David Thomas Clayton [Import]

David Clayton-Thomas | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 3, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Repertoire
• ASIN: B000EJ9M0Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,295 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Magnificent Sanctuary Band

2. We're All Meat From The Same Bone

3. Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord

4. Dying To Live

5. Sing A Song

6. She

7. Don't Let It Bring You Down

8. Once Burned North Beach Racetrack

9. Caress Me Pretty Music

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered edition of Clayton-Thomas' solo album released just after his departure as lead vocalist of Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1972. His solo sound does not deviate much from that with his former compadres (many of whom appear on these sessions). The difference was that Clayton-Thomas was in charge of this project and chose the songs and decided the arrangements himself for the most personal musical statement he could make.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "...Why Am I Fighting To Live...If I'm Just Living To Fight...", February 8, 2009

By 

Mark Barry, Reckless Records, London (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: David Thomas Clayton (Audio CD)

Surrey-born David Thomsett moved with his Canadian-born father & musical English mum back to the suburbs of Toronto when he was just a 6 year-old child. Hot-blooded and driven, he left home at 14, waded through reformatories, farm jobs and bar bands until he finally hit pay dirt with Blood Sweat & Tears in 1968. By the time he was 30 (and with his name changed), Clayton-Thomas was ready to release his 1972 debut solo LP - and having fronted the mighty Blood, Sweat & Tears as it's funky and fantastic vocalist - it was simply more of the same. This March 2006 Repertoire CD reissue is a straightforward remaster of that album.

Co-produced by B, S & T buddies BOBBY COLOMBY and JOEL SILL, it was released in April 1972 on CBS S 64755 in the UK and Columbia KC 31000 in the USA. Packaged in a card digipak, it mimics the original gatefold sleeve of the vinyl LP and has an 8-page inlay with liner notes by noted British writer CHRIS WELCH.

Here's a detailed breakdown (33:50 minutes):
1. Magnificent Sanctuary Band [Dorsey Burnette cover]
(featuring Mike Deasy & David Cohen on Guitars with Clydie King & Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)
2. We're All Meat From The Same Bone [Gary Zekley song]
(featuring Steve Cropper of Booker T & The MG's on Guitar with Bobby Colomby of Blood, Sweat & Tears on Tambourine)
3. Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord [Paul Kelly cover]
(featuring Paul Cannon with Steve Cropper on Guitars, Jay Spell on Keyboards with Clydie King and Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)
4. Dying To Live [Edgar Winter cover]
(Arranged & Conducted by Klaus Ogerman, it also features Hugh McCracken & Sal DiTroia on Guitars, Frank Owens on Piano with the Strings Arranged by Julie Held)
5. Sing A Song [Gary Wright cover (formerly with Spooky Tooth)]
(featuring Mike Deasy & David Cohen on Guitars with Clydie King & Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)
6. She [writers Gram Parsons and Christ Etheridge/Flying Burrito Brothers cover]
(featuring duet vocals with Patricia Holloway, Hugh McCracken and Sal DiTroia on Guitars with Frank Owens on Piano)
7. Don't Let It Bring You Down [Neil Young cover]
(arranged and conducted by Jimmy Guiffre, Various Brass Players with Bobby Colomby on Drums)
8. Once Burned [Todd Rundgren cover]
(featuring Mike Deasy & David Cohen on Guitars with Clydie King & Vanetta Fields on Backing Vocals)
9. North Beach Racetrack [David Clayton-Thomas song]
(features guitars by Steve Cropper, Paul Cannon and David Clayton-Thomas with Jay Spell on Piano and Drums by Richie Simpson)
10. Caress Me Pretty Music [Anita O'Day cover]
(featuring Paul Griffin on Guitar with Bobby Colomby on Drums)

Highlights are Edgar Winter's post-Woodstock anti-war anthem "Dying To Live" which is given a powerful rendition with strings that strengthen the melody and message rather than drown it (lyrics above). The "After The Gold Rush" classic of "Don't Let It Bring You Down" by Neil Young is also treated to a strange solitary French Horn opening that really works - it takes a good song and moves it to somewhere different - very cool. But the real peach here is his gorgeous vocal to Gram Parson's much-covered "She. Clayton-Thomas does it more than justice - he almost makes it his own. His lone "daddy was a junkie..." song about his favourite haunt "North Beach Racetrack" is a funky-as-f**k guitar romp where he roars a B, S & T mannerism "...tell the truth boy!" It's excellent and features slick guitar work from all three, Paul Cannon, Steve Cropper and Thomas himself.

The sound is superb throughout, punchy and vibrant. There is hiss on some of the quieter songs like "Once Burned", but it's not too much to detract.

A niggle would be that the writers for "Dying To Live" and "Sing A Song" are wrongly credited in the booklet (their corrected above), but apart from that - this is a great reissue of a criminally forgotten Seventies gem. Clayton-Thomas went on to make two more albums during the period - "Tequila Sunrise" in 1973 and "Harmony Junction" in 1974. They're available elsewhere.

I've always had a soft spot for Blood, Sweat & Tears and anything that sounds like them. Check out the funky and righteous cover of Paul Kelly's "Stealin' In The Name Of The Lord" (it was a minor hit in 1970 on Happy Tiger Records) or the gorgeous cover of "She" - you'll be hooked.

A good reissue - recommended.