Delbert McClinton

Artist's Website

Grammy® Award-winner Delbert McClinton grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and first discovered the blues in his early teens, quickly becoming an accomplished harmonica player. After finding plenty of work in the local club scene, McClinton cut a number of local and regional singles before hitting the national charts in 1962 playing harmonica on Bruce Channel’s now classic “Hey! Baby.” On a subsequent package tour of England, Delbert showed some of his harp licks to the rhythm guitarist for a young band at the bottom of the bill. The lessons he gave John Lennon were later heard hit singles by The Beatles.

In the early 1970s, McClinton and pal Glen Clark headed out to L.A., where they cut two now prized albums for Atlantic Records as “Delbert & Glen.” Returning to Texas, he landed a deal with ABC Records. With the release of his 1975 solo debut, Victim of Life’s Circumstances, McClinton firmly stamped his Ft. Worth-bred blend of blues, country and blue-eyed soul onto the pop musical landscape. A succession of influential and critically acclaimed albums followed, along with coups like appearing on “Saturday Night Live” in its heyday. He scored hits like “Giving It Up For Your Love” and “Sandy Beaches,” won a Grammy with Bonnie Raitt for their “Good Man/Good Woman” duet, and over the years has enjoyed covers of his songs by Emmylou Harris, The Blues Brothers, Vince Gill, Wynonna, Lee Roy Parnell, Martina McBride, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, among others.

In 2001, “Nothing Personal” (New West Records) debuted on five Billboard charts: Hot 200 Albums, Blues, Country, Independent and Internet Sales. Following the splash made by “Nothing Personal,” McClinton’s latest offering is “Room To Breathe” (New West Records, 2002), which McClinton cites as a possible personal best. The Grammy®-nominated album (“Best Contemporary Blues Album”) features 12 new McClinton originals written solo and in collaboration with such noted talents as Nicholson, Benmont Tench (from Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and Al Anderson (the former NRBQ guitarist turned hit Nashville songsmith). He is joined on “Lone Star Blues” by an honor roll of fellow Texans: Marcia Ball, Ray Benson, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock, Kimmie Rhodes and Billy Joe Shaver, along with honorary Texan Emmylou Harris.