Clarence Paul

Early life and career

He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, and was the brother of guitarist/songwriter, Lowman Pauling Jr. The two brothers co-founded The '5' Royales singing group. Their father was a coal miner in Bluefield, West Virginia, where the brothers listened to country music on the town's only radio station. In Winston-Salem, the brothers formed the gospel group, the Royal Sons Quintet, later to become The "5" Royales. Paul dropped the "ing" from his last name after moving to Detroit in the 1950s, so he would not to be confused with his older brother.

Writing and production career

In 1958, he had one of his first major songwriting credits. He co-wrote and recorded "I Need Your Lovin'" for the Hanover label. It was covered less than a year later, in 1959, and became a #14 R&B hit for Roy Hamilton.

At Motown, he gained fame as Stevie Wonder's mentor and main producer, during Wonder's teenage years. He also sang backup vocals on Wonder's top-ten version of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind". Paul also produced early Temptations records and wrote/co-wrote such hits as "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" originally for Wonder, and later given to Aretha Franklin who made it a #1 hit, and "Hitch Hike" for Marvin Gaye. Paul relocated from Detroit to Los Angeles in the early 1970s.

Later life

Paul retired to Las Vegas, Nevada. He died of complications of heart disease and diabetes, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California on May 6, 1995, at age 67.