Been diggin’ some Merry Clayton lately. Out of all of her stuff (LPs that is), from what I’ve heard “Gimme Shelter” is the one. Clayton sung back-up on the original Rolling Stones version – although there still are rumors that it was Bonnie Bramlett, but these I believe to be false, and she’s also rumored to have miscarried because of the intensity of her performance. She did a bunch of studio and live work with folks such as Ray Charles, Neil Young, tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Elvis Presley, Phil Ochs and Lynyrd Skynyrd (?!). After the Stones version of “Gimme Shelter” came out, she recorded her own, and she named her first solo record after the track.
The LP has a bunch of covers that sort of seem unlikely today, but definitely reflect the era in which they were recorded: Simon and Garfunkle, the Doors, the Stones. The song "Country Road" is not, fortunately, a John Denver cover. I dunno if some of the others on the LP are covers, but what I do know is in a lot of them she brings the same intensity that she did when recording for the Stones. She’s putting her all into this shit, her voice strains and cracks, which is the kind of stuff that would be mixed out and redone, but here it adds to the power. It’s got a kind of Janis Joplin feel.
She did some acting later on (Cagney and Lacey, Maid to Order), and some other songs that went kinda big (“Yes” from Dirty Dancing), but it’s this one that I think kills.
First track of the LP...
Final track of the LP...
Stones song...
Doors song...
And her most famous song, off of her next record. Dig it!
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