Delbert McClinton
| Delbert McClinton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 4, 1940 Lubbock, Texas, U.S. |
| Origin | Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | Americana, blues rock,[1] electric blues,[1] roots rock, country |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Labels | LeCam, Soft, Bobill, Brownfield, Smash, Clean, Paramount, ABC, Mercury, Capitol, MCA, Alligator, Curb, Intermedia, Polygram, Rising Tide, New West, Direct Source |
| Associated acts | Tanya Tucker, Bekka Bramlett, Bonnie Raitt, Don Wise |
| Website | http://www.delbert.com |
Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940)[2] is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist.[1]
Active as a side-man since 1962 and as a band leader since 1972, he has recorded several major record label albums, and charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100, Mainstream Rock Tracks, and Hot Country Songs charts. His highest-peaking single was "Tell Me About It", a 1992 duet with Tanya Tucker which reached No. 4 on the Country chart. He has also had four albums that made it to No. 1 on the U.S. Blues chart, and another that reached No. 2.
He was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame,[3] in March 2011, along with Lee Roy Parnell, Bruce Channel, Gary Nicholson, and Cindy Walker.
Career
Early years
Delbert McClinton was born in Lubbock, Texas, United States, but relocated with his family to Fort Worth, Texas when he was age 11.[2] He worked in a bar band, The Straitjackets, who played backing to Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Jimmy Reed. McClinton recorded several regional singles before hitting the national chart in 1962, playing harmonica on Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby."[2] On a subsequent package tour to the United Kingdom, McClinton instructed John Lennon on the finer points of blues harmonica playing.[4]
McClinton formed the Ron-Dels, sometimes called Rondells with Ronnie Kelly and Billy Ray Sanders.[5][6][7] The band had a chart single in 1965 with "If You Really Want Me to I'll Go."[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]
1970s
Relocating to Los Angeles in 1972, McClinton partnered with fellow Texan, Glen Clark, to perform a combination of country and soul music. They achieved a degree of artistic success, releasing two albums before splitting and McClinton embarked on a solo career.[2]
Emmylou Harris had a No. 1 hit in 1978 with McClinton's composition "Two More Bottles of Wine," and his "B Movie Boxcar Blues" was covered on the first The Blues Brothers album, Briefcase Full of Blues.[2]
1980s and 1990s
McClinton's 1980 album, The Jealous Kind, contained his only Top 40 hit single, "Givin' It Up for Your Love", which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. After an inactive period during much of the 1980s, McClinton made a return in 1989 with the Grammy nominated Live From Austin album, recorded during an Austin City Limits appearance and co-produced by saxophonist Don Wise.[2]
His comeback continued in 1991 when he won a Grammy Award for his duet with Bonnie Raitt, "Good Man, Good Woman", and reached the Top 5 of the Country chart with the Tanya Tucker duet, "Tell Me About It."[2] McClinton reentered the Billboard charts in 1992 with his "Never Been Rocked Enough" release, which included the charting "Every Time I Roll the Dice" and a cover of John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me."
