国籍：美国 出生地：密西西比州瓦克斯霍 职业：歌手 生日：1942年2月11日 简介：Otis Clay made most of his best-known records in Memphis during the early 70s, but hes still universally hailed as Chicagos deep soul king. In a city filled to overflowing with legendary blues artists, Clay has become the proud standard-bearer for Chicagos enduring soul tradition. Like so many of his contemporaries, Clays intense vocal style reflects a gospel background. He made the secular jump in 1965, signing with Chicagos One-derful Records and issuing a series of gospel-tinged soul records that were a lot grittier than the customary Windy City soul sound. Clay inaugurated Atlantics Cotillion subsidiary in 1968 with a supercharged cover of the Sir Douglas Quintets Shes About a Mover, produced by Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals shortly before the singer joined forces with Hi Records boss Willie Mitchell. With the relentlessly driving Hi Rhythm Section in tow, Clay waxed his biggest seller in 1972, Trying to Live My Life Without You, later covered very successfully by Bob Seger. Although Clays tenure on Hi may have been his most commercially potent, he steadily recorded and gigged ever since. He is a genuine hero in Japan, where hes recorded two sizzling live albums filled with the churning grooves, punchy horns, and searing vocals that inevitably characterize the best deep soul — no matter where its recorded, a fact proved by another live set recorded in Switzerland in 2003, Respect Yourself, and released in 2005 by Blind Pig Records. In 2007, Clay returned to the studio and recorded the gospel album Walk a Mile in My Shoes on his Chicago-based Echo label. 从艺历程：A Chicago-based vocalist whose music was steeped in Southerngospel and deep soul, Otis Clay never had a major pop hit, but he was aperiodic visitor to the R&B charts and an enduring presence in theworld of blues and vintage soul, while also enjoying a long career inspiritual music.Clay was born on February 11, 1942 in Waxhaw,Mississippi, where the church was a vital part of his family's life.In 1953Clay's family moved to Muncie, Indiana, where he began performingwith a local gospel group.In 1957, Clay and his family relocated toChicago, where he joined the Golden Jubilaires, the first of manygospel groups he would work with in the Windy City. Like many gospelsingers, Clay was interested in performing secular music, where onecould perform to bigger audiences for bigger paychecks, and in 1962he cut several R&B sides for producer Carl Davis, who expected to landa deal with Columbia Records; however, Columbia opted not to releasethe sessions.In 1965, Maurice Dollison, who had sung in a few gospelgroups with Clay and recorded R&B material under the name CashMcCall, introduced him to George Leaner, head ofthe independentOne-Derful! Records, and Leaner signed Clay to a record deal. Clay'sfirst single for One-Derful!, "Flame in Your Heart," fared well locally butwent unnoticed on the national charts, and it wasn't until his fifthrelease for the label, 1967's "That's How lt ls (When You're in Love),that he finally scored a hit that landed on the Billboard R&B charts,peaking at number 34. Clay's follow-up, "A Lasting Love," made it to number 48 R&B, but hesoon received the surprising news that One-Derful! was going out ofbusiness and his contract had been sold to Atlantic Records, thenAmerica's biggest soul label. Atlantic chose Clay to be the debut artistfor their new subsidiarylabel, Cotillion Records, and his first single forthe new imprint, a cover of the Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About aMover," rose to 47 on the R&B charts and nudged the lower reaches ofthe pop singles chart at 97. Clay's other releases for Cotillion didn't doas well, and after cutting "ls lt Over?" with producer Willie Mitchell, hestruck a deal with Hi Records, where Mitchell was a house producer.Clay's first release for Hi, 1972's "Trying to Live My Life Without You,"became his biggest hit, rising to number 24 on the R&B chart; the songgained a new life in 1981, when a cover by Bob Seger rose to the popTop Ten.The success ofthe single prompted the release of Clay's firstalbum, also called Trying to Live My Life Without You, and in 1973, hereleased the fan favorite "lf l Could Reach Out (And Help Someone).The year 1977 saw Clayleave Hi Records for Henry Stone's Kayvettelabel, though he would also release a string of singles and albumsthrough his own Echo Records (including his last chart hit, 1980's "TheOnly Way ls Up") and issue several albums in the'9Os through theBullseye Blues label, including Soul Man: Live in Japan, where Clay haddeveloped a devoted following.Though Clay was best known as a sousinger, he continued to perform gospel shows on occasion, and albumslike 1993's The Gospel Truth and 2007's Walk a Mile in My Shoes madeit clear he had not lost touch with his spiritual roots. Clay was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, and stayed busyas a live performer, playing clubs and blues festivals around the worldas well as releasing albums such as 2013's Truth ls: Putting Love Backinto the Music and 2014's Soul Brothers, a collaboration with JohnnyRawls.Clay was also involved in charitable and activist causes inChicago; he was a member ofthe board of People for New Direction, anonprofit organization addressing issues on the city's West Side, andwas a key figure in the transformation of the Bronzeville Regal Theaterinto the Harold Washington Cultural Center. A heart attack claimedClay's life on January8, 2016; he was 73.