The Daily Telegraph

Composer and arranger who collaborat­ed with Petula Clark

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KENNY CLAYTON, who has died aged 86, had a remarkable career; he was never famous himself, but as a composer, accompanis­t, arranger and pianist from the 1950s onwards he played with an extraordin­ary roll call of stars and helped to promote their careers.

They included Alma Cogan, Shirley Bassey, Cilla Black, Matt Monro, Robin Gibb, Charles Aznavour, Sacha Distel, Anita Harris and Roger Whittaker. Most important was Petula Clark, with whom he had a fruitful relationsh­ip which lasted 50 years. He regarded her as the finest female British singer of the 20th century.

Nothing could have been less glamorous and starstudde­d than Clayton’s own beginnings. He was born illegitima­te on May 9 1936 in the East End of London. His mother was about to send him to a Dr Barnardo’s home but her brother, an army PT instructor, and his wife, adopted him instead. He said that to be brought up in a proper family in a house with a piano was his first bit of luck, and he took his adopted mother’s maiden name, Clayton, as a stage name.

He was lucky again during the war, when his family’s house in Edmonton was bombed during the Blitz. His brother had the presence of mind to cover him with pillows and blankets as he lay in bed during the attack, and although the ceiling fell in his life was saved.

Even as a young boy Clayton’s musical talent was obvious. He took his first piano lesson aged seven and was admitted to Trinity College of Music at 11.

On leaving college he took a variety of lowly jobs for a music agent, one of which was to turn the pages on stage for concert pianists. For £5 a week he was also given his first job as a pianist at the Little Club in Knightsbri­dge; the manager was a woman called Ruth Ellis, the last woman in Britain to be hanged.

At 18 he was called up for National Service with the RAF. Then after touring Britain with Alma Cogan, Clayton played at a Mayfair club and performed in Thank Your Lucky Stars for ABC Weekend TV.

George Martin signed him for the Parlophone label and he released a single, Tenerife. The record failed to reach the charts but in 1962 Clayton had what he called his third piece of luck. His agent phoned him to say that Petula Clark’s pianist was unavailabl­e and she was looking for a new pianist and arranger for a forthcomin­g tour of France.

After he had auditioned for the singer and her husband they spent the next 15 months on the road, touring around the Mediterran­ean, the south of France and in Beirut. “It was superb,” he said, “one of the best times of my life.”

He eventually became Petula Clark’s permanent arranger and was regarded as part of the family. His many concerts with her also took him to South Africa, Canada, the United States and Paris. There were also numerous television appearance­s. In 1983 Clayton collaborat­ed with her when her 40thannive­rsary concert was staged at the Albert Hall.

Clayton was charming and funny. He always wore black, and in later years he played in black gloves, but they made no difference to his dexterity.

He had homes in London and Brighton but he was a Soho figure who drank considerab­le amounts in its pubs and clubs. Another of his long working relationsh­ips was with Paul Ryan, another Soho figure, a crooner who specialise­d in the American Songbook; together they recorded a CD,

Blame it on My Youth.

Clayton could be ingeniousl­y creative. If one of Ryan’s songs included the word “rain”, he might sneak in a phrase from Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head or

Singin’ in the Rain. Both close friends and rivals, Clayton and Ryan behaved like an old married couple.

They also both endured long illnesses: Clayton said that if Ryan went he would not be far behind; Ryan died in July. Kenny Clayton is survived by Sarah, his wife and manager of 20 years, a daughter from a previous marriage, and three stepdaught­ers.

Kenny Clayton, born May 9 1936, died October 10 2022

 ?? ?? He was a figure around Soho
He was a figure around Soho

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