McClinton recorded the opening title song "Weatherman" for the 1992 Bill Murray film Groundhog Day. The fledgling label Rising Tide released One of the Fortunate Few in 1997, before the label went out of business.[2]
2000–present
In addition to releasing two new studio albums in the early 2000s, New West Records issued Delbert McClinton Live in 2003, a compilation album of songs from throughout his career. In 2006, McClinton won a Grammy Award for his album The Cost of Living in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category.[2]
McClinton was a judge for the fourth annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.[17]
McClinton is the feature of the musical documentary, Rocking the Boat: A Musical Conversation and Journey, by the film maker Jay Curlee. In December 2011, McClinton is still active and appeared on the Fox Business Network Channel.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album[18] | Chart Positions[19] | Label | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Blues | US Country | US | US Indie | |||
| 1972 | Delbert & Glen | Clean | ||||
| 1973 | Subject to Change | |||||
| 1975 | Victim of Life's Circumstances | ABC | ||||
| 1976 | Genuine Cowhide | |||||
| 1977 | Love Rustler | 49 | ||||
| 1978 | Second Wind | Mercury | ||||
| 1979 | Keeper of the Flame | 146 | ||||
| 1980 | The Jealous Kind | 34 | Capitol | |||
| 1981 | Plain from the Heart | 181 | ||||
| 1987 | Honky Tonkin' | MCA | ||||
| 1989 | Honky Tonkin' | Alligator | ||||
| Live from Austin | ||||||
| 1990 | I'm with You | Curb | ||||
| 1992 | Never Been Rocked Enough | 118 | ||||
| 1993 | Feelin' Alright | Intermedia | ||||
| Delbert McClinton | Curb | |||||
| 1994 | Shot from the Saddle | Mercury | ||||
| Honky Tonk 'n Blues | MCA | |||||
| 1995 | Let the Good Times Roll | |||||
| 1997 | One of the Fortunate Few | 2 | 15 | 116 | Rising Tide | |
| 2001 | Nothing Personal | 1 | 20 | 103 | 3 | New West |
| 2002 | Room to Breathe | 1 | 12 | 84 | 3 | |
| 2003 | Live | 44 | 31 | |||
| 2005 | Cost of Living | 1 | 14 | 105 | 16 | |
| 2006 | Live from Austin, TX | |||||
| 2007 | Rockin' Blues | Direct Source | ||||
| 2009 | Acquired Taste | 1 | 131 | 23 | New West | |
| 2013 | Blind, Crippled and Crazy | 172 | ||||
Compilation albums
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Very Early Delbert McClinton Volume 1 | LeCam |
| Very Early Delbert McClinton Volume 2 | LeCam | |
| 1989 | The Best of Delbert McClinton | Curb |
| 1994 | Classics, Volume 1 | Capitol |
| Classics, Vol. 2: Plain from the Heart | Curb | |
| 1995 | Great Songs: Come Together | |
| 1999 | Crazy Cajun Recordings | Edsel |
| The Ultimate Collection | Hip-O | |
| 2000 | Don't Let Go: The Collection | Music Club |
| Genuine Rhythm & the Blues | Hip-O | |
| 2003 | 20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of Delbert McClinton |
MCA |
| 2006 | The Definitive Collection | Hip-O |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [20] |
US AC[21] | US Country | US MSR | CAN | CAN Country | |||
| 1965 | "If You Really Want Me To, I'll Go" (The Ron-Dels) | 97 | — | — | — | — | Very Early Delbert McClinton Volume 1 | |
| 1972 | "I Received a Letter" (Delbert & Glen) | 90 | — | — | — | — | — | Delbert & Glen |
| 1980 | "Giving It Up for Your Love" | 8 | 35 | — | — | 10 | — | The Jealous Kind |
| 1981 | "Shotgun Rider" | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | Plain from the Heart |
| "Sandy Beaches" | 101 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990 | "I'm with You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | I'm with You |
| 1992 | "Every Time I Roll the Dice" | — | — | — | 13 | 40 | — | Never Been Rocked Enough |
| 1995 | "Come Together" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Come Together: America Salutes the Beatles |
| 1997 | "Sending Me Angels" | — | — | 65 | — | — | 92 | One of the Fortunate Few |
| 2001 | "When Rita Leaves" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Nothing Personal |
| 2002 | "Same Kind of Crazy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Room to Breathe |
| "Lone Star Blues" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | "One of the Fortunate Few" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Cost of Living |
| "I Had a Real Good Time" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2006 | "Midnight Communion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2009 | "Mama's Little Baby" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Acquired Taste |
| "Starting a Rumor" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
Guest singles
| Year | Single | Artist | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Country | CAN Country | ||||
| 1993 | "Tell Me About It" | Tanya Tucker | 4 | 3 | Can't Run from Yourself |
References
- 1 2 3 Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Biography by Steve Huey". Allmusic.com. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
- ↑ Texasheritagesongwriters.com
- ↑ Delbert.com
- ↑ Willie Nelson: An Epic Life 0316031984 Joe Nick Patoski - 2008 The house band at the Tracer was the Ron-Dels, a white-boy blues, rock, and country band led by a soulful singer named Delbert McClinton and his buddies Ronnie Kelly and Billy Ray Sanders. Willie picked up day jobs wherever he could.
