R&B

Willie Clayton A gifted soul and blues singer and songwriter, Willie Clayton has been performing since the late ’60s. His reedy, thin, raw, whiskey-soaked voice melds the Southern gospel tradition with Chicago soul-blues, gritty Stax/Volt-styled funk and erotically charged urban R&B. From his earliest singles in the late ’60s and early ’70s (most produced by Willie Mitchell), Clayton established himself as an original, comfortable with virtually every style he took on. His 1984 single “Tell Me,” produced by General…