Canada's Walk of Fame
David Clayton-Thomas began his amazing journey as a homeless street kid and developed into one of the most recognizable singer/songwriters in the world, to date selling over 40 million records. In 1996, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.
His 1968 debut album with Blood Sweat & Tears sold 10 million copies worldwide. The self-titled record topped the Billboard album chart for seven weeks, charted for a staggering 109 weeks and won an unprecedented five Grammy awards.
He was born David Henry Thomsett in Surrey, England, on Sept, 13, 1941. His father Fred Thomsett, was a Canadian soldier, his mother Freda, a British music student. After the war, the family settled in Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto. A tough, angry street kid with a hair-trigger temper, it wasn't long before David ran afoul of the law.
After teaching himself to play the guitar, David was singing and playing at jailhouse concerts. The legendary Ronnie Hawkins took him under his wing shortly after his release and it wasn't long before David was fronting his own bands. The first was called David Clayton-Thomas and The Fabulous Shays. By this time David had changed his name to distance himself from his troubled teenage years.
In 1964 The Shays travelled to New York City to appear on NBC-TV's Hullabaloo at the invitation of its host, fellow Canadian Paul Anka. After his return to Toronto, David's bar band soon drifted away, which led to his next band, The Bossmen. In 1966, he wrote an explosive anti-war song Brainwashed. It rocketed to number one nationally and dominated the Canadian charts for sixteen weeks.
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David left the band in 1972, exhausted by life on the road. By the mid-70's the founding members began to drift away to start families and pursue their own musical ambitions. After a three-year hiatus David returned and he continued to tour successfully under the BS&T name until 2004.??
Today, living back in Toronto, his boyhood turf and the place where he still feels most at home, David has launched a 10 piece band under his own name.
Interesting note
Growing up, he was taught music by his mother but had difficulties in what was a dysfunctional family. He left home in his early teens. 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).Inductees
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David Clayton-Thomas
Year of Induction: 2010
Area of Recognition: Music
Born: September 13, 1941
Where: Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, UK
Notable Achievements
- His band Blood, Sweat and Tears was the first western band to tour behind the Iron Curtain. The band agreed to do this in exchange for Clayton-Thomas getting permanent residency status in the US as he was in the US as an illegal immigrant yet the band had 3 top selling albums. (Revealed by Clayton Thomas in an interview on CBC radio's Go 13 March 2010)
