Givin' it up for Delbert McClinton

       I recently informed Jessica of my decision to immerse myself in 1970's Country-Soul bands. That's right, Country-Soul. My plan was to listen to bands like Firefall, Wet Willie, and the Doobie Brothers. I was willing to go as far commercially as Loggins and Messina and as roadhouse-authentic as Delbert McClinton.

        A few days later, I commented to Jessica that I'd downloaded a few songs on iTunes.

        "I noticed," she said, with a well-honed dryness. "I knew you'd gone off the deep end when I saw you'd downloaded "Still the One" by Orleans."

        As it turned out, my 1970's Country-Soul phase was relatively short-lived. While it's true that some of these bands will no doubt fade to the back of my rotation, there are also those acts within the genre who possess a timeless quality that requires more frequent listening. The Doobie Brothers definitely fall into the second category. Delbert McClinton, too.

        I first heard of Delbert McClinton when he sang his hit tune "Givin' It Up For Your Love" on Saturday Night Live in March of 1981. I was immediately drawn to the joyously soulful chorus and resolved to get the record as soon as I could. Of course, funds being what they were to an unemployed and unmotivated teenager in El Paso, Texas, it was a few years before I finally had a copy of the album "The Jealous Kind." When I finally managed to get a copy, I was officially a fan.

        Even in the early eighties, I was a late-comer to the rootsy pipes of Lubbock, Texas' very own Delbert McClinton. He'd been perfecting his chops in bands around Texas as early as the late 1950's and was recording hits as a sideman by 1962. Since then, and through many different record labels, he's worked to perfect and define his distinctive blend of country music and soul.

        As the decade progressed, I tried to interest my buddies in Delbert McClinton's