Alan Clayson

British singer

Alan Clayson (born 3 May 1951, Dover, Kent) is an English singer songwriter, author and music journalist. He gained popularity in the late 1970s as leader of the band Clayson and the Argonauts. In addition to contributing to publications such as Record Collector, Mojo and Folk Roots, he subsequently established himself as a prolific writer of music biographies. Among his many books are Backbeat, which details the Beatles' early career in Germany, Ringo Starr: Straight Man or Joker?, and biographies of Jacques Brel, the Yardbirds, Serge Gainsbourg and Edgard Varèse. Clayson has also contributed to The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Independent and Rock 'n' Reel.

According to Clayson, his first band was Ace and the Crescents, which he formed in the mid 1960s with fellow students from "a truly desperate grammar school for boys near Aldershot [in Hampshire]". He recalls visiting the Beatles' Apple Corps headquarters in 1968, in an unsuccessful attempt to have Apple publish his poetry. Inspired in part by Frank Zappa's work as an artist and performer, he formed Clayson and the Argonauts in the late 1970s. Clayson continued as a recording artist and solo performer. The Village Voice described his act as "more than just a performance; an experience". His work has also appeared in Hello!, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph and Ugly Things. As a pop music historian, Clayson has written over thirty books. beginning with the 1990 publication of The Quiet One: A Life of George Harrison. The four titles were re released as a box set in 2003 by Sanctuary Publishing. Clayson's volume on Ringo Starr, subtitled Straight Man or Joker?, remains a rare work dedicated to the drummer's career. In his overview of the most popular Beatles books, for Rough Guides, Chris Ingham writes that the four volumes "have been described as Beatles flavoured teabags in a cup full of Clayson", due to the author's tendency to refer to his own musical career and insert his "harmless prejudices" in the narrative. Ingham concedes, however, that "as a second generation veteran of the British beat scene, [Clayson's] point of view usually contains a certain authenticity and authority." French composer Edgard Varèse and Belgian chansonnier Jacques Brel. His other subjects include Led Zeppelin, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Keith Moon, Roy Orbison, Yoko Ono and the Troggs. Aside from his writing on popular music, Clayson has presented radio programs and lectured on music in Britain and the United States.