[4][5][6] After starting to sing in the local church, King moved with her family to Los Angeles when she was young, where she attended Fremont High School in 1961.

She contributed to early 1960s recordings by producer Phil Spector, such as "River Deep – Mountain High, and was a member of Ray Charles' Raelettes from 1965 to 1968.

[9][10] Reviewing her 1972 debut album Direct Me, Robert Christgau wrote in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981): "Clydie has a voice that's more sly Diana than robust Martha and addresses the title plea to Gabriel Mekler, who (this time, anyway) proves neither as sly nor as robust as Berry Gordy.

"[11] King provided backing vocals for Humble Pie, which had great success in the United States, and she went on to become an in-demand session singer, worked with Venetta Fields and Sherlie Matthews and recorded with B.B.

She was a member of The Blackberries with Fields and Matthews and sang on Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, which became a feature film.