Alan Clayson

Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent, England)^[1] is a singer-songwriter, who was popular in the late 1970s as leader of Clayson and the Argonauts (who reformed in 2005). He is also a noted music biographer,^[2] journalist and solo entertainer.

Career

Clayson has written for a wide range of publications, including The Guardian, Record Collector, Ink, Mojo, Mediaeval World, Folk Roots, Guitar, Hello!, Vintage Rock, Drummer, Rock 'N' Reel, The Sunday Times, Rhythm, The Independent, Daily Telegraph, Ugly Things and, as a teenager, the Schoolkids OZ. He has also scripted and appeared as a commentator on various radio and television broadcasts. Clayson's compositions have been recorded by many musicians, including Dave Berry (in whose backing group Clayson played keyboards in the mid-1980s), Stairway, Jane Relf, The Electronic Males and Joy Tobing, winner of Indonesian Idol. He has also worked with the Portsmouth Sinfonia, Wreckless Eric, Twinkle, The Yardbirds, The Pretty Things, Mungo Jerry and Screaming Lord Sutch among others.

Now best known as a pop historian, Clayson has written around thirty books. Best sellers include Backbeat (Number 13 in Sunday Times list {18 April 1994}, Number six in Sunday Telegraph paperback list {8 May 1994}), subsequently made into a major film; Beat Merchants (Number nine in Mojo chart, December 1996), and an authorised biography of The Yardbirds (Number One in Mojo chart, December 2002). Among other subjects of Clayson's work are Edgard Varèse, Led Zeppelin, Jacques Brel, Serge Gainsbourg, individual members of The Beatles (later published as a four-book box-set), Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Yoko Ono, Keith Richards, Steve Winwood and death discs (focus of a BBC Radio Two programme, scripted and presented by the author, 19 November 1996).

References

External links

• Official website
• Alan Clayson discography at Discogs
• "Clayson, Alan". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 3 June 2010.