- ↑ Handbook of Texas Music 0876112971 Laurie E. Jasinski - 2012 Another young Lubbock group, Delbert McClinton and the Ron-Dels, recorded “If You Really Want Me To I'll Go.” McClinton, who had cut his musical teeth on the Jacksboro Highway blues scene of Fort Worth, had established himself as a ...
- ↑ Texas Monthly - apr. 1979 - Page 183 McClinton' s sides, of the same vintage, display his capable voice leading the Ron-Dels and the Straight- jackets, two prominent Fort Worth white punk groups of the day. If you can ignore the primitive quality of both local recordings and if you ...
- ↑ All Music Guide to Country: 0879307609 Page 480 Vladimir Bogdanov, Chris Woodstra, Stephen Thomas Erlewine - 2003 Upon returning to the U.S., McClinton founded a group called the Rondells (sometimes listed as the Ron-Dels), which had a minor chart single in 1965 with "If You Really Want Me to. I'll Go." Although the Rondells recorded for several different ...
- ↑ Jim Payne The Great Drummers of R and B Funk and Soul - 2010 Page 200 The band was called the Ron-dels then. They had a record out, “If You Really Want Me To, I'll Go,” and it was moving up the charts. So I took a stab at it and went back to Fort Worth. Mike Clark was playing drums with them. He was leaving and ..."
- ↑ Edward Komara, Peter Lee - The Blues Encyclopedia - 2004 Page 666 - In the mid-1960s he had a group called the Ron Dels that produced one minor single, and later in the decade he worked the Texas bar circuit. In the early 1970s he recorded two albums with Glen Clark, and went on to secure a solo contract in ...
- ↑ Jan Reid The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock -2010 Page 298 Later McClinton fronted a popular Fort Worth band called the Ron-Dels. But all that was just a prelude. He had finally reached the age of being legal in a Texas bar when he played the harmonica solo on Bruce Channel's "Hey! Baby."
- ↑ Paul Kingsbury -The Encyclopedia of Country Music 019984044X 1998 While on tour with Channel in the United Kingdom, McClinton shared his stylings with John Lennon, and his influence can be heard clearly on the Beatles' “Love Me Do.” In 1964 and 1965 McClinton teamed with Ronnie Kelly as the Ron-Dels.
- ↑ The Southwest - Page 324 0313328056 Mark Busby - 2004 The results can be heard on the Fab Four's "Love Me Do." After having regional hits in the 1960s with the Ron-Dels and with Delbert and Glen, McClinton began a solo career in the early 1970s. At first he was marketed as a country artist, but
- ↑ Alan B. Govenar Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound - Page 203 158544605X - 2008 - So the next band I had was called The Rondells. and we were kind of a big deal around here [in Fort Worth] , and then that finally came apart. I stayed around and had any number of bands. Every week I'd call it something else.
- ↑ Texas Monthly - juin 1976 - Page 124 ... to an enormous dance hall. More than 850 guests attended the reception, or more than a fourth of the population of the town (and there were two other large weddings that day). Music was provided by the Rondells, a group from Yoakum.
- ↑ The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock & Roll - Page ix 0285640240 Charlie Gillett - 2011 "Delbert McClinton, a singer, harmonica player and guitarist who recorded with the Straight Jackets (a rousing version of Billy Emerson's “Every Woman I Know is Crazy About Automobiles”) and the Rondells (“If You Really Want Me To, I'll Go”).
- ↑ Independent Music Awards – Past Judges
- ↑ Delbert McClinton discography at WangDangDula.com
- ↑ Delbert McClinton - Billboard Charts - Allmusic
- ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2011). Top Pop Singles 1955–2010. Record Research, Inc. p. 584. ISBN 0-89820-188-8.
- ↑
External links
|