Most people can’t stand country music, and I was one of those people. That was before I heard about Lee Clayton. Later, I got into other famous “outlaw country” artists like Johnny Cash, Tom Rush, Waylon Jennings… and they all have covered Lee Clayton’s music!<\/p>\n
Lee Clayton (born Billy Hugh Shotts, October 29, 1942, in Russellville, Alabama, died: \u2013 June 12, 2023, Whitehouse, Tennesee)<\/p>\n
Lee Clayton is not the most famous country music artist (endorsed by Bono from U2), but many people have heard his songs through other well-known artists like those mentioned above. Lee Clayton’s background is also pretty interesting: He first started to play harmonica and guitar at the age of 7, encouraged by his father (a country music fan), and received his first steel guitar at the age of 9. He also took guitar lessons. After just one year of playing the guitar, young Clayton got to play a radio gig on the “Saturday Night Radio Show,” where he played “Steel Guitar Rag” by Leon McAuliffe. Not long after this, young Lee took a break from playing the guitar.<\/p>\n
At the age of 16, Lee Clayton started playing the guitar again. Just before he graduated from college, he got married, and it was time to put the guitar down again. Clayton got a regular job and was ready to settle down. Shortly after, he felt that his life was boring, so he decided to take some flight lessons to fill the gap in his life. Within a year, he had divorced from his wife and joined the U.S. Air Force as a trainee pilot in 1965. After working three years as a pilot, it was time to get back to music again.<\/p>\n
Clayton began writing songs and hanging out in Nashville, Tennessee. According to Lee Clayton, he started to make music professionally in September 1969. His first taste of success came in 1972 when Waylon Jennings recorded his song “Ladies Love Outlaws,” a song that later gave the name to the whole outlaw country movement. Lee Clayton’s self-titled debut album “Lee Clayton” (MCA) was released in 1973. The debut album wasn’t a huge sales success, but it got nice reviews from the music critics. From 1973 to 1975, he lived fast, and it was time to take a break. In 1975, he moved to the desert in Joshua Tree, California. When his own career was on ice, there was plenty of time to write songs for other musicians like Waylon Jennings, Tom Rush, Willie Nelson…<\/p>\n
In 1976, it was time to move back to Tennessee and start making his second album. In 1977, Clayton landed a new record deal with Capitol Records. His second album, Border Affair<\/em>, was released in 1978, and his third album, Naked Child<\/em>, followed in 1979. Naked Child<\/em> was a little darker compared to his previous album, and Naked Child<\/em> is the album where Philip Donelly’s guitar work really shines. (Notes: If you like Bruce Springsteen’s album Darkness on the Edge of Town<\/em> (1978), you’re going to love both of these albums.)<\/p>\n Lee Clayton: I Ride Alone
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