Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
All Music Guide:
Best-known for penning the outlaw country anthem "Ladies Love Outlaws," singer/songwriter Lee Clayton never achieved the same level of notoriety as some of the artists who recorded his songs. Yet in spite of a limited singing voice, he crafted some expressive, highly personal music in his own right. Clayton grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, and took up the steel guitar at age nine; after just a year and a half, he was good enough to perform on local radio. After a stint in the Air Force, Clayton moved to Nashville in 1969 to make it in the music business, and scored his first big success when Waylon Jennings turned "Ladies Love Outlaws" into a hit anthem in 1972. Clayton recorded his own self-titled debut album for MCA the following year, but despite critical praise, it wasn't commercially successful. Clayton left Nashville for Joshua Springs, CA, but continued to pen songs for other artists; among his most notable contributions were Jerry Jeff Walker's "Lone Wolf" and Willie Nelson's "If You Could Touch Her at All." His success as a songwriter encouraged him to return to Nashville, and he signed a solo deal with Capitol in 1977. Two acclaimed albums -- 1978's Border Affair and 1979's Naked Child -- followed, and Clayton embarked on his first world tour. However, immediately following the release of 1981's The Dream Goes On, he abruptly quit the music business, instead devoting his energies to writing; the '80s produced two autobiographical books and a play, Little Boy Blue. Clayton did eventually return to recording with 1990's Another Night, a live album recorded in Oslo, Norway; the same year, the Highwaymen recorded his "Silver Stallion." However, little has been heard from him since.
Wikipedia:
Lee Clayton (born Billy Schatz; October 29, 1942 in Russellville, Alabama, U.S.) is a country musician and composer.
Biography
His style has been described as in between rock and country. Clayton grew up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee and began to play harmonica and guitar at the age of 7. At 9 he received his first steel guitar.
After quitting the Air Force he moved to Nashville in 1968 and began his career as a songwriter. His first success was the song "Ladies Love Outlaws" which became a Number 11 hit in the Billboard Charts by Waylon Jennings in 1972. The country music style outlaw country was derived from that song. In 1973 he released his first album simply titled Lee Clayton, with which, as Clayton would later say, he was very dissatisfied. In the following years he continued his songwriting. He wrote songs like "Lone Wolf" for Jerry Jeff Walker or "If You Could Touch Her at All" for Willie Nelson. In 1978 his second album, Border Affair, was released. It was critically acclaimed but became a flop at the charts.
His most successful album was 1979's Naked Child. The songs' style was reminiscent of Bob Dylan and the single, "I Ride Alone", became very notable. In 1979, he went on a big world tour which became a huge success. In 1981 he released his last studio album, The Dream Goes On, which had a harder sound than his previous work. After that he published two autobiographical books and, in 1990, released a live album entitled Another Night which was recorded in September 9, 1988, at the Cruise Cafe, Oslo, Norway. Also in 1990, The Highwaymen, an outlaw country supergroup comprising Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson, had a minor hit with a song of his, "Silver Stallion", which had previously appeared on Border Affair. In 1994 he released the album Spirit of the twilight. Cat Power also covered "Silver Stallion" on the popular 2008 cover album Jukebox. Today Clayton's career has largely gone silent.
