Joe Clay

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Joe Clay (b. Claiborne Joseph Cheramie, 1939) is an American rockabilly musician from Gretna, Louisiana.

Clay first began performing at age 12 in a country band, who were offered a spot performing on local radio station WWEZ. RCA subsidiary Vik Records signed him a few years later, while he was still in his teens; he recorded in New York with guitarists Mickey Baker and Skeeter Best, bassist Leonard Gaskin, and drummers Bobby Donaldson and Joe Marshall. In 1956, he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, a few months before Elvis Presley played there, and played a cover of The Platters' hit "Only You". Clay would later play guitar on some of Elvis's recordings, but his manager would not let him tour outside the New Orleans area, and he never scored a hit.

After being dropped from RCA, he continued performing in New Orleans for over 30 years. In the 1980s, the rockabilly revival in Europe resulted in renewed interest in Clay; he then toured England in 1986.

[edit] Discography

Year	Title	Record label
1956	Duck Tail / Sixteen Chicks	Vik Records
1956	Get On The Right Track / Cracker Jack	Vik Records
1962	Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind / Don’t Know What To Do	Samter Records
1963	Love You / My Heart Loves Only You	Samter Records
1963	I Get So Blue / Little Darlin’	Samter Records
	Did You Mean Jelly Bean Doggone Goodbye, Goodbye Slippin’ Out And Sneakin’ In You Look That Good To Me	Vik Records (not issued)

[edit] References

• Joe Clay at All Music Guide