Lee Clayton (born Billy Hugh Shotts; October 29, 1942June 12, 2023) was an American songwriter and musician. He notably wrote

Waylon Jennings Waylon Arnold Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is considered one of the pioneers of the Outlaw country, outlaw movement in country music. Jennings started playing ...

' 1972 outlaw country song "Ladies Love Outlaws".

Biography

Clayton grew up in

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

and began to play

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

at the age of seven. At nine years old, he received his first

steel guitar A steel guitar () is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conventional guitar i ...

.Christian Graf, Uwe Wohlschläger: Rock Musik Lexikon (German) – Taurus Press After serving in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

he moved to

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

in 1968 and began his career as a songwriter. In 1972 he wrote "Ladies Love Outlaws" for

. In 1973 he released his first album simply titled ''Lee Clayton'', with which, as Clayton would later say, he was very dissatisfied. In the following years he continued his songwriting. He wrote songs like "Lone Wolf" for

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He also wrote t ...

and "If You Could Touch Her at All" also for

. In 1978 his second album, ''Border Affair'', was released. It was critically acclaimed but became a flop at the charts. His most successful album was 1979's ''Naked Child''. The songs' style was reminiscent of

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and the single, "I Ride Alone", became very notable. In 1979, he went on a big world tour, which became a huge success. In 1981 he released his fourth studio album, ''The Dream Goes On'', which had a harder sound than his previous work. After that he published two autobiographical books and, in 1990, he released a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

entitled ''Another Night'', which was recorded on September 9, 1988, at the Cruise Cafe,

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway. Also in 1990, The Highwaymen, an outlaw country supergroup comprising

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

, had a minor hit with a song of his, " Silver Stallion", which had previously appeared on ''Border Affair'' (1978). In 1994, he released the album ''Spirit of the Twilight''.

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. Born in ...

also covered "Silver Stallion" on the 2008 cover album ''

Jukebox A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that plays a user-selected song from a self-contained media library. Traditional jukeboxes contain records, compact discs, or digital files, and allow user ...

''. In 2008 a new acoustic song "We The People" was 'released' on YouTube.

Discography

*1973: ''Lee Clayton'', MCA *1978: ''Border Affair'', Capitol *1979: ''Naked Child'', Capitol *1981: ''The Dream Goes On'', Capitol *1990: ''Tequila is Addictive'' (4 track CD maxi single), Provogue *1990: ''Another Night (live)'', Provogue *1994: ''Spirit of the Twilight'', Provogue *2014: ''Live at Rockpalast'' (1980), Repertoire

Compilations/reissues

*1995: ''Border Affair/Naked Child'' 2^ & 3^ LP on CD Edsel Records UK *1996: ''Lee Clayton'' 1^ LP on CD Edsel Records UK *1996: ''Border Affair/Naked Child'' 2^ & 3^ LP on CD Edsel (edel) *2002: ''The Essential 1978–1981'' Repertoire *2003: ''Border Affair/Naked Child'' 2^ & 3^ LP on CD *2005: ''The Essential 1978–1981'' Smd Reper (Sony BMG) *2006: ''Lee Clayton'' 1^ LP on CD Evangeline (Soulfood Music) *2008: ''Border Affair-The Capitol Years'' 2^,3^ & 4^ LP on 2CD (Acadia/Evangeline)

Chart songs as a songwriter

* #25 on Billboard: "Silver Stallion" played by The Highwaymen (Nelson/Jennings/Cash/Kristofferson)

990 Year 990 ( CMXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Al-Mansur, Chancellor and effective ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (modern Portugal), expanding t ...

Notes

In the sleeve note of his album ''Another Night'' (1990) there's mention of U2's Bono saying that the only country singer that has influenced him was a pretty well unknown fellow named Lee Clayton.

References

External links

The Official Lee Clayton Website: LeeClaytonOnline.com
*

Allmusic entry AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

br>Lee Clayton's discography & bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Lee 1942 births 2023 deaths American country guitarists American country rock singers American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters American male singer-songwriters People from Russellville, Alabama Guitarists from Alabama 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from Alabama 20th-century American male musicians Outlaw country singers Progressive country musicians Provogue Records artists Singer-songwriters from Alabama