Thursday, March 28, 2024

Carole King’s Strange Omission of Merry Clayton At Tribute Dinner

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Carole King thanked four people last night at the MusiCares Person of the Year Award dinner– James Taylor, the late Donnie Kirschner, her ex husband Gerry Goffin, and producer Lou Adler.

Who did Carole forget? Strangely she omitted Merry Clayton, the famed R&B back up singer. Clayton was in the audience and on the bill. She performed with her co-stars from “20 Feet to Stardom,” Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, and Judith Hill.

Clayton is being touted right now for her work on the Rolling Stones record “Gimme Shelter.” But after she made that record in 1969, Clayton sang back up prominently on King’s “Tapestry” and “Music” albums. She gave those records their R&B gospel feel. Clayton released three albums of her own on Adler’s Ode label. One of the albums had four Carole King songs. She had a hit with King’s “Oh No Not My Baby.” King played piano on the record!

And yet, King didn’t mention Clayton at all, or even give her a nod for performing on the show. So weird. As far as I could tell, Clayton sat all night with the “20 Feet to Stardom” crowd. There was no interaction with King’s table. Maybe she and Clayton saw each other backstage. But for the 1,000 people in the audience they’d never know that one of last night’s performers helped King get the sound that made her own two best selling albums all time hits.

Seems Clayton, as per King, remains 20 feet from stardom still!

 

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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