Tony Collins, her former husband, said her death, at Monrovia Memorial Hospital, was caused by complications of a blood infection she had acquired during dialysis treatment.
King joined Bob Dylan’s band in 1980, when he was in the midst of his Christian-rock phase, beginning a long association with him. Dylan had recently converted to evangelical Christianity, and the two bonded over music and faith. She became a central part of his ensemble, and they started a romantic relationship that lasted through the mid-'80s.
In a statement to the media on the occasion of King’s death, Dylan said: “She was my ultimate singing partner. No one ever came close. We were two soul mates.”
King recorded dozens of songs under her own name in the 1960s, and in the next decade she released a smattering of solo albums on independent labels. But she never scored a breakthrough hit. Instead, by the mid-'70s she had established herself as a first-call backing vocalist, working with B.B. King, Joe Cocker, Odetta, Steely Dan and many others.
Starting in 1966 she spent three years as a core member of Ray Charles’ famed backing vocal troupe, the Raelettes. Another member was Merry Clayton, who also went on to become a top-tier background singer and collaborated frequently with King over the coming decade.
In the early 1970s, King was a leader of the Blackberries, a soul- and disco-oriented group that recorded for Motown’s West Coast affiliate, Mowest. She released three solo albums for small labels in the '70s: “Direct Me,” a sparky soul-funk effort, in 1971; “Brown Sugar,” in 1973; and “Rushing to Meet You,” with a disco bent, in 1976.
She stepped away from performing in the mid-'80s for health reasons, and never made a full comeback.
King is survived by a sister, Enober Green; a brother, Willie King; two sons, Christopher and Randy Hale, from her marriage to Robin Hale; and a number of grandchildren. A third son from that marriage, Magge Hale, died before her, as did a daughter, Delores Collins, from her marriage to Collins. Both marriages ended in divorce.
Clydie Mae King was born in Dallas on Aug. 21, 1943. Her mother died when she was 2 years old, and she was raised primarily by her older sister, Lula Mae Crittendon.
King sang in her church choir as a child, and she stood out early. At age 8, she appeared on a national television show hosted by Art Linkletter.
Soon after, her family moved to Los Angeles, where King started her recording career at 13, fronting a doo-wop group called Little Clydie and the Teens. Over the succeeding years she recorded frequently as a leader, mostly in a classic doo-wop or soul style, for the Specialty, Philips, Minit and Imperial labels.
One day in June 1973, at a time when she was working constantly as a background vocalist, she called Clayton and asked her to participate in the recording of “Sweet Home Alabama.” Clayton initially resisted, offended by the song’s lyrics. The irony was not lost on King, either, that two black women might contribute to a song seen by many as celebrating the conservative backlash against civil rights. But she persuaded Clayton to do the session anyway, and together their boisterous voices helped define what became a smash hit.
“We really wanted nothing to do with any type of Alabama at that time in our lives,” Clayton recalled in an interview shortly after the release in 2013 of “20 Feet From Stardom,” Morgan Neville’s Oscar-winning documentary about backup singers. (That film helped bring Clayton’s career out of the shadows, but it did not feature King.)
“That was a part of our protest, you know?” Clayton told Rolling Stone. “We couldn’t stand on the front lines, but we could certainly sing ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ with all of our hearts and souls — a song that will live in infamy.”
King first worked with Dylan on the sessions for “Saved” (1980), his second of three religious albums. She is also heard with him on “Shot of Love” (1981), his final Christian album; “Infidels” (1983); and the 2018 archival collection “The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979-1981.”
King and Dylan made a wealth of recordings as a duet, which have yet to be released. “There must be at least an album’s worth. We would often go into the studios and do little things,” King said in a 2007 interview with In the Basement, a British music magazine. “I don’t know why nothing was ever issued. I expect it had to do with record company politics.”
The 2017 concert film “Trouble No More,” centering on footage from Dylan’s 1980 tours, features King prominently. It closes with her and Dylan seated together at the piano, singing a tender duet on “Abraham, Martin and John.”
Alongside King, Dylan’s famously mercurial voice becomes clear and well pitched, and the two harmonize with ease. They appear to be playing to a largely empty arena, presumably during a sound check — but they seem unconcerned about who is or isn’t listening, lost as they are inside the music.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.