David Clayton Thomas

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David Clayton-Thomas concert review:
DCT dazzles at McPhillips Street Station

Robert Rheubottom

Canada Music Examiner
November 9, 2011
   

David Clayton-Thomas hit town last night (11/8/11), making his debut appearance at McPhillips Street Station, and his first in Winnipeg since his show at the Red River Exhibition grounds back in 2009.

Though performing only a handful of live gigs in the interim years, the former lead vocalist/songwriter extraordinaire for Blood, Sweat and Tears has kept plenty busy since his last stop, penning an autobiography called “Blood, Sweat and Tears, releasing 2 new CDs - The Evergreens and Soul Ballads, receiving a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2010, and, most recently, making a 2nd appearance last month on CBC TV’s Cover Me Canada.

Clayton-Thomas entered to rousing applause, still looking youthful for his years, sporting a charcoal grey suit, blue open collar dress shirt, and matching suspenders.

Although maintaining the “must play” hits, the Grammy Award winner varied the set list from his previous visit, opening with the 1-2 punch of his self-penned, 1968 BS&T smash Spinning Wheel, followed by his 1970 Carol King/Gerry Goffin penned hit “Hi-De-Ho.”

The Canadian Music Hall of Famer’s voice, though huskier, is instantly recognizable.

The songs lacked none of his trademark power and emotion. The former BS&T frontman is still fully capable of wringing every ounce of emotion out of a slow blues, flexing his vocal muscle on a pop rocker, or scatsing through a jazz number with the best of them.

His super tight 10-piece backing band, consisting of some of the finest jazz players in Canada, demonstrated their impressive chops throughout the night, and were given plenty of solo room such as on the DCT song “Mornin’ Blues” from his 2009 release Spectrum,that featured a fine baritone sax solo from Colleen Allen. 
Demonstrating great rapport with the audience, Clayton-Thomas told many entertaining anecdotes about the background of some of his biggest hits.

Introducing BS&T’s 1969 Laura Nyro penned hit “And When I Die,” he explained how he met the then totally unknown singer-songwriter, who sat at the piano and tried to interest him in a few of her “unrecorded” songs, and proceeded to pick his jaw up off the floor after being played “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Stone Cold Picnic,” “Eli’s Coming,” and “When I Die” – future smash hits for the 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night, and, of course BS&T.

A tale of “losing his ass” in Vegas after BS&T played a 7 night engagement at Caesar’s Palace, preceded his punchy 1971 hit "Go Down Gambling," followed by a song inspired by car accident in Wawa, ON, which marooned the band for a week and led to meeting “a bad ass woman” - the prelude to his 1970 hit "Lucretia McEvil," which featured some fine scats singing by DCT and a wicked tenor sax solo by Michael Stuart.

A soulful cover of Sam Cooke’s classic “A Change Is Gonna Come” from DCT’s 2010 studio album Soul Ballad, preceded the funky drunky “Gimme That Wine.” (a personal fav).

In the home stretch, his tender ballad "You’re the One," a song he wrote for his former wife, preceded his 1969 BS&T monster hit - "You Made Me So Very Happy" and, following a thunderous standing ovation, DCT returned and finished the night with a stirring reading of Billie Holliday’s "God Bless the Child."

 


The Globe and Mail

October 1, 2010
 

A book to make you so very happy

BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS, by David Clayton-Thomas, Viking Canada, 323 pages,

At the age of 15, David Clayton-Thomas had left home and was living on the streets of Toronto, a life that eventually saw him land in jail, which could have been the first step on the road to the bottom. It was while he was doing time at the Burwash Correctional Centre that he found a guitar that had been left by a previous inmate, and found his calling by playing the blues alone in his cell and on-stage to entertain the other prisoners. After prison, he joined and founded several different groups in Toronto, but it wasn't until he went to New York that he hooked up with Blood, Sweat and Tears, in which his big voice was matched by the group's powerful horn section, and a series of mega-hits ensued.  

