Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, he has recorded albums for several major

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s and singles that have reached the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Mainstream Rock Tracks, and Hot Country Songs charts. His highest-charting single was "Tell Me About It", a 1992 duet with Tanya Tucker, which reached number 4 on the Country chart. Four of his albums have been number 1 on the Blues chart, and another reached number 2. His highest charting pop hit was 1980's "Giving It Up for Your Love," which peaked at number 8 on the Hot 100. McClinton has earned four Grammy Awards; 1992 Rock Performance by a Duo with Bonnie Raitt for "Good Man, Good Woman"; 2002 Contemporary Blues Album for ''Nothing Personal''; 2006 Best Contemporary Blues Album for ''Cost of Living,'' and 2020

Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award w ...

for ''Tall, Dark, & Handsome.'' He has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards as of 2020. He was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame in March 2011, along with Lee Roy Parnell,

Bruce Channel Bruce Channel ( ; born November 28, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his 1962 million-selling number-one hit record, " Hey! Baby". Career Channel performed originally for the radio program '' Louisiana Hayride'' and t ...

, Gary Nicholson, and

Cindy Walker Cindy Walker (July 20, 1918 – March 23, 2006) was an American songwriter, as well as a country music singer and dancer. She wrote many popular and enduring songs recorded by many artists. She adopted a craftsman-like approach to her songw ...

. In 2019, Delbert McClinton was honored by the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas with the fifth star in their Walk of Fame. (Others are actors Jaston Williams and Joe Sears, and musical artists

Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country music and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He was bes ...

and Lyle Lovett).

Career

Early years

McClinton was born in Lubbock, Texas, and relocated with his family to

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

, when he was 11 years old. He worked in a bar band, the Straitjackets, who played backing

Sonny Boy Williamson II Alex or Aleck Miller (originally Ford, possibly December 5, 1912 – May 24, 1965), known later in his career as Sonny Boy Williamson, was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter. He was an early and influential blues harp st ...

Howlin' Wolf Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer and guitarist. He is regarded as one of the most influential blues musicians of all time. Over a four-decade care ...

Lightnin' Hopkins Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list ...

, and

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

. McClinton recorded several regional singles before hitting the national chart in 1962, playing harmonica on Bruce Channel's "

Hey! Baby "Hey! Baby" is a song written by Margaret Cobb and Bruce Channel, first recorded at Clifford Herring Studios in Ft. Worth Tx, and recorded by Channel in 1961, first released on LeCam Records, a local Fort Worth, Texas label. After it hit, it was ...

". On a tour with Channel in the United Kingdom, McClinton instructed

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

on the finer points of blues harmonica playing. McClinton formed the Ron-Dels, sometimes called the Rondells, with Ronnie Kelly and Billy Wade Sanders. The band had a chart single in 1965 with "If You Really Want Me To I'll Go."

1970s

Relocating to Los Angeles in 1972, McClinton partnered with fellow Texan Glen Clark to perform a combination of

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

. They achieved a degree of artistic success, releasing two albums before splitting and McClinton embarked on a solo career. Emmylou Harris had a number 1 hit in 1978 with her recording of McClinton's composition " Two More Bottles of Wine," and a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of his "B Movie Boxcar Blues" was on the first album by the Blues Brothers, '' Briefcase Full of Blues''.

1980s and 1990s

McClinton's 1980 album, ''The Jealous Kind'', contained his only

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "cont ...

hit single, "Giving It Up for Your Love", which peaked at number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 35 Adult Contemporary. He was inactive in the studio during much of the 1980s, though toured heavily. McClinton closed the decade with the Grammy-nominated 1989 album ''Live from Austin'', recorded during an appearance on the television program ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American live music television program recorded and produced by Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", and is the only television show to ...

'' and co-produced by sax sideman Don Wise, who went on to become a longtime fixture in the band. In 1991 McClinton won a Grammy Award for a duet with Bonnie Raitt, "Good Man, Good Woman", and reached the Top 5 of the Country chart with "Tell Me About It", a duet with Tanya Tucker. He re-entered the ''Billboard'' charts in 1992 with the album ''

Never Been Rocked Enough ''Never Been Rocked Enough'' is a studio album by the American musician Delbert McClinton. It was released in 1992 by Curb Records. The first single was "Every Time I Roll the Dice". McClinton supported the album with a North American tour. Produc ...

'', which included the charting single "Every Time I Roll the Dice" and a cover of

John Hiatt John Robert Hiatt (born August 20, 1952) is an American singer-songwriter. He has played a variety of musical styles on his albums, including new wave, blues, and country. Hiatt has been nominated for nine Grammy Awards and has been awarded ...

's "Have a Little Faith in Me." McClinton recorded the song "Weatherman", which was played with the opening titles of the 1993 film '' Groundhog Day'', starring

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

. The fledgling

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...

Rising Tide Records released ''One of the Fortunate Few'' in 1997, before the label went out of business.

2000–present

McClinton released two studio albums in the early 2000s for

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...

, which also issued ''Delbert McClinton Live'' in 2003, a compilation album of songs from his career. In 2006, he won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for his album ''The Cost of Living'' in the category Best Contemporary Blues Album. Etta James included two McClinton songs on her 2003 album, '' Let's Roll''. McClinton was a judge for the fourth annual Independent Music Awards, presented to independent artists to support their careers. He is featured in the documentary film '' Rocking the Boat: A Musical Conversation and Journey'', by the filmmaker

Jay Curlee A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

. McClinton performed on the

Frankie Miller Francis John Miller (born 2 November 1949) is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter and actor. Miller wrote for and performed with many recording artists and is best known for his 1977 album ''Full House'', the singles "Be Good To Yourself", " D ...

album ''Double Take'', released in 2016; his voice is merged with Miller's in the song "Beginner at the Blues". His 2019 recording, ''Tall, Dark & Handsome'', was chosen as a 'Favorite Blues Album' by

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

. It was awarded the 2020

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by ...

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Guest singles

Music videos

References

External links

Official websiteAllMusic biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClinton, Delbert 1940 births American blues singers American country singer-songwriters American blues harmonica players American blues pianists American male pianists Grammy Award winners Living people People from Lubbock, Texas Charay Records artists New West Records artists Curb Records artists Rising Tide Records artists American blues guitarists American male guitarists Singer-songwriters from Texas Guitarists from Texas 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American pianists Country musicians from Texas 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians Alligator Records artists American male singer-songwriters