Born: July 4, 1943
Died: September 6, 2019.
Detroit based soul songwriter, producer, and recording engineer who was in charge of the quality control department for [l1723] Records in the 1970's. Founded the publishing company [l526577], and likely founded the Detroit soul label [l295116].
After successfully producing the hit single “Stand By Me” for
Spyder Turner in 1971, Clay worked in promotions for [l391882] in Detroit. Hired by Motown’s quality control department three years later, Clay’s job was to listen to every song that the label recorded. Within two years, he was bumped up to Producer and worked with
Gladys Knight And The Pips to produce their first hit single. “[m=478206]”, which he co-wrote with
LaVerne Ware and
Pam Sawyer. It peaked at #1 on the R&B chart in January 1971 before breaking the top ten on the Pop chart the following month. Other highlights of his illustrious career include work with
Rose Royce,
a185662,
The Supremes and
The Temptations, among others.