Clayton-Thomas: Smiling through the tears

 
By Ben Rayner, Toronto Star
September 20, 2010
 
At his daughter's urging, legendary musician tells his gritty life story appropriately titled Blood Sweat and Tears
 
David Clayton-Thomas has some skeletons in his closet, but he’s setting them all free and it feels mighty good.
“The pressure’s off now in interviews,” laughs the onetime Blood, Sweat and Tears frontman, a few weeks shy of his 69th birthday, over lunch a few steps away from his lakeshore penthouse. “There are no loaded questions they can ask me anymore. There it is. Read the book. It’s all out there. Who gives a sh--?”
 He comes clean about the humiliating beatings he withstood at the hands of his father, his criminal teenhood as a Toronto street kid, his years spent as a scrappy convict bouncing between juvenile halls and prisons where the frequent fighter and troublemaker would entertain himself by singing in the “natural echo chambers” that were solitary-confinement cells.
He comes clean about the drugs, the cutthroat business dealings and the ego clashes that went on within the band during its platinum-plated 1970s peak and its subsequent dissolution into Clayton-Thomas and a revolving cast of hired-gun musicians half his age, not to mention the fatal 1978 overdose in Amsterdam of his friend and bandmate Greg Herbert. And he comes clean about how the staunch will to succeed that elevated him from the streets into pop music’s elite was, for decades, a strain on his health, his family and his interpersonal relationships.
There’s also, however, a genuinely inspirational rags-to-riches story to be found in the life of a self-made man who, as Clayton-Thomas recalls, once “walked out of Millbrook with 20 bucks in my pocket, a mail-order guitar and a dream.
“It’s a double-edged sword. You have the benefit of that drive to succeed because going back is not an option,” Clayton-Thomas says of his bullheaded nature. “On the other hand, it can be awfully obsessive and a lot of people around you get sucked into that vortex.
One of the primary victims of Clayton-Thomas’s thirst for success, he concedes, was his daughter, Ashleigh. He missed a lot of birthdays and PTA meetings back in the day and has grown to realize that you don’t get those moments back.
 “Because of her background in creative writing, my daughter was the one who really pushed me to write a book,” he says. “She always said: ‘You’ve got a great story, Dad. You should write it down as a novel, as a serious memoir.
With the book coming out and an induction into Canada’s Walk of Fame — “a source of tremendous pride for me” — looming in October, Clayton-Thomas figured he’d better get a new album out. Thus, early October will see the release via Universal Music of Soul Ballads, a collection of classic cuts from the likes of Ray Charles and Gladys Knight reinterpreted with the aid of a full orchestra.
 “These are songs that I sang in bars on Yonge Street 40 years ago. They’re tunes that every young singer of my generation grew up with.”
 


Blood, Sweat and Tears
by David Clayton Thomas
Penguin Group (Canada)
Lynn Fenske

Toronto Books Examiner

September 16, 2010

 

There’s a lot about David Clayton-Thomas that will impress you, besides his rich, raspy voice.

As a kid growing up in Toronto, he overcame an abusive father, jail time and living homeless on the streets to become one of the most recognizable singer-songwriters of the boomer generation. As the former lead singer of Blood Sweat and Tears he is arguably one of the ten best vocalists ever to front a pop-rock band. To date his music has sold over forty million records.

He belts out a song with a soulful, bluesy rendering that comes from living life hard and fast. It’s a voice born of anguish and boredom in a solitary jail cell and enriched on the road, working seedy strip bars and cavernous concert arenas.

In his memoir, aptly titled Blood Sweat and Tears, he shares his personal history that reflects and defines a distinctive era in music and pop culture. His is a true rags to riches story. From the Yonge Street Strip to Woodstock, to Vegas and back to Toronto, he recounts his many adventures as a rock star troubadour.

Clayton-Thomas delivers on his promise to write as “nakedly honest” as possible. He prepares readers with a very frank introduction that sets the tone for his insights and confessions. He writes, “there are no good guys or bad guys in this story. I’m sure that the recollections of some of the people I write about will differ from mine and that’s just how it is. I’ve learned that very few of us are one thing or another. We are all heroes and villains in the play of our lives – it all depends on which act we are watching and who is writing the script. This is my story.” His author’s voice is much like the lyrics to his songs - intuitive, direct and genuine.

