San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
Against all odds, singer Merry Clayton soars on new album.
Best known for her singing with the Rolling Stones, Carole King and others, the vocal powerhouse returns with her spirit and voice intact after a horrific 2014 car crash and double amputation
Vocal dynamo Merry Clayton was just 16 when she became the lead female singer in the Ray Charles Orchestra and 20 when she famously duetted with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones classic “Gimme Shelter.” She was 21 when she sang on Neil Young’s equally classic “Southern Man” and on much of Carole King’s landmark album “Tapestry.”
Now, at the age of 73, Clayton — who co-starred in the 2013 music documentary “20 Feet From Stardom,” which won an Oscar — is back with “Beautiful Scars,” her first solo album since 1994. Born out of tragedy, it marks the start of an inspirational new chapter for the versatile singer, who has collaborated with everyone from Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson and Coldplay to Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Lynyrd Skynyrd (that’s her singing on the choruses of “Sweet Home Alabama”).
Ten songs strong, “Beautiful Scars” is Clayton’s first solo outing since she was in a horrific 2014 car crash in Los Angeles. Her injuries were so severe that both her legs had to be amputated at the knees, followed by five months of hospitalization and years of grueling daily physical therapy.
Such a devastating experience would likely have ended the careers of many musicians. But not Clayton, a New Orleans native who grew up singing gospel music in church and has retained her deep faith throughout her career.
“If I can make it through this journey, anybody can,” she said. “I’ve been through fire, rain, a storm, a hurricane, and everything else. But I came through it with joyfulness and being thankful.”
Those qualities of joy and gratitude emanate from every note Clayton triumphantly sings on her new solo album, her first since 1994’s aptly titled “Miracles.” With palpable fervor, she draws heavily from her gospel roots to make a strong case for human resiliency and the power to overcome souland body-sapping adversity.
“I am excited for the world to hear Merry’s new record because she continues to be a major source of inspiration and a gift to the music community,” said San Diego bass great Nathan East. He performs on five of “Beautiful Scar’s” songs, including the cathartic title track, “God’s Love” and Leon Russell’s timeless “A Song for You,” which was also featured on her second solo album, 1971’s superb “Merry Clayton.”
“I first worked with Merry back in the day on some live shows, and she has always been one of my favorite singers,” continued East, whose many other credits range from Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton to Patti Labelle and Donna Summer.
“To join Merry in the studio for her new project was nothing short of a complete joy. The songs, production and her singing were all to the highest standard. But most impressive was her unwavering
“People say: ‘My God, how can you go through all this with a positive attitude, when you lost your legs?’ Well, I’m alive, my scars are beautiful, and I love to tell the story.”
spirit and the joy and love that she filled the room with.”
‘I was never intimidated’
Filling a room with her luminous, intensely soulful singing has been a trademark of Clayton’s since her days singing at New Orleans’ New Zion Baptist Church, where her father, the Rev. A.G. Williams Clayton, presided.
Sam Cooke, whose song “Touch the Hem of His Garment” Clayton performs on her new album, sang at her father’s church with his group, The Soul Stirrers. During services, Clayton would sometimes sit in between gospel music legend Mahalia Jackson and rising gospel star Linda Hopkins.
Clayton’s ability to nearly match Jackson’s roof-raising vocal firepower and heavenly melismas at such a young age led to her earning the sobriquet “Little Mahalia,” as she now proudly recalls. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 8 and Clayton began singing at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church. A few years later, when she was 14, she was chosen by Bobby Darin to duet with him on his swinging 1963 big-band romp “Who Can I Count On?”
“When you have been in church and were trained like I was, nothing intimidates you,” Clayton said..
“If you can stand up and sing in church, in front of a serious audience, you can sing in front of anyone. If you’re off, they will tell you! I was never intimidated.”
Her skill and confidence immediately impressed Ode Records founder Lou Adler, who produced Clayton’s first four solo albums for Ode in the 1970s. He also co-produced her new album, “Beautiful Scars,” which is being released Friday by Motown Gospel, a subsidiary of Motown Records.
Their musical partnership began 52 years ago when Adler put together a vocal ensemble of top studio session singers, under the name The Brothers & Sisters of L.A. The resulting album “Dylan’s Gospel” featured 10 Bob Dylan songs restyled for a gospel choir. The lineup included future Dylan backing singer Clydie King, who died in 2019. The then still-teenage Clayton performed lead vocals on two of the album’s songs.
