Judy Clay

Although her deep, potent voice never translated to commercial success, Judy Clay deserves more than footnote status in the annals of Southern soul. The impact of her collaboration with Billy Vera as the first interracial male/female duo to record for a major label should also not be understated. Born Judy Guions in St. Paul, North Carolina on September 12, 1938, she began singing in church as a small child. As a teen, she relocated to Harlem and continued her choir activities there. At 13, Clay was adopted by Lee Drinkard, of the renowned gospel group the Drinkard Singers, which also included Drinkard's daughters, Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and sister Cissy Houston. Clay made her recorded debut with the Drinkards on the 1954 LP The Newport Spiritual Stars and remained with the group for the duration of the decade before she moved on to secular music, signed to Ember, and released her solo debut single "More Than You'd Know" in 1961. "Do You Think That's Right" appeared the following year, and while both captured soul music at its most visceral and poignant, neither record caught on at radio or retail, a pattern Clay proved unable to shake for the majority of her career. In 1963, she signed to the Lavette label, teaming with Little Lee for the duet "Everyday Since You've Been Gone," the first of many such collaborations spread across her discography. After a solo effort for Lavette, "Let It Be Me," Clay signed to Scepter in late 1963, by then also home to sibling Dionne Warwick. Her label debut, "You Busted My Mind," later earned considerable favor on Britain's Northern soul club circuit, but upon its initial release the record went nowhere, as did its 1964 follow-up "My Arms Aren't Strong Enough." After issuing her third Scepter effort, "Lonely People Do Foolish...