Clay was born in rural Bolivar County, Mississippi to a musical family, who moved in 1953 to Muncie, Indiana. After singing with local gospel group, the Voices of Hope, he returned to Mississippi to sing with the Christian Travelers, before settling in Chicago in 1957. There, he joined a series of gospel vocal groups including the Golden Jubilaires, the Famous Blue Jay Singers, the Holy Wonders, and the Pilgrim Harmonizers, before making his first solo secular recordings in 1962. They were unissued, and Clay joined the Gospel Songbirds, who recorded in Nashville in 1964 and who also included Maurice Dollison who sang R&B under the name Cash McCall, and then the Sensational Nightingales.
In 1965 Clay signed with One-derful! Records in Chicago, to make secular recordings. After releasing a series of gospel-tinged soul records, his first hit came in 1967 with "That's How It Is (When You're In Love)", which reached # 34 on the US Billboard R&B chart, followed by "A Lasting Love" (# 48 R&B). In 1968 the record company folded and his contract was bought by Atlantic Records, who launched their subsidiary Cotillion label with Clay's version of the Sir Douglas Quintet hit, "She's About A Mover", produced at the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals. The record became Clay's biggest pop hit, reaching # 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 (# 47 R&B). However, follow-ups on Cotillion, including "Hard Working Woman" produced by Syl Johnson, and "Is It Over?" produced by Willie Mitchell in Memphis, were less successful.
Clay moved to Mitchell's Hi Records in 1971, and made many of his best known soul blues records for the label. His biggest hit came in late 1972 with "Trying To Live My Life Without You," a # 102 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, # 70 on Cash Box, and # 24 R&B, which he followed up with "If I Could Reach Out". "Tryin' To Live My Life Without You" was later covered by Bob Seger, whose version made # 5 on the pop chart in 1981. After several more Hi singles and the album I Can't Take It, Clay moved to Kayvette Records, where he had his last national hit single in 1977, "All Because Of Your Love" (# 44 R&B). He later recorded for the Elka and Rounder labels, as well as his own Echo Records for whom he recorded the original version of "The Only Way Is Up" in 1980.
He remained a popular live act in Europe and Japan, as well as the US, and recorded three live albums, Soul Man: Live in Japan, Otis Clay Live(also in Japan on Victor VDP-5111) and Respect Yourself, recorded live at the Lucerne Blues Festival in Switzerland. In the 1990s he also recorded two soul albums for Bullseye Blues: I'll Treat You Right and the Willie Mitchell-produced This Time Around. In 2007, he recorded the gospel album Walk a Mile in My Shoes.
He was a nominee for a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance. As a resident of Chicago's West Side, he was actively involved in community-based economic and cultural initiatives, including the development of The Harold Washington Cultural Center. On August 11, 2012 he was one of several acts that performed at Lincoln Center Out of Doors Summer Concerts in New York City. He was backed by the band Platinum. Clay was joined on stage for the finale by William Bell and Teenie Hodges. Clay was one of the 2013 inductees to the Blues Hall of Fame. In 2015 Otis published with Billy Price the album This Time For Real.
He died of a heart attack on January 8, 2016, in Chicago, Illinois at the age of 73.
For The Good Times
Otis Clay Lyrics
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Was gonna keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
Your breath as hard as kerosene.
You weren't your mama's only boy,
But her favorite one it seems.
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
And sank into your dreams.
Pancho was a bandit boy,
His horse was fast as polished steel.
He wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel.
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico,
Nobody heard his dying words,
Ah but that's the way it goes.
All the Federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose.
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to.
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth.
The day they laid poor Pancho low,
Lefty split for Ohio.
Where he got the bread to go,
There ain't nobody knows.
All the Federales say
We could have had him any day.
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose.
The poets tell how Pancho fell,
And Lefty's living in cheap hotels
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold,
And so the story ends we're told.
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too.
He only did what he had to do,
And now he's growing old.
All the Federales say
We could have had him any day.
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose.
A few gray Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose.
The song "For The Good Times" by Otis Clay tells the story of two men, Pancho and Lefty, who are living their lives on the edge. The opening lyrics speak to the toll that a life on the road has taken on one of the men: "Living on the road my friend, was gonna keep you free and clean. Now you wear your skin like iron, your breath as hard as kerosene." This paints a vivid picture of a man who has spent most of his life traveling and has become hardened and weary as a result.
The song then goes on to tell the story of Pancho, a bandit boy who met his match in Mexico, and Lefty, his accomplice who fled to Ohio. The lyrics suggest that Pancho's fate was sealed, and even though the Federales could have caught him at any time, they chose not to out of kindness. Lefty, on the other hand, had to flee to Ohio, and nobody knows where he got the money to do it.
The song ends with a plea for both Pancho and Lefty, as they both did what they had to do, and the listeners should pray for both of them. The lyrics suggest that even the Federales, who were after them, were not entirely heartless and allowed them to escape because of their kindness. Overall, the song portrays the struggle of two men living on the edge, the hardship they faced, and how their fate was left to chance.
Line by Line Meaning
Living on the road my friend,
Was gonna keep you free and clean.
Traveling around was supposed to make you feel liberated and pure.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
Your breath as hard as kerosene.
Now you have a tough and rough exterior, and your breath is harsh, like a fuel.
You weren't your mama's only boy,
But her favorite one it seems.
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
And sank into your dreams.
You were not an only child, but your mom favored you. When you left, it made her cry and caused her to retreat into her imagination.
Pancho was a bandit boy,
His horse was fast as polished steel.
He wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel.
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico,
Nobody heard his dying words,
Ah but that's the way it goes.
Pancho was a criminal on a swift horse with a gun clearly visible, looking for confrontation. He eventually met someone as fierce as him in the deserts of Mexico, and his last words were unheard.
All the Federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose.
The law enforcement claims they could have caught him whenever but only allowed him to evade capture out of some sense of mercy.
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to.
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth.
The day they laid poor Pancho low,
Lefty split for Ohio.
Where he got the bread to go,
There ain't nobody knows.
Lefty, too, had rough times after Pancho's demise since his throat became dry, and only remnants of Pancho's death made their way to him. On the same day they buried Pancho, he fled to Ohio, without anyone aware of his source of income.
All the Federales say
We could have had him any day.
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose.
The authorities say they could have caught Lefty. It was a kindness on their part to let him go.
The poets tell how Pancho fell,
And Lefty's living in cheap hotels
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold,
And so the story ends we're told.
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too.
He only did what he had to do,
And now he's growing old.
The poets inform us of Pancho's demise, and Lefty is living under humble conditions. The desert is silent, yet Cleveland is harsh. The tale has come to an end, and both men need prayers, particularly Lefty, who did what he felt he had to do, and now he's aged.
All the Federales say
We could have had him any day.
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose.
Again, the authorities recall that they could have apprehended Lefty whenever, but they allowed him to be on the run for an extended period as an act of charity.
A few gray Federales say
We could have had him any day
We only let him go so long
Out of kindness, I suppose.
A few old authorities remember that they could have caught him sooner, but their benevolence got hold on them, allowing Lefty to escape for an extended period.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KRISTOFFER KRISTOFFERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind