{"id":480730,"date":"2019-01-10T16:50:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T23:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=777417"},"modified":"2019-01-10T16:50:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-10T23:50:12","slug":"clydie-king-unsung-backup-singer-for-ray-charles-and-bob-dylan-dead-at-75","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/clydie-king-unsung-backup-singer-for-ray-charles-and-bob-dylan-dead-at-75\/","title":{"rendered":"Clydie King, Unsung Backup Singer for Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, Dead at 75"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Clydie King, whose earthy, gospel-rooted voice was heard on dozens of rock classics, including the Rolling Stones\u2019 \u201cTumbling Dice\u201d and Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s \u201cSweet Home Alabama,\u201d died on Monday at 75. Her friend Rudy Calvo confirmed the singer\u2019s death to Rolling Stone<\/em>. A cause of death was not immediately available.<\/p>\n

Along with Merry Clayton, Venetta Fields and Shirley Matthews, King was one of the most in-demand backup and session singers of her time. \u201cI don\u2019t remember all the people who I sung for,\u201d she said in a 1971 interview in which she estimated she\u2019s sung on 300 records by then. In addition to several tracks on Exile on Main St<\/em>., the list included hits like Linda Ronstadt\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019re No Good,\u201d Arlo Guthrie\u2019s \u201cCity of New Orleans,\u201d Graham Nash\u2019s \u201cChicago,\u201d and Elton John\u2019s \u201cThe Bitch Is Back.\u201d King also sang on albums by Steely Dan, Humble Pie, Joe Walsh, Phil Ochs, Carly Simon, Neil Diamond and Ringo Starr as well as the soundtrack to Barbra Streisand\u2019s A Star Is Born<\/em> remake.<\/p>\n

She recorded with both Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, the latter during his born-again years. \u201cShe was my ultimate singing partner,\u201d Dylan tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cNo one ever came close. We were two soulmates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born August 21st, 1943, King grew up in Dallas and sang in a gospel choir as a child; she was considered so gifted that she even appeared, at age 8, on Art Linkletter\u2019s national TV talent show. King and her family moved to Los Angeles soon after, where she recorded a number of singles for the Specialty and Philips labels.<\/p>\n

For three years starting in 1966, she and her longtime friend Clayton were in the Raelettes, Charles\u2019 backing singers. \u201cWe thought we knew how to sing, but he taught us both how to do it in a group,\u201d Clayton tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cWe learned to do what we do and how to be a beautiful woman and how to stand and sit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaving Charles after three years to travel less and spend more time with her children, King became one of the go-to voices starting in the late Sixties and throughout the next decade. In 1974, Clayton was home when she got a call from King about a last-minute session. \u201cI said, \u2018What are we singing?\u2019\u201d Clayton says, and King told her it was a group called Lynyrd Skynyrd and a song called \u201cSweet Home Alabama.\u201d At first, Clayton refused to do the song \u2014 \u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m not singing about Alabama! I remember those poor little girls killed by racists!\u2019\u201d \u2014 but King talked her into it. After the session, King told Clayton, \u201cWe did our part and this song will live in infamy, Mary. And we\u2019ll continually get paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like other backup singers, King\u2019s attempt to carve out her own career resulted in several solid, but commercially unsuccessful, albums and she returned to singing backup. But her years on the road with Dylan\u2014 which can be seen and heard in the recent Trouble No More<\/em> boxed set \u2014 cemented her reputation. Dylan would often perform duets during the shows; their renditions of \u201cHeart of Mine\u201d and Jimmy Webb\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s Begin\u201d<\/a> was a highlight of that era.<\/p>\n

King stopped recording in recent years to deal with unspecified health issues, but\u00a0Clayton remembers her as sweet, but tough. \u201cShe didn\u2019t take any crap,\u201d Clayton says. \u201cShe knew how to put you in your place, but she was so sweet you didn\u2019t know you were there until a week later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bob Dylan and Clydie King \u2013 \u201cAbraham, Martin and John\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n