November
Feature Story
Delbert
McClinton
by Mark Hoffman
11/28 @ Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA; 11/30 @ Paramount
Theatre, Seattle
He's hiding behind his hat on the cover of his last album,
Nothing Personal, but in person, Delbert McClinton is seemingly
incapable of hiding his emotions behind a song. He's one
of the great live blues performers in America today-a veritable
Rhodes Scholar of roots music, having played the roadhouse
circuit across Texas and the rest of the South for 40+ years
with almost all the big names. His whiskey-pitted voice
cuts right through everything he sings, and he plays guitar,
organ, and blues harp like a veteran who's heard it all
before and done it again anyway.
Like anyone who's (mis)spent his youth in
honky tonks, McClinton doesn't make music for kids. As
he sings in "Livin' It Down" from his new album:
"Sometimes you get the honey/Sometimes all you get
is the sting."
McClinton was born in Lubbock, Texas, but grew up in Fort
Worth, where he once played in a band at one of Jack Ruby's
strip clubs. A fellow Cowtown rocker named Bruce Channel
took him to England in 1962 behind a classic hit called
"Hey! Baby," whose signature was McClinton's
searing harp lick. In Liverpool, a member of an up-and-coming
band pestered McClinton for harp tips.
John Lennon's harp work on the Beatles'
"Love Me Do" was the result. After stints with
bands such as the Ron-Dels and a collaboration with Glen
Clark in the early '70s, McClinton released his first
solo album in 1975: Victim of Life's Circumstances. This
album became the template for later critically-lauded
albums such as Love Rustler, Second Wind (whose "B-Movie
Box Car Blues" was appropriated by the Blues Brothers),
and The Jealous Kind, featuring the Top 10 hit "Givin'
It Up For Your Love."
McClinton's 1989 album Live From Austin was nominated for
a Grammy for "Best Contemporary Blues Album,"
and in 1992, he won a Grammy for his duet with Bonnie Raitt
on "Good Man/Good Woman" from Raitt's album Luck
of the Draw. Another hit, "Everytime I Roll the Dice,"
emerged from his 1992 album Never Been Rocked Enough. His
critically acclaimed 1997 album One of the Fortunate Few
featured appearances by B.B. King, Mavis Staples, John Prine,
Patty Loveless, Vince Gill, Lyle Lovett, and others. McClinton
now lives in Nashville, where he's became one of the most
sought-after tunesmiths in Music City with songs on albums
by Vince Gill, Wynonna Judd, and others. He may call Nashville
home, but his real home is the road. If you're looking for
roots music that crosses boundaries and borders with its
heart intact, you won't hear anything better than Delbert's
live show at the Paramount Theatre on 11/30.
You also might want to consider Delbert's Sandy Beaches
Cruise, which wanders through the Caribbean every January
for a few weeks of sun and fun. This year's cruise features
Marcia Ball, Portland's Lloyd Jones Struggle, the Del McCoury
Band, Tommy Castro, Bonnie Bramlett, and others. For more
details, visit Delbert's
site.
2002