For a lot of people of my generation, they may not remember the name, but they'll remember his voice on a couple of iconic songs from the end of 1968.
Yes, he's by far the most well-known singer of Blood Sweat & Tears.
David was also living proof in the power of music to inspire and better yourself. He was raised in an abusive household and ran away at the age of 14 to escape his alcoholic father, living on the streets and often finding himself in jail. While in reformatory he came into possession of a guitar and taught himself to play. In the early 60s, while surviving in Toronto, he managed to attract attention with his singing voice. He spent time playing with Blues players, including John Lee Hooker, and fronting some minor bands, but caught a huge break in 1968 when Judy Collins heard him sing and told a friend in Blood Sweat & Tears about him. BS&T had just released their first album but had suddenly had 3 members quit on them, so after a short audition Clayton-Thomas joined the band along with 3 others.
The album they released afterward, the self-titled Blood, Sweat & Tears, was an absolute smash. Between the first two songs above and And When I Die, BS&T dominated 1969's record charts in the US.
My dad loved Spinning Wheel --or rather the single version of the song-- so I knew of the song since I was little, but I'd never heard the entire album until recently. To my mind, it is so unlike many other pop albums of the era I could see how it simply exploded on the scene. From a version of Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopedies to Billie Holiday's God Bless the Child to the Motown sound of You've Made Me So Very Happy, the band charted their own path.
David played and sang well into his 70s, as this video of him at Eastman Theatre in Rochester, NY shows:
Godspeed, David Clayton-Thomas. He was 84.
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