I have to admit, I don't know that much about Otis Clay. I've never heard the acclaimed sides he cut with Rick Hall for Cotillion, and his later work is a mystery to me (though Clay is apparently a soul icon in Japan...). But I know his best-known records, the ones he waxed with Willie Mitchell on Hi Records in the early 70's. Mitchell lent Clay bolder backing than he gave his more famous protégé, Al Green, and the results were steaming servings of Memphis soul stew. "Trying To Live My Life Without You" and "If I Could Reach Out" are two of the best.

Both are on the now-deleted Best Of Otis Clay: The Hi Records Years, and both are also on the strongly recommended various artists boxed set, Hi Times: The Hi Records R&B Years. You'll find good Otis Clay collections on the U.K. incarnation of Hi Records, too.