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Otis Clay (born February 11, 1942 in Waxhaw, Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States) is an American R&B and soul singer, who started in gospel music. In 2013, Clay was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=2013 Blues Hall of Fame Inductees Announced )〕 ==Life and career== Clay was born in rural Bolivar County, Mississippi to a musical family, who moved in 1953 to Muncie, Indiana. After singing with local gospel group, the Voices of Hope, he returned to Mississippi to sing with the Christian Travelers, before settling in Chicago in 1957. There, he joined a series of gospel vocal groups including the Golden Jubilaires, the Famous Blue Jay Singers, the Holy Wonders, and the Pilgrim Harmonizers, before making his first solo secular recordings in 1962. They were unissued, and Clay joined the Gospel Songbirds, who recorded in Nashville in 1964 and who also included Maurice Dollison who sang R&B under the name Cash McCall, and then the Sensational Nightingales.〔( Biographical note at Blind Pig Records )〕 In 1965 Clay signed with One-derful! Records in Chicago, to make secular recordings.〔(Shades of Blue biography )〕 After releasing a series of gospel-tinged soul records, his first hit came in 1967 with "That's How It Is (When You're In Love)", which reached # 34 on the R&B chart, followed by "A Lasting Love" (# 48 R&B). In 1968 the record company folded and his contract was bought by Atlantic Records, who launched their subsidiary Cotillion label with Clay's version of the Sir Douglas Quintet hit, "She's About A Mover", produced at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. The record became Clay's biggest pop hit, reaching # 97 on the Hot 100 (# 47 R&B). However, follow-ups on Cotillion, including "Hard Working Woman" produced by Syl Johnson, and "Is It Over?" produced by Willie Mitchell in Memphis, were less successful.〔〔 Clay moved to Mitchell's Hi Records in 1971, and made many of his best known soul blues records for the label. His biggest hit came in late 1972 with "Trying To Live My Life Without You," a # 102 hit on the ''Billboard Hot 100'', # 70 on Cash Box, and # 24 R&B, which he followed up with "If I Could Reach Out". "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You" was later covered by Bob Seger, whose version made # 5 on the pop chart in 1981.〔( Biography by Bill Dahl at Allmusic.com )〕 After several more Hi singles and the album ''I Can't Take It'', Clay moved to Kayvette Records, where he had his last national hit single in 1977, "All Because Of Your Love" (# 44 R&B).〔〔 He later recorded for the Elka and Rounder labels, as well as his own Echo Records for whom he recorded the original version of "The Only Way is Up" in 1980. He has remained a popular live act in Europe and Japan, as well as the US, and has recorded three live albums, ''Soul Man: Live in Japan, Otis Clay Live(also in Japan on Victor VDP-5111)'' and ''Respect Yourself'', recorded live at the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland.〔〔( Biography at Otis Clay website )〕 In the 1990s he also recorded two soul albums for Bullseye Blues: ''I'll Treat You Right'' and the Willie Mitchell-produced ''This Time Around''. In 2007, he recorded the gospel album ''Walk a Mile in My Shoes''.〔 He has been a nominee for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. As a resident of Chicago's West Side, he is actively involved in community-based economic and cultural initiatives, including the development of The Harold Washington Cultural Center.〔 Clay continues to perform to this day. On August 11, 2012 he was one of several acts that performed at Lincoln Center Out of Doors Summer Concerts in New York City. He was backed by the band Platinum. Clay was joined on stage for the finale by William Bell and Teenie Hodges. Clay was one of the 2013 inductees to the Blues Hall of Fame.〔 In 2015 Otis published with Billy Price the album This Time For Real. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Otis Clay」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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