By Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
REMEMBERING OTIS
I
f you ever saw Otis Clay perform, you
were graced with both the dynamic
showmanship of a classic soul-blues
belter and the open-hearted humility of a
faithful gospel singer. It’s significant that
Otis smoothly straddled both ends of the
blues spectrum-pouring out gritty vocals
of love and life with a soul singer’s pas-
sion and offering up hope and redemption
filled with misery/If I could help some-
body/help somebody find their way/
then I’ve had a good day.”
That Otis picked this tune, out of his
hundreds of recordings as his favorite,
speaks volumes about what he considered
important in life. Clearly, he took the
words seriously because he was noted not
just as a musician but as a humanitarian.
Otis Clay
on gospel standards. He refused to classify
his sound, simply calling it good music.
With Otis’ sudden passing last month, he’s
left a legacy that touches on a range of
American music, from blues, to soul and
gospel.
Born in the small Delta town of
Waxhaw, Mississippi, the youngest of 10
children, Otis’ early life was steeped in
religion. His family attended church once
or twice a week and sang spirituals at
home and in the fields as they were plant-
ing cotton and soybeans. They weren’t
allowed to sing secular music but Otis
managed to listen to a lot of it--soaking up
sounds from Nashville radio stations and
catching snippets of blues rhythms during
weekend fish frys. By the time his family
moved to Chicago in 1957, Otis was per-
forming with gospel groups with an eye
toward secular music. Observing the path
of his idol, Sam Cooke, Otis began record-
ing R & B sides in the early ‘60s.
His raw, soul-drenched singing on
tunes like ‘Flame in Your Heart” and
“That’s How It Is” on Chicago’s One-der-
ful! Records captured a local audience,
with the latter hitting the Billboard charts.
But it was his move to Memphis-based HI
Records that would help define Otis’
career. The combination of Southern soul
whipped up with blues and gospel was
what Hi Records was noted for and Otis
perfected the sound on his breakout hit,
“Trying To Live My Life Without You.”
Overflowing with gospel conviction and
blues spirit, Otis served up the 1972 classic
with a vocal style that set the standard for
the developing genre of soul blues. The
1981 cover by Bob Seger reached the
Billboard Top Ten and created more
awareness for the song – but Otis’ original
remains the definitive version.
“If I Could Reach Out (And Help
Somebody)” was another Hi classic that
Otis considered one of his best, recording
it three times over his five decade career.
Smoothing out his tenor to deliver a soul
song that’s basically a sermon set to music,
Otis declared “If I could help someone
who's blind see/ brighten someone’s life
14 illinoisentertainer.com may 2020
As a long-time resident of Chicago’s West
Side, he served on the board of the com-
munity organization People For New
Direction, which worked to create eco-
nomic opportunities to address the com-
munity’s challenges. He also volunteered
as Chairman of the Board for the Tobacco
Road non-profit, which spearheaded the
development of the Harold Washington
Cultural Center, in the heart of
Bronzeville, Chicago’s historic blues corri-
dor. But Otis is most remembered for his
generosity in sharing his gift with people
who needed it. Such were his gospel pow-
ers that his performance of “When The
Gates Swing Open” (from his 1993 gospel
CD The Gospel Truth) was requested at
funerals across the city, especially for fel-
low blues musicians. For over two
decades, he performed the heart-stopping,
old-school spiritual for friends and
strangers and he refused no requests.
During the ‘80s and ‘90s, Otis devel-
oped a strong following in Europe and
Japan for his perfect mix of soul, blues and
gospel. His 1983 album Soul Man: Live In
Japan (Bullseye Blues) solidified his posi-
tion as torch bearer for soul blues. But he
also continued producing gospel music,
winning a Grammy nomination for 2007’s
Walk A Mile In My Shoes (Echo). The recog-
nition kept coming as he was inducted
into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2013. He
headlined the Chicago Blues Fest that
same year, thrilling the crowd with ener-
getic showmanship and powerful vocals.
His 2014 collaboration with Johnny Rawls,
Soul Brothers (Catfood Records) acted as an
overview of his dynamic career, supplying
soul, blues and gospel tunes in one melod-
ic package.
At 73, Otis Clay was one of the last
master soul-blues men who continued to
honor his blues and gospel roots equally.
He was gifted, yet humble and although
his kind-hearted presence will be
missed,the gates of heaven will definitely
swing open – welcoming Otis Clay.
This column originally appeared
in January 2016
Continued on page 44