David Clayton-Thomas, 1941 – 2026

British-born singer/songwriter David Clayton-Thomas, 84, died on June 24. The lead singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, he can be heard belting it out on such late-60s hits as "You've Made Me So Very Happy,” "Spinning Wheel,” and "And When I Die.” After a rough childhood (several stays in jail), he moved to the US and formed several musical groups; Blood, Sweat & Tears formed in 1967 and, after several personnel changes, split in 1981 (though they frequently reunited for tours). Clayton-Thomas was part of those reunions, and also toured and recorded on his own. He admitted to interviewer Ray Shasho, “When we started looking back at these songs and listening to the original recordings, we were pretty amazed how badly they were recorded. But it didn’t matter because the soul came through. Remember, they were probably recorded on a little four-track machine, they weren’t the greatest musicians in the world, I know on the Bobby Hebb tune ‘Sunny’ the horns were so out of tune that it made my teeth hurt. But it didn’t matter.”