STEVE 'BIG MAN' CLAYTON

Steve Clayton ( 1962 ) was born in Birmingham, England and began to show
an interest in music at the age of 10. This prompted his father to buy an old
upright piano and he promptly shipped him off for weekly piano lessons, which he
would keep up for the next 5 years.
Towards the end of his music lessons, his music teacher composed a blues for him
to learn.
The different tones and rhythms were something totally new to somebody learning
the classics.
This new found music had an enormous effect on him; the record collection
mounted, spending all his pocket money on records by Cow Cow Davenport, Albert
Ammons and Memphis Slim, to name only a few. His time was spent at the piano,
trying to reproduce the sounds he was hearing.
It didn’t take long for Clayton to find his way into his first blues band after
leaving school, and he would spend the next few years learning his craft in
numerous local bands, being hailed as „The Ivory Maradona“ and „The Big Man of
Boogie Woogie“.
The „Big Man“ was requested to back visiting U.S. artists like Louisiana Red,
Shuggy Otis and Carey Bell, he toured Europe with them, he learnt from them.
He is also the man pounding the keys on the award winning CD “He knows the
blues”, by Otis Grand.
Learning to sing was a real turning point, it led him to song writing. The
results of which can be heard on his highly acclaimed debut album “Can’t Stop
The Boogie“, which he recorded in 1991 with his long time band “The 44’s“. This
prompted the German record label Hot Fox, to send him to Chicago to record his
second album “I Got A Right“, which features legends S. P. Leary and Lester “Mad
Dog“ Davenport (1993). Four more recordings would follow; “I got to sing these
blues“ (1999) , “You know what I mean“ (2000) , “Dirty Mistreater” (2004) , and
“Goin´ back to Birmingham” (2007).
The „Big Man“ was honoured as best piano player by the British Blues Connection
in 1995, 1997 and 1998 before leaving for the Boogie Woogie capitol of the world,
Germany, where he now resides.
It didn’t take long for him to make his mark here neither, winning a south
German prize as best artist for 2001.
The „Big Man“ sings and plays the blues as good as you could hear anywhere in
the world. He has taken the old style and put his own personal touch to it,
indeed........“there is no mistaking the unique sound of Steve „Big Man“ Clayton”.
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