“I first met Merry in 1969 while recording ‘Dylan’s Gospel,’ ” Adler said via email. “She did ‘The Times They Are a-changin’ ’ and ‘The Mighty Quinn.’ I was impressed with her confidence and overwhelmed by her vocal ability.”
Clayton, who fondly refers to Adler as “Uncle Lou,” vividly remembers that long-ago recording session.
“Gene Page did the arrangements for the album and he phoned me to come down and do a couple of the songs,” Clayton said, speaking by phone from Los Angeles. “Gene asked me if I could lead the choir on those two songs, and I said, ‘Of course, I can!’
“I met Lou when it was time for me to sing ‘The Times They Are a-changin’.’ I did it with all my vigor and heart. Lou went berserk and offered me a (solo) record deal. That was my first meeting with Lou. And from then to this day, he is still the dearest and greatest friend I have.”
Adler kept close watch on Clayton during her extended treatment at UCLA’S Reagan Hospital.
“I never went to visit Merry at the hospital — she wasn’t receiving guests,” he said via email. “I spoke to her daily . ... I am on the Board of Directors at UCLA and was kept up to date as to her medical condition on a regular basis.”
Upon being informed by her doctors that the lower parts of both her legs would have to be amputated, Clayton immediately asked if she would still be able to sing. Informed that her voice had not been impacted, she began singing “I Can Still Shine,” the Ashford & Simpson song that she performs in the 1987 film comedy “Maid to Order.”
Clayton credits Adler for being a key impetus in her recording a new album.
“Lou made my mind up for me,” she recalled. “He said: ‘You have to get back in the (recording) studio.’ I said: ‘I don’t know if I want to do that, Lou. I’m just seven months into my recovery and I’ve only been home from the hospital for two months.’ But even when I was in the hospital, Lou said: ‘Merry, you have to sing again.’
“Right after I met with Lou and (‘Beautiful Scars’ co-producer) Terry Young, the songs just started to come to us. When it got out in the wind I was doing a project, I heard from musicians everywhere saying: ‘I want to play on it.’ ”
Clayton’s first recording after her harrowing car accident was on Coldplay’s “Adventure of a Lifetime” and “Up & Up,” two songs from the English rock band’s 2015 album “A Head Full of Dreams.” She contributed her parts to the songs just eight months after being released from the hospital.
Coldplay’s members were unaware of Clayton’s accident until she arrived at the recording studio.
“It had been a dream to work with her, so we just called her up,” Coldplay singer Chris Martin said in a 2015 interview with The Sun newspaper in England.
“She came in a wheelchair and did her thing, and then said: ‘I just lost my legs.’ We didn’t know. She’d just come out of the hospital the week before, but was so full of joy, gratitude, love and life.”
Clayton’s new album features the Martin-penned “Love Is a Mighty River,” which teams her with South Africa’s Soweto Choir. But it is the title track of “Beautiful Scars,” written by Diane Warren, that best exemplifies Clayton’s spirit and tenacity.
Intriguingly, Warren had written the song before Clayton’s accident and had it at the ready when Adler asked if Warren would contribute a song to the album. Clayton was stunned by how well the words to “Beautiful Scars” captured her ability to rise above adversity and thrive.
“When I read those lyrics, it was like she wrote this song specifically for me,” Clayton said. “It’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever had the opportunity to sing. Even though I’ve gone through what I have, my scars are not ugly. They are beautiful. Because I came through my whole situation with love and beauty and my philosophy of life intact.
“My godmother, Della Reese, told me many years ago: ‘Honey, you don’t get through this life without something happening to you, and you certainly don’t get through life without some scars.’ And when my (car accident) happened, she said: ‘You’ll be OK — that’s life.’
“I believe my scars are beautiful because I came through this. It’s not what you go through, it’s how you come out of it. People say: ‘My God, how can you go through all this with a positive attitude, when you lost your legs?’ Well, I’m alive, my scars are beautiful, and I love to tell the story.”
And what about the next chapter for Clayton, who sings up to an hour daily at home to keep her voice in shape?
“When the pandemic is over I hope to perform and do another album project, God willing,” she said.
“I’m just a vessel for God. If he provides the way, I will step in and do what I need to do. Because the gift God gave me is in my throat, and it belongs to him . ... Everything I’ve ever done, God has provided.”