After four decades on the road, Clayton-Thomas has stopped touring and has settled down in his hometown of Toronto. He writes, “now that I’m no longer financially dependent on the music business I have the luxury of taking on projects for the pure joy of it.” He will play the occasional gig – something special that really appeals to him, like his concert earlier this year with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Massey Hall.

He still writes and records music. His new CD entitled Soul Ballads is a collection of soulful ballads by Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke – songs that he sang forty years ago in the Yonge Street clubs. It will be released October 5.

On October 16 Clayton-Thomas will be honoured as one of the latest inductees to Canada’s Walk of Fame. 

 

 

Blood Sweat and Tears
By David Clayton-Thomas
Bruce Ward, The Ottawa Citizen
Sept. 5, 2010
 
As a singer, David Clayton-Thomas made his rep in the bars on Yonge Street back when Ronnie Hawkins and his band ruled Toronto's downtown strip.
   The top bars -- Le Coq d'Or and Friar's Tavern -- were tough joints where Hamilton steelworkers would start fights on Saturday night at the slightest provocation, real or imagined. Clayton-Thomas was as tough as any of them.
   David had spent the bulk of his teenage years in jail, mostly for the crime of being poor and having nowhere to go. He left his home in Willowdale at 15, after enduring years of horrific beatings at the hands of his violently alcoholic father.
  After serving two years in a Guelph reformatory, David soon graduated to penitentiary. At 17, David was sentenced to four years in the notorious Burwash Industrial Farm. The prison was located in northern Ontario's bush country, "thirty miles from Sudbury and a thousand miles from nowhere," as Clayton-Thomas writes in his autobiography Blood Sweat and Tears, a remarkable story of redemption.
   Clayton-Thomas writes with wry humour and grace in a straightforward style that's as subtle as a split lip. The reader
always feels he's getting the straight goods. Remarkably, there's no bitterness in the book, and not a single whining note despite everything Clayton-Thomas has endured -- in his personal life, and in the record biz.
   This wouldn't be a proper rock star story unless the band had a life-changing encounter with drugs and the singer was cheated  by his lawyer. Both happened to Clayton-Thomas. He gave up drugs after a band member died in Amsterdam. And he had to start his career again after learning that his fortune had vanished, thanks to a crooked lawyer who lived like a rock star on Clayton-Thomas's money.
   He was married four times. When it came to a choice between love and career, Clayton-Thomas always chose career. "In my mind it was the only thing standing between me and where I came from, and I wasn't going back."
   His book is honest and unflinching. It reveals a man who is tough and cynical, funny as hell, but also vulnerable and insecure. Haunted by his violent childhood, Clayton-Thomas turned himself into a music legend.
That's worth much more than a standing ovation.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
 
 
 


 
 Lynn Saxberg, The Ottawa Citizen
 April 17, 2010

So many singers who made their name in the 60s are now in their 60s and their voices sound like they're running low on power. Blood, Sweat & Tears frontman David Clayton-Thomas is not one of those singers.

During a wonderful concert with the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra at Centrepointe Theatre on Friday, the 68-year-old classic-rock legend demonstrated his superior vocal ability on a selection of songs that spanned more than 40 years.

Whether he was booming around the bottom end or hitting on the high notes, Clayton-Thomas was in peak form, his voice carrying all the soul and grit of his early days.

In addition to the quality of his singing, Clayton-Thomas was a charismatic master of ceremonies who told stories and shared anecdotes with the rapt audience. He talked about hitchhiking from Toronto to New York City in the 1960s, for example, with nothing but a guitar and a song that would change his life.

The song, of course, was Spinning Wheel, a monster hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. On stage Friday, it was a highlight of the first set, punchy and powerful, complete with a psychedelic guitar solo, superhuman blast of trumpet and the neat little flute break performed by orchestra musicians.

Clayton-Thomas' more recent tunes fit well with the tone of the evening, helping to give a greater sense of musical purpose. By including songs like Morning Blues, a personal song about being 65 and single, and the lovely title track from his recent solo project, The Evergreens, the concert transcended the level of a classic-rock nostalgia fest.

It was a window into the creative soul of one of the most influential voices of the baby-boomer generation. And what a treat to experience it in a comfortable venue with outstanding musicianship and terrific sound.

