Paul Clayton (born Paul Clayton Worthington; March 3, 1931 – March 30, 1967) was an American folksinger and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

who was prominent in the

folk music revival A roots revival (folk revival) is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly composed songs with socially and politically aware lyr ...

of the 1950s and 1960s. Clayton earned a master's degree in folklore at the University of Virginia in 1957, where he specialized in traditional music, primarily

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

sea shanties A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a sp ...

and

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

as well as Appalachian songs. He became interested in the first of these as a youngster and began playing guitar as a teen. While attending college, he expanded his interests to include the music of Virginia and the surrounding states. Within a short time after leaving college, he began recording. His first releases were for a small specialty record company, but in 1956 he joined

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, the day's leading folk music label. He recorded six solo albums for Folkways from 1956 to 1958, issued albums for a few specialty labels, moved to another prominent folk label,

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the ...

, for two albums in 1958–59, and collaborated with artists such as

Jean Ritchie Jean Ruth Ritchie (December 8, 1922 – June 1, 2015) was an American folk singer, songwriter, and Appalachian dulcimer player, called by some the "Mother of Folk". In her youth she learned hundreds of folk songs in the traditional way (orally, ...

and Dave Van Ronk on other releases. He made his last recording in 1965. As much a scholar as a musician, Clayton began collecting songs at a young age in his hometown of

New Bedford New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast (Massachusetts), South Coast region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, New Bedford had a ...

, Massachusetts. At the university, he studied under a professor who was a leading folklorist. Soon he was combing the hills and valleys of Virginia and surrounding states for songs that formed the region's musical heritage. In making

field recording Field recording is the production of audio recordings outside recording studios, and the term applies to recordings of both natural and human-produced sounds. It can also include the recording of electromagnetic fields or vibrations using diff ...

s, he "discovered"

Etta Baker Etta Baker (March 31, 1913 – September 23, 2006) was an American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer from North Carolina. Early life and career She was born Etta Lucille Reid in Caldwell County, North Carolina, of African-American, Native A ...

and

Hobart Smith Hobart Smith (May 10, 1897—January 11, 1965) was an American old-time musician. He was most notable for his appearance with his sister Texas Gladden on a series of Library of Congress recordings in the 1940s and his later appearances at ...

, homespun musicians who have come to be regarded as all-time greats. Clayton became a prominent figure in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

folk scene in New York City during the early 1960s. He was close with artists such as Dave Van Ronk and

Liam Clancy Liam Clancy (; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They achi ...

and was also a mentor and friend 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 ...

during the first years of Dylan's career. A song Clayton wrote was allegedly "borrowed" by Dylan in 1962 as the basis for one of his most famous tunes, "

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1962 and released the following year on his album '' The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'' and as the B-side of the single " Blowin' in the Wind". The song has been covered by several ot ...

". The resulting

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

s by their record companies were settled out of court, and the two remained friends for several years afterwards. Clayton was beset with personal problems in his mid-30s, including frustrations with his career, doubts arising from his homosexuality,

manic depression Bipolar disorder (BD), previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that each last from days to weeks, and in some cases months. If the elevated m ...

drug abuse Substance misuse, also known as drug misuse or, in older vernacular, substance abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods that are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder, differing definitions ...

, and a related arrest. He died by suicide in 1967.

Early years

Clayton was born Paul Clayton Worthington in

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

, in 1931, during the early years of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. His parents, Clayton Worthington and Adah (Hardy), were married four years before, and Paul was to be their only child. Despite the hard economic times, his father was comfortably employed as a salesman with a national company, where he eventually would become an executive. The Worthingtons lived with Adah's parents in the West End of New Bedford, a prosperous New England seaport. Paul's parents, however, were both highly charged, Adah especially, and they fought whenever her husband returned home after days on the road. Less than four years following Paul's birth, they divorced. Clayton and his mother continued to live with her parents, Charles and Elizabeth Hardy, and his introduction to music came early. His parents both played musical instruments, though casually, his father the

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

and his mother the piano. His grandparents would be an even greater influence. Charles Hardy sang songs he had picked up from

seafarers A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

and landlubbers alike, while Elizabeth contributed songs she grew up with in Canada's

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

. By his teen years, in the mid-1940s, Paul had learned to play guitar, performing traditional songs he learned from his grandparents as well as from folk music programs on the radio. He also hunted down standards from collections available at school and in his explorations, chanced upon a trove of original manuscripts of seafaring songs on a visit one day to the

New Bedford Whaling Museum The New Bedford Whaling Museum is a museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States that focuses on the history, science, art, and culture of the international whaling industry, and the colonial region of Old Dartmouth (now the city of New B ...

