David Clayton-Thomas

David Clayton-Thomas (born David Henry Thomsett; 13 September 1941) is a Canadian musician and singer. As the lead vocalist for the band, Blood, Sweat & Tears he rose to fame, and has maintained a busy solo career over the years as well.

Life and career

Clayton-Thomas was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, UK, the son of a decorated Canadian soldier of World War II who met his piano-playing mother when she came to entertain the troops at a London hospital. They were married, and when the war ended, the family moved to Willowdale, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, when Clayton-Thomas was not yet school-aged.

Growing up, he was taught music by his mother but had difficulties with his father in what was described as a dysfunctional family. He left home in his early teens, and according to his official biography, spent time in jail as a juvenile delinquent until his release in 1962. He idolized the music of John Lee Hooker and began playing guitar and singing, and by the time he was 21 had his own band, The Shays. David Clayton-Thomas & The Shays recorded for Roman Records of Toronto. Clayton-Thomas released two albums on the record label, "A Go Go" (with The Shays) and "Like It Is" (with The Bossmen).

In February 1966, he joined a new band, The Bossmen, fronted by the child prodigy, pianist Tony Collacott, who had played with Sarah Vaughan at New York's Carnegie Hall at the age of 14. The group recorded a lone single, the jazz-rock song...
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