David Clayton-Thomas with The Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Massey Hall, Toronto

  Feb.13, 2010

     After 40 long years on the road as the frontman for Blood Sweat & Tears, David Clayton-Thomas and his all-star 10 piece Canadian big band joined the 66-piece Toronto Symphony Orchestra on the historic stage of Massey Hall for two incredible nights. This multi-Grammy winner and Music Hall of Famer dominated the stage and proved he still has the chops to woo an audience off its feet.
    Clayton-Thomas performed such classics as “Spinning wheel,” “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy,”and “And When I Die” as well as material from his new CD The Evergreens. He shared tales of his time living and performing in Toronto in the 60's, his early years  in Greenwich Village and his present life in Toronto
    The concert rocked from beginning to end, the veteran blues/jazz singer received stellar support from both the Orchestra and The Clayton-Thomas Band. The encore performance of “God Bless This Child” tore the house down; it was a memorable evening  showcasing one of the finest pop voices of all times.

David Clayton Thomas
Red River Exhibition Park
Winnipeg, MB, Canada
June 17/09

David Clayton Thomas: Still Making Crowds “So Very Happy”


My dad was huge fan of swing jazz. So as a child, I was teethed on big band 78 rpm recordings of Glen Miller, the Dorsey Brothers, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Stan Kenton until the Beatles came along obliterating everything and forever changing my world. But in 1969, Beatlemania did not stop me from taking notice of the most powerful jazz fusion sounds ever to explode onto the pop airwaves, and note especially, the gritty, powerhouse lead vocalist whose voice thundered overtop that popping brass and rhythm section. That unique voice belonged to a fellow Canadian, David Clayton Thomas.
Though the sky threatened rain, a good size crowd was on hand at Central Stage in the Exhibition grounds to welcome the group. They opened the night with a solid rendition of the Laura Nyro classic When I Die from the 1969 B,S&T self-titled album.
If anyone thought that David’s new backup group might not be up to BS&T standards, their fears were quickly allayed. Having retired from BS&T in 2004, he now tours with a slick 10 piece orchestra from Toronto billed under his own name.
Clayton Thomas looked professional in a dark suit and open collar dress shirt, and he quickly proved he still had the pipes.  The songs lacked none of the trademark power and emotion.
He quickly followed with another track from the same album, his self-penned smash hit Spinning Wheel.
Slowing down the pace, he next performed the beautiful ballad You’re the One. He then picked things up again with the funky and raucous Gimme Dat Wine (one of my fav songs of the night) followed by  40,000 Headmen from BS&T 3.
 David wrapped up with the classic hit ~ You Made Me So Very Happy. After a well deserved standing ovation, he returned and finished with his stirring reading of Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child.
 He made the crowd and this reviewer SO VERY HAPPY... Don’t wait another 30 years to bring your band back to Winnipeg David!


Stephanie Schomer
The Buffalo Evening News
July 1/08

LEWISTON — Canada Day enjoyed quite the celebration at Artpark Tuesday night, as Toronto’s David Clayton-Thomas, formerly of Blood, Sweat & Tears, took to the Lewiston stage once again.
The last time Clayton-Thomas appeared at Artpark, in 2004, a then-record-setting audience caused the gates to be closed as a security precaution for the first time in Artpark history.
Clayton-Thomas is obviously a different performer now than he was back in the Blood, Sweat & Tears glory days, simply in terms of age. However, despite his 66 years, his voice is still strong, powerful and true to the sound his fans have loved for so many decades.
 He promised to take the crowd through 30 years of music before moving into “Spinning Wheel.” The still infectious and undeniable beat of the song solidified it as my favorite Blood, Sweat & Tears number, and Clayton-Thomas’ band showed off their outstanding skill.
Taking a break from the songs of years past, he introduced the song “Mornin’ Blues,” off his latest album, “The Evergreens.” The softer, smoother and bluesier sound of the track showed the maturity and growth Clayton-Thomas has experienced through his long-lasting career.

Magic Clayton-Thomas
(note from translator-It's very seldom that we see six stars on a review!!)

