Sam Clayton (born March 30, 1952) is an American singer and percussionist, primarily focusing on drums, conga and djembe, throughout his musical career. He is best known as a supporting vocalist and percussionist with the American rock band Little Feat since 1972.
As a young man, he was influenced by R&B music, and gospel music. He is the brother of singer Merry Clayton and the brother-in-law of jazz flautist and saxophonist Curtis Amy.
After seeing Lester Horton and the modern dancers, "Zapata", he was enthralled by the conga player. However, it wasn't until a chance opportunity to sit in with a house band for a song on the congas at a farewell dinner, just as he was laid off from his employment in electro-mechanical engineering drafting, that Clayton was offered the chance to join a band and play.[2] Clayton played for a short time with Little Richard, and says he was inspired by "what Mongo Santamaría was doing with Cal Tjader".[2]
Little Featedit
Clayton was introduced to Little Feat, an eclectic band drenched in Southern rhythms, funk, jazz, and rock and roll, by his friend Kenny Gradney with whom he had played behind Delaney & Bonnie, and who was to replace original bassist Roy Estrada. Gradney recommended Clayton to the band as he knew both men needed work following Delaney & Bonnie's split up following their divorce and guitarist Paul Barrere also joined the line-up, thus expanding the band to a sextet.
Sam made his debut with Little Feat on their third album Dixie Chicken in 1973. He also played congas on Bonnie Raitt's 1977 song, "Sweet Forgiveness", on her album of the same name. As time went on, his vocal talents as well as his percussion came to the fore, which gave the band a funkier sound.[3] Although he rarely sang lead vocals, his scat-influenced bass vocals were strongly in evidence on tracks like "Rock 'n' Roll Doctor" from Feats Don't Fail Me Now. His first lead vocal with the group was "Feel The Groove" from Down on the Farm in 1979 but the band broke up shortly afterwards and the subsequent death of founder Lowell George meant they did not reform until 1987.
Clayton with Little Feat; June 2008
When Little Feat re-grouped Sam's voice became even more evident on songs like "The Ingenue" (from Representing the Mambo) and "Romance Without Finance" and "That's A Pretty Good Love" (from Ain't Had Enough Fun). He also sings the Lowell George classic "Spanish Moon" at Little Feat's live shows.
clayton, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, from, article, talk, pag. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Sam Clayton news newspapers books scholar JSTOR February 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Sam Clayton born March 30 1952 is an American singer and percussionist primarily focusing on drums conga and djembe throughout his musical career He is best known as a supporting vocalist and percussionist with the American rock band Little Feat since 1972 Sam ClaytonClayton outside the 9 30 Club in Washington DCBackground informationBorn 1952 03 30 30 March 1952 age 71 GenresAlternative country Alternative rock blues folkOccupation s Musiciansongwriterrecord producerInstrument s Vocals percussion 1 WebsiteLittle Feat com Contents 1 History 2 Little Feat 3 Session work 4 Discography 5 References 6 External linksHistory editAs a young man he was influenced by R amp B music and gospel music He is the brother of singer Merry Clayton and the brother in law of jazz flautist and saxophonist Curtis Amy After seeing Lester Horton and the modern dancers Zapata he was enthralled by the conga player However it wasn t until a chance opportunity to sit in with a house band for a song on the congas at a farewell dinner just as he was laid off from his employment in electro mechanical engineering drafting that Clayton was offered the chance to join a band and play 2 Clayton played for a short time with Little Richard and says he was inspired by what Mongo Santamaria was doing with Cal Tjader 2 Little Feat editClayton was introduced to Little Feat an eclectic band drenched in Southern rhythms funk jazz and rock and roll by his friend Kenny Gradney with whom he had played behind Delaney amp Bonnie and who was to replace original bassist Roy Estrada Gradney recommended Clayton to the band as he knew both men needed work following Delaney amp Bonnie s split up following their divorce and guitarist Paul Barrere also joined the line up thus expanding the band to a sextet Sam made his debut with Little Feat on their third album Dixie Chicken in 1973 He also played congas on Bonnie Raitt s 1977 song Sweet Forgiveness on her album of the same name As time went on his vocal talents as well as his percussion came to the fore which gave the band a funkier sound 3 Although he rarely sang lead vocals his scat influenced bass vocals were strongly in evidence on tracks like Rock n Roll Doctor from Feats Don t Fail Me Now His first lead vocal with the group was Feel The Groove from Down on the Farm in 1979 but the band broke up shortly afterwards and the subsequent death of founder Lowell George meant they did not reform until 1987 nbsp Clayton with Little Feat June 2008When Little Feat re grouped Sam s voice became even more evident on songs like The Ingenue from Representing the Mambo and Romance Without Finance and That s A Pretty Good Love from Ain t Had Enough Fun He also sings the Lowell George classic Spanish Moon at Little Feat s live shows Session work editLike other members of Little Feat Clayton is also a respected session musician and has played with Duane Allman Jimmy Barnes Jimmy Buffett Valerie Carter Freddie King Robert Palmer Bonnie Raitt Bob Seger and Travis Tritt among others Sam was a member of Jimmy Buffett s Coral Reefer Band for the tours from 1982 to 1988 Discography editThis section is empty You can help by adding to it July 2010 References edit Sam Clayton Credits AllMusic a b Band Bios Sam Clayton Official Little Feat Website Little Feat copyright 2009 Retrieved July 4 2009 Erlewine Stephen Thomas Biography Little Feat AllMusic Retrieved July 4 2009 External links editComplete discography at the official Little Feat website Sam Clayton at AllMusic Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sam Clayton amp oldid 1162464153, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
