Kliachkin was born on March 23, 1934, in Leningrad, Soviet Union.
[1] Kliachkin graduated from the Leningrad Engineering and Building Institute in 1957 and began working as an engineer at various building organizations in Leningrad.
At first his songs were based on other poets' lyrics, but he soon began to write his own as well, accompanying himself on a Russian seven-stringed guitar.
In total, Kliachkin composed more than 300 songs, 70 of them set to other poets' lyrics.
He continued to give concerts in Israel and in the United States.