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Let's not forget the chef's "overrated" stones with Merry Clayton.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3rnxQBizoU

 

Just saw this:

 

 

 

 

'Gimme Shelter' Singer Merry Clayton: Just a Shot Away

 

Belated attention for vocalist with solo reissue, '20 Feet From Stardom' documentary

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 21, 2013 11:50 AM ET

 

20130620-merri-x600-1371754004.jpg

Merry Clayton

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

"Stay cool, stay humble, stay beautiful, and just do the work." In the new documentary 20 Feet From Stardom, that's singer Merry Clayton's explanation for her positive attitude through decades of playing second fiddle with her first-rate voice.

 

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/gimme-shelter-singer-merry-clayton-just-a-shot-away-20130621#ixzz2WuwLFquo

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Yes, Merry Clayton was a fine singer. The Rolling Stones, gun to my head, are probably my favorite band ever, and "Gimmie Shelter" is probably my favorite song of theirs, ever...Claytons' vocals are a huge part of that.

 

Not long ago, an elderly gentlemen came into the record store I work at, looking for some Ray Charles stuff. As we were talking, he said he was looking for the specific recordings, because he had recently found out that his cousin, who he didn't know all that well, was once a Raelett... he didn't have a lot of info, and didn't own a computer. So, I started looking into it for him...trying to figure out when his cousin would have been singing with Charles. Came to find out, there were dozens of women, over time who spent time as Raeletts. Information about them was sketchy for the most part, but from what I could deduce, his cousin sang with them at the same time that Merry Clayton was in the group.

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Yes, Merry Clayton was a fine singer. The Rolling Stones, gun to my head, are probably my favorite band ever, and "Gimmie Shelter" is probably my favorite song of theirs, ever...Claytons' vocals are a huge part of that.

 

Not long ago, an elderly gentlemen came into the record store I work at, looking for some Ray Charles stuff. As we were talking, he said he was looking for the specific recordings, because he had recently found out that his cousin, who he didn't know all that well, was once a Raelett... he didn't have a lot of info, and didn't own a computer. So, I started looking into it for him...trying to figure out when his cousin would have been singing with Charles. Came to find out, there were dozens of women, over time who spent time as Raeletts. Information about them was sketchy for the most part, but from what I could deduce, his cousin sang with them at the same time that Merry Clayton was in the group.

 

Cool that you work in a record store...............The only thing that takes a little bit away for me about Merry Clayton is that every time I've seen the Stones, they have somebody else who steals the show during that song. It seems that the song was set up for a great performance.

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Cool that you work in a record store...............The only thing that takes a little bit away for me about Merry Clayton is that every time I've seen the Stones, they have somebody else who steals the show during that song. It seems that the song was set up for a great performance.

 

Well, yeah, but they are all copying the original..and most, IMO, use too much vocal pyro-technics.. Lisa Fischer has been the Stones live fe-male back-up singer since the 1989 tour. More often than not, she is Jagger's singing partner when they do the song live. The woman has an amazing range...maybe even more so than Merry Clayton. The difference is, though, when Clayton sang it, it was a studio track, and her "back-up" vocal, mixed with Richards' menacing guitar work, and the desperation of the lyrics all work together.

 

When they do the song live, now, it is done as more of a showcase for Fischer, almost like Mick is just along for the ride. Still sounds great, but her role is different in the way it is performed. Fischer has been one of the premiere studio vocalists in R-N-B for years...she is always the counter to Luther Vandross on his baby-making jams.

 

I have seen the Stones bring up Joan Osborne to do what Fischer does, and she can hold her own... but I have also seen Sheryl Crow do the same thing, and she sounded awful...not to knock Crow as an artist, but I can't for the life of me figure out how she got her start as a live-backup singer for Michael Jackson. It must have been cuz she looks good in skimpy outfits, she isn't really a great singer at all.

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I think Sheryl Crow has got a number of good songs, although might be prejudice because I like the way she looks!............But, I can't imagine her trying to sing the female part of Gimme Shelter.

 

Then, it's Lisa Fischer who I think is amazing, because the first time I remember hearing Gimme Shelter and all of us being blown away was the Steel Wheels concert in Syracuse in 1989...........And, then the times I've seen them since them, that song has been the concert highlight as well with her being the highlight of the song. Damn - what a voice!

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I think Sheryl Crow has got a number of good songs, although might be prejudice because I like the way she looks!............But, I can't imagine her trying to sing the female part of Gimme Shelter.

 

Then, it's Lisa Fischer who I think is amazing, because the first time I remember hearing Gimme Shelter and all of us being blown away was the Steel Wheels concert in Syracuse in 1989...........And, then the times I've seen them since them, that song has been the concert highlight as well with her being the highlight of the song. Damn - what a voice!

 

 

Agreed on Lisa Fischer...she has an amazing voice...they started doing "Gimmie Shelter" on that tour as a "show stopper" to feature her as a vocalist. The way that do it now is worlds different than they did the song on the early 70's tours. That 1989 tour was the first one where they used back-up vocalists on-stage.

 

As for Sheryl Crow, yeah, I thought her first 3 albums were really good but have pretty much lost interest in her at this point...she has the stench of John Mayer on her now...and her albums are just dull with a capital "D". But those early hits were solid...always thought "If It Makes You Happy" would have been a good single for the Stones. And yeah, she is pretty milfy, even today....

 

As a singer of two-part harmony accompaniment, Emmylou.

 

Good call...Gram Parson's "Grievous Angel" is a desert island record for me, thanks in no small part to Emmylou and GP's vocal chemistry.

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Good call...Gram Parson's "Grievous Angel" is a desert island record for me, thanks in no small part to Emmylou and GP's vocal chemistry.

 

Glad to know that Buftex.

 

I have Grievous Angel as part of a two CD pack with Gram's first album, "GP" which also features Emmylou.

 

Their work together on the tracks "Still Feelin' Blue" and "We'll Sweep Out the Ashes in the Morning" is absolutely sublime.

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Brent>Donna Jean

 

I would not really consider Brent a backup singer. I would however consider him by far the best keyboardist the Dead ever had. Look up his performance of Blow Away at JFK in Philadelphia in July 1989. Absolutely fantastic!

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