"Older stars have either to work hard getting good marks or they get high marks no matter which experience they might give their audience. Clayton-Thomas and his eight man band worked hard in the sold out Maritime Hall and had energy, humour, and a huge power in their performance.
News for many of us is the fact that David Clayton-Thomas is a natural and exceptional entertainer. He has his audience in the palm of his hand from his first entry, He makes us feel a part of the music as the most natural thing in the world"

National Press... Norway ******

David Clayton-Thomas In Concert:
A Musical Biography

This amazingly recorded live concert of David Clayton-Thomas at the Opera House in Toronto is a musical testimonial of grand coherence and musicianship.
His stunning voice is as convincing as ever.... The concert is fast-paced, its every breath well captured by the sound engineer, smooth and voidless: it's all perfect, the band, the audience, a Clayton-Thomas who fully honors his own fame. It matters little that this remarkable disc, instead of being released by a major, appears on Justin Time, a label devoted to jazz, which provides it with the added prestige it deserves.

 

***** Cosimo Parisi
Music Boom (Italy) 

DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS
In Concert: A Musical Biography
Justin Time

Recorded last October in Toronto, this live album finds David Clayton-Thomas fronting an 11-piece band and looking back at his career as a solo artist and, particularly, as the longtime lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears. The veteran blues and jazz singer's band, including Doug Riley on keyboards, bassist George Koller and a six-man horn section led by Bruce Cassidy, is a tight unit and their arrangements of BS&T hits like Spinning Wheel, (You've Made Me) So Very Happy and Lucretia MacEvil are every bit as good, if not better, than the originals. Clayton-Thomas's interpretive skills have deepened over the years and he also offers very compelling versions of Don't Explain and God Bless the Child from the Billie Holiday songbook.
****

Mike Regensteif
Montreal Gazette


Aurora
Justin Time

Blessed with a great voice, this Canadian singer found fame in 1969 with the jazz-rock band, Blood Sweat &Tears. It's a treat to hear him return to his roots in this intimate jazz context. The band kick starts the soulful original, "Mercy Lord Above" into a consumate groove that shows the singer in his element. The mood changes dramatically when his anguished vibrato conveys the vulnerability of Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain" "Lazy Bones" is an inspired choice, a standard that suits his strengths. 

****

David Lewis
Coda Magazine 

The blues-drenched voice made its way through arrangements that touched on New Orleans, 60's rock fused with shades of classical and jazz, smoky ballads and funk all delivered with wonderful, shifting dynamics and fine technical skill.

Peter North - Edmonton Journal 

"Clayton-Thomas was in fine form...his gritty voice powerful and expressive. He opened with a stunning 'God Bless the Child,' the Clayton-Thomas version of the Billie Holiday song stands on its own...a classic."

Ellis Widner - Tulsa Tribune 

"What made it fun was the way the singer attacked the music, the professionalism of Clayton-Thomas and the way he brought his songs to the audience. The big Canadian has his own style which is quite recognizable."

Conrad Silvert - San Francisco Chronicle 

As a singer, one of the best. Clayton-Thomas is very good. His voice is distinctive, earthy, bluesy, and he knows what to do with it, somehow controlling that roughness, using it to his best advantage at all times."

Ray Recchi - Ft. Lauderdale News

"It's the singer's show! The voice is honey and gravel and he sure knows how to use it."

Sam Hirsch - Critic at large ... Miami

Dressed in a leather jacket, jeans and T-shirt, David Clayton-Thomas was in excellent shape. On "Hi De Ho" the crowd performed as a gospel chorus led by the Rev. Clayton-Thomas. David's own "Lucretia MacEvil" appealed to the road house rockers, while the jazz purists were treated to the Lambert Hendricks & Ross scat classic "Gimme That Wine".

Jim Santella - The Buffalo Evening News 

The singer has had three decades of life experience since the early BS&T days on which to build the blues in his voice, in the place where blues, jazz and rock meet.

Terry DeBoer -.The Grand Rapids Press 

"Clayton-Thomas promised to take the crowd through 30 plus years of history and he delivered. The trademark voice has lost none of it's power over the past four decades. He was in complete control of the band and the crowd, the entire evening".

Graham Rockingham - The Hamilton Spectator 

David Clayton-Thomas may be the greatest blues-oriented singer to come out of his generation. Certainly his peers are very few.

Larry LeBlanc
Billboard