New Bedford Folk Singer Paul Clayton Was a Mentor to Dylan and a WBSM Host

Paul Clayton arrived on the folk music scene before Bob Dylan and in fact taught the "unwashed vagabond" a few tricks of the trade.

Paul Clayton Worthington was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on March 3, 1931, and raised on Summer Street.

A folksinger and folklorist, he was an important part of the folk revival of the 1950s and '60s.

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Robbie Woliver's 1986 book Bringing It All Back Home says Dylan "borrowed" from a Clayton song in writing the Dylan classic, "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," resulting in lawsuits that were ultimately settled out of court.

SouthCoastToday.com reported that when Clayton was only 15, he hosted folk music programs on several local radio stations, including WBSM. The paper says many of the songs Clayton collected "appeared on the 1955 recording Whaling Songs & Ballads.

Clayton signed with Folkway Records, for whom he recorded several albums of eclectic folk material.

A graduate of New Bedford High School, Clayton attended the University of Virginia.

Bob Coltman's 2008 book, Paul Clayton and the Folksong Revival says Clayton was a closeted homosexual.

READ MORE: Folk Icon Joan Baez Found Her Voice in Massachusetts

Clayton was arrested on marijuana charges in 1966, but the charges were eventually dropped due to questions about the legality of search warrants.

On March 30, 1967, several days after the drug charges were dropped, Clayton committed suicide in his New York apartment. He is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford.

While active, Clayton released more than 20 albums and seven singles, including "San Francisco Bay Blues," between 1954 and 1965.