Merry Clayton Quotes

Artist development is something that I've been passionate about from my days at Uptown and Motown Records.

I would love to continue working behind the scenes in music - to produce and manage up-and-coming musical talent would be a dream!

I am a singer first and foremost. I was lucky enough to have a manager, when I was 15, who knew the heads of a lot of record labels at the time.

You know, Simon he's an artist representative, but Randy and Paula actually were in the industry as artists so they had, you know, the information that they offered to us from their aspect.

Roc was only supposed to be our distributor, but then they ended up recruiting me as the label's artist. They said they really liked my album 'Everything You Wanted.'

In 1985, I went to work for MTM Records, Mary Tyler Moore's Nashville record label, and stayed three years. After that, I spent two years as an independent promoter, then worked for MCA Nashville Records, DreamWorks Nashville, and Universal Music Nashville.

When I was 13, I was saying that I wanted to be signed to a label. I was begging my dad to get me signed with somebody.

After giving countless hit songs, I felt saturated. I decided to do music only for my own films and music albums. And so, I decided to start my own music label.

I want to have a publishing company and a record label, and I want to manage five artists... eventually.

I'm so glad I didn't go into the big-music industry until I was 19 or 20.

When I was 17-years-old, I was in the music business.

Mostly I've never let record companies become involved with my music, which was a very smart thing that my first manager Dave Robinson did, to keep them out of it.

I was kicked off a record label and didn't get picked up again. It was devastating at first because I thought, 'Oh my God. My career is over. What's gonna happen? What am I going to do?' Once I got that I could have a career, a very good career, without having a hit record, then I changed.

The record company stay out of my way. Whenever the record is finished, they take it.

I certainly don't want to be a record label guy.

Well, I tried to get a record deal in 1966 or '67, and everyone thought I was too eclectic.

I'd done recordings, little demos, since I was in college, which I used to get gigs. But I never thought I'd have a record label.

Yes; my brother Bobby used to distribute records at King Records. I had a job there, too, packing records up and shipping them off. But I always wanted to play sessions at Stax, so I figured out a way to do it.

Doing things in my day was simple: you either signed to a big label or you signed to a very small label, and you worked with that one, and then they eventually signed you on to a big one.

I love producing. I have been producing some acts and starting a label.

If you have good songs and a real desire to make music, the next thing to do, instead of approach record companies, is to get yourself a really good manager because then it allows you to focus on your profession of being a musician. Then they can focus on the darker art of the record label and the music industry.

This is truly a blessing. Breyon Prescott, Peter Edge and Tom Corson believe in me and have introduced me to a home that also believes and knows exactly what to do with the type of music I'm doing.

I was signed by L.A. Reid on Arista Records when I was 16. He understood me and believed in me. Arista folded and I got put on RCA or whatever, then there were new people there, and every six months it changes and more new people come in.

I did my thing with Jive. I was a national recording artist, but I had run into a wall.

I think, back in the day, when I was first starting to make music, all I wanted to do was to get a record deal.