. Intrigued by the possibilities of using radio to bring traditional music to larger audiences, Clayton landed a weekly series of 15-minute folk programs on New Bedford's WFMR and later on WBSM. Besides writing and announcing his own material, he performed live, singing the traditional songs he had been collecting to his own guitar accompaniment. He was successful enough that the program was expanded to an hour per week. He was still only in high school.

Folklorist

After graduating in 1949, Clayton attended the University of Virginia, where hoped to gain a better grounding in musical scholarship. One of his professors was Arthur Kyle Davis, Jr., an eminent folklorist. Davis took three students under his wing, including Clayton, encouraging them to transcribe songs, write commentary, and tape the university's collection of deteriorating aluminum recordings. In 1950, Clayton's unusual musical background caught the attention of

Helen Hartness Flanders Helen Hartness Flanders (May 19, 1890 – May 23, 1972), a native of the U.S. state of Vermont, was an internationally recognized ballad collector and an authority on the folk music found in New England and the British Isles. At the initiati ...

, the wife of U.S. Senator

Ralph E. Flanders Ralph Edward Flanders (September 28, 1880 – February 19, 1970) was an American mechanical engineer, industrialist and politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the U.S. state, ...

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

and an internationally recognized folk music authority. Flanders showed up at Clayton's house one day with a tape recorder while he was home from college, and she recorded 11 of his songs. The roles had reversed. Now Clayton was the one being collected. "Clayton arrived at the University of Virginia in 1949 and studied with Arthur Kyle Davis Jr., a scholar of folksongs and author of 1929's ''Traditional Ballads of Virginia''. Later, as a graduate student, Clayton helped produce ''More Traditional Ballads of Virginia'', writing deeply researched headnotes and transcribing tapes buried in the archives of the Virginia Folklore Society." That same year he discovered a new instrument, the

Appalachian dulcimer The Appalachian dulcimer (many variant names; see below) is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, originally played in the Appalachian region of the United States. The body extends the length of t ...

. Seeking out traditional players in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, and Virginia, he learned a variety of styles, becoming more proficient on dulcimer than he was on guitar. Through the knowledge he had gathered on the instrument, he collaborated on a booklet, ''The Appalachian Dulcimer'', writing authoritatively on the subject. Meanwhile, he scoured the countryside for traditional players and songs. To help finance his field trips, he performed at colleges, schools, bars, and coffeehouses along the way. Around this time, Paul began using his father's name as his stage name. Clayton continued to assist in editing Davis's book ''More Traditional Ballads of Virginia'' (published 1960). He reported his research in a quarterly journal, ''Southern Folklore'', and for a time planned a book of his own, also on traditional Virginian songs, though the work never materialized.

Recordings

In 1952, Clayton recorded a tape of bluegrass material with a friend, musician

Bill Clifton Bill Clifton (born William August Marburg; April 5, 1931) is an American Bluegrass music, bluegrass musician and singer who is credited with having organized one of the first bluegrass festivals in the United States in 1961.Wolff, Duane 2000, p. ...

, and sent it off to

Stinson Records Stinson Records was an American record label formed by Herbert Harris and Irving Prosky in 1939, initially to market, in the US, recordings made in the Soviet Union. Between the 1940s and 1960s, it mainly issued recordings of American folk and b ...

in New York with the hopes of interesting the label in issuing an album. Stinson declined, but considered four tracks for

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. However, the sides went unissued. After college, Stinson put out Clayton's first album, ''Whaling Songs & Ballads'', which was released in cooperation with the

. Another Stinson release, ''Waters of Tyne'', followed, and over the next few years he recorded for a series of other relatively obscure labels, releasing ''Whaling and Sailing Songs'' on

Tradition Records Tradition Records was an American record label from 1955 to 1966 that specialized in folk music. The label was founded and financed by Guggenheim heiress Diane Hamilton (the pseudonym of Diane Guggenheim) in 1956. Its president and director was ...

and ''Wanted for Murder: Songs of Outlaws and Desperados'' and ''Bloody Ballads: British and American Murder Ballads'' on

Riverside Records Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riversid ...

, among others. Through his tireless efforts at promotion, Clayton developed many useful connections, one of which brought him to the attention of a small but highly significant record company,

. Folkways, led by Moe Asch, later recognized as the father of

World Music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

, specialized in traditional material of a wide range, from Inuit and Patagonian songs to ballads sung by Serbo-Croats and Bulgarians. The venue was perfect for the traditional music Clayton specialized in. Refocusing his attentions on the basics, he issued a series of albums for Folkways that brought together his grandfather's ballads and shanties with the rarities uncovered through his scholarly pursuits in Virginia. Four Clayton albums were released by Folkways in 1956 alone: his first, ''Bay State Ballads'', followed by ''Folk Songs and Ballads of Virginia'', ''Cumberland Mountain Folksongs'', and ''The Folkways-Viking Record of Folk Ballads of the English Speaking World''. The next year, Folkways put out two more Clayton releases, ''American Broadside Ballads in Popular Tradition'' and ''Dulcimer Songs and Solos''. In a span of just three years, he had recorded twelve albums. In 1958, Clayton switched labels again, moving over to Elektra, an eclectic label that also specialized in folk music. He recorded ''Unholy Matrimony'' that year with Bob Yellin backing him on banjo and the next year released ''Bobby Burns' Merry Muses of Caledonia''. His work was also featured in 1959 on the Folkways album ''Foc'sle Songs and Shanties'' with the Foc'sle Singers, whose members included Dave Van Ronk, Roger Abrahams, and Bob Brill. His stay at Elektra was short, and following his second release with the label, he joined Monument Records, a smaller outfit, where he issued an EP, a series of

and his final album, ''Paul Clayton, Folk Singer!'', in 1965. Clayton recorded the first nationally charted version of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land". The record (Monument 416) entered the Music Vendor pop chart 4/5/60, reaching No. 79 in a 4-week chart stay. Other significant recordings by Clayton included a collaboration with

Diane Hamilton Diane Hamilton was the pseudonym of Diane Guggenheim (1924–1991), an American mining heiress, folksong patron and founder of Tradition Records. Personal life The only child of millionaire Harry Frank Guggenheim, president of ''Newsday'' and onet ...

and

entitled ''Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians'', which featured field recordings of

, and other indigenous artists. In 1956, he joined with

and Richard Chase on ''American Folk Tales & Songs.'' He also recorded for the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, and tapes he made of Rev. Gary Davis and

Pink Anderson Pinkney "Pink" Anderson (February 12, 1900 – October 12, 1974) was an American blues singer and guitarist. Life and career Anderson was born in Laurens, South Carolina, and raised in nearby Greenville and Spartanburg. He joined Dr. William R ...

were used for the album ''American Street Songs'' on

Alleged plagiarism by Bob Dylan

's friendship with Clayton dates back to 1961, Dylan's first year in New York City. As a means to mend fences, Dylan traveled cross-country with Clayton and two other friends in 1964, during which they visited poet

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg w ...

, attended

Mardi Gras Mardi Gras (, ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and rendezvoused with

Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (, ; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing mo ...

in California. In an interview published as part of a history of Greenwich Village folk club

Gerde's Folk City Gerdes Folk City, sometimes spelled Gerde's Folk City, was a music venue in the West Village of Manhattan in New York City. Initially opened by owner Mike Porco as a restaurant called Gerdes, it eventually began to present occasional incidental m ...

, folk singer Barry Kornfeld described how Clayton's "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone)" morphed into Dylan's

: Dylan's and Clayton's publishing companies sued each other over the alleged

plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...

. As it turned out, Clayton's song was derived from an earlier folk song entitled "Who's Gonna Buy You Chickens When I'm Gone?", which was in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

. The

s, which were settled out of court, had little effect on the friendship between the two songwriters. In the notes to '' Biograph'' (1985), Dylan acknowledges that "'Don't Think Twice' was a riff that Paul laytonhad." He also credits Clayton for the melody line to "

Percy's Song "Percy's Song" is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded during the October 1963 sessions for Dylan's third album, '' The Times They Are A-Changin, but ultimately not included on that album. Dylan performed the song on stage at his Carneg ...

". In 1970, Dylan recorded "

Gotta Travel On "Gotta Travel On" is an American folksong. The earliest known version was printed in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag in 1927 under the title "Yonder Comes the High Sheriff" and several variations were recorded in the 1920s, but the best know ...

", a song copyrighted by Clayton, as the 14th track of his album ''

Self Portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

''.

Personal life

Clayton's sexual identity emerged during college. The university had an almost entirely male student body, and a

gay subculture Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures are subcultures and communities composed of people who have shared experiences, backgrounds, or interests due to common sexual or gender identities. Among the first to argue that members of sexual m ...

had existed there for many years. Due to the university's conservative values, it all remained closeted. Throughout his life Clayton remained closeted, only having a private romantic life. In February 1966, Paul and two friends were arrested in a federal drug raid on three houses in the university neighborhood in Charlottesville, VA. As he was arrested he is quoted as saying, "I'm much more concerned with Gingerbread (a song he was writing at the time) than marijuana." Although the raid produced an ounce of marijuana, the charges were dropped on March 14, 1967, against the 36-year-old Folklorist on the grounds of illegally obtained search warrants.

Suicide

Just a few days after his drug charge was dropped, on March 30, 1967, Clayton died by suicide at his apartment in New York, using an electric heater into his bathtub. He is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Discography

Albums

* 1954? ''Whaling Songs & Ballads'', Stinson Records * 1956? ''Waters of Tyne: English North Country Songs & Ballads'', Stinson Records * 1956 ''Bay State Ballads'',

* 1956 ''Folk Songs and Ballads of Virginia'', Folkways Records * 1956 ''Cumberland Mountain Folksongs'', Folkways Records * 1956 ''Viking Record of Folk Ballads of the English Speaking World'', Folkways Records * 1956 '' Whaling and Sailing Songs from the Days of Moby Dick'',

* 1956 ''Bloody Ballads: British and American Murder Ballads'',

* 195? ''Wanted for Murder: Songs of Outlaws and Desperados'', Riverside Records * 1957 ''American Broadside Ballads in Popular Tradition'', Folkways Records * 1957 ''Dulcimer Songs and Solos'', Folkways Records * 1957 ''American Songs of Revolutionary Times'', Olympic Records * 1958 ''Timber-r-r! Lumberjack Folk Songs & Ballads'', Riverside Records * 195? ''Concert of British and American Folksongs'', Riverside Records * 1958 ''Unholy Matrimony'',

* 1958 ''Bobby Burns' Merry Muses of Caledonia'', Elektra Records * 1959 ''Foc'sle Songs and Shanties'' (with The Foc'sle Singers), Folkways Records * 1961 ''Home-Made Songs & Ballads'',

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

* 1965 ''Paul Clayton: Folk Singer!'', Monument Records * 1975 ''

& Paul Clayton: The First Recordings, A Bluegrass Session, 1952'',

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History T ...

* 2008 ''Folk Singer & Sings Home Made Songs & Ballads'', Monument albums and singles, Bear Family Records

EP

* 1961 ''Home-Made Songs and Ballads'', Monument Records

Singles

* 1959 "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons (When I'm Gone)" (Clayton), Monument Records ::"This Land Is Your Land" ( Guthrie) * 1960 "Pharaoh's Army (Got Drownded) (Clayton), Monument Records ::"Pretty Peggy-O" (Clayton) * 1960 "Last Cigarette" (Clayton), Monument Records ::"So Long (It's Been Good to Know You)" (Clayton) * 1960 "So Long (It's Been Good to Know You)" (Clayton),

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

::" Wings of a Dove" ( Ferguson) * 1962 " Wings of a Dove" (Ferguson), Monument Records ::"The Convent at Ronda" (Clayton) * 1964 " Yellow Bird" (Monton, Durand), Monument Records ::"Kilgary Mountain" ( Gibson,

Camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

, Warner) * 1965 "

San Francisco Bay Blues "San Francisco Bay Blues" is an American folk song and is generally considered to be the most famous composition by Jesse Fuller. Fuller first recorded the song in 1954, which was released by the World Song label in 1955. A " one-man band" renditi ...

" ( Fuller), Monument Records ::"Green Rocky Road" (L. Chandler, Kaufman, arr. Van Ronk)

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Paul Clayton
The Bob Dylan Who's Who, expectingrain.com
Paul Clayton (1931–1967) Papers, 1937–1967 Manuscript Collection
Archives and Special Collections,

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth or UMassD) is a Public university, public research university in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. It is the southernmost campus of the University of Massachusetts system. Formerly "Southeas ...

Library
Paul Clayton Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Paul 1931 births 1967 deaths 1967 suicides 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American acoustic guitarists American folk guitarists American folk singers American folk-song collectors American gay musicians American LGBTQ singers American male guitarists Elektra Records artists Gay singers Guitarists from Connecticut LGBTQ people from Connecticut LGBTQ people from Massachusetts Monument Records artists Musicians from Manhattan People from Greenwich Village People with bipolar disorder Riverside Records artists Singers from Connecticut Suicides by electrocution Tradition Records artists University of Virginia alumni