Among the songs he

wrote Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

were "Cheating and Lying Blues", frequently

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by other blues artists; "Pearl Harbor Blues", written after the

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

bombing of 1941; and "Moonshine Women Blues", which became a

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from ''Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization i ...

for

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

under the name "The Woman I Love" in 1968. He recorded again in 1946, recording the tunes "Hold That Train, Conductor" and "I Need My Baby", which were also both covered by B.B. King. Most of his later recordings featured

on piano. He was a regional sales success and played regularly in Chicago

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 with Lockwood and

Sunnyland Slim Albert Luandrew (September 5, 1906March 17, 1995), "Blues pianist and singer Sunnyland Slim was born Albert Luandrew in Vance, Mississippi, September 5, 1906 (most sources say 1907, but the Social Security Death Index and 1920 census data give t ...

. Attesting to his companion's popularity, Slim worked as "Dr. Clayton's Buddy" in his debut recording session, in 1947. In the same year, Willie "Long Time" Smith recorded, "My Buddy Doctor Clayton". Clayton died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

on January 7, 1947, in Chicago.

Big Bill Broonzy Big Bill Broonzy (born Lee Conley Bradley; June 26, 1893 or 1903August 14, 1958) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His career began in the 1920s, when he played country music to mostly African-American audiences. In the 19 ...

and

Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was an American Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago ...

attended his funeral. He was buried at

Restvale Cemetery Restvale Cemetery is in Alsip, Illinois, United States, a suburb southwest of the city of Chicago. A number of Chicago blues musicians, educators, and notable people are buried there. Restvale and Burr Oak were the last two historically black ce ...

in Alsip, Illinois.

Document Records Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Bl ...

released all of Clayton's output recorded between 1935 and 1942 on one CD. Old Tramp Records released the remaining 1946 recordings.

Discography

*''Doctor Clayton & His Buddy: Pearl Harbour Blues'' (Camden/RCA International, 1970) *''Gotta Find My Baby'' (Bluetime/Swingtime, 1987) *''Doctor Clayton and His Buddy (1935–1947)'' (DA Music, 1989) -with

*''Complete Recorded Works (1935–1942)'' (Document, 1993) *''Doctor Clayton & His Buddies: Complete Recordings 1946 & 1947'' (Old Tramp, 1994) -with Sunnyland Slim, Willie "Long Time" Smith *''Angels in Harlem'' (

P-Vine P-Vine Records is an independent record label based in Tokyo, Japan. History It was started in 1976 by Blues Interactions, a firm founded in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi, as a record label focused on black music. The label name ...

, 1999)

References

External links

Discography
at Wirz.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Doctor 1898 births 1947 deaths American blues singers Songwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) RCA Victor artists 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Illinois 20th-century American singers Burials at Restvale Cemetery 20th-century American songwriters