Merry Clayton is a name you've heard of but quite can't figure out why. The "Why?" is her voice, probably best known for being the female vocal on 'Gimme Shelter' by The Rolling Stones.
(Photo above is by Matthieu Bitton)
She was also one of the stars of the 2013 documentary '20 Feet from Stardom' which won an Oscar and a host of other awards.
Merry can also be heard on songs by Neil Young, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pearl Bailey, Phil Ochs, Burt Bacharach, Tom Jones, Joe Cocker, Linda Ronstad and Carole King to name but a few. She also had a solo career making a number of albums between 1970-1994 and many singles as well dating back to 1963.
On June 16, 2014, three months after 20 Feet From Stardom, the documentary telling the story of the legendary backup singer, won an Oscar, Merry Clayton suffered a near-fatal car accident in her Los Angeles hometown, resulting in months of hospitalization and the amputation of both her legs. Seven Years after her accident, and 27 years since her last album she released 'Beautiful Scars' on the Motown Gospel label in April this year.
Here's a few tracks from the album starting with the Leon Russell penned 'A Song For You':
The title track was penned by Diane Warren, who has written songs for Laura Branigan, The Commodores, DeBarge, Barbra Streisand, Linda Lewis, Joe Cocker, Luther Ingram, Air Supply, Starship, Ronnie Spector, Belinda Carlisle, Ringo Star and oh so many more.:
"I wear it proud, like a badge. I wear it like a tattoo." Well, that's my story. Because my scars are beautiful. They're not ugly. "If you make it through anything in life," my godmother, Della Reese, told me. She said, "You're not gonna get through life without some type of scar. But if you make it through – that's your victory right there."
'Love Is A Mighty River' written by some bloke called Chris Martin (he's sort of famous for being in a band I don't particularly like):
And 'Deliverance':
Merry told Rolling Stone back in March that: Every song is a prayer of sorts. If you sit back and listen to each song, you will come to the same conclusion: “That is nothing but a prayer.” No matter what you’ve been through, you’re not going to get out of this life without having scars. As I said at the end of the song: “Everybody’s got scars.” Everybody. Isn’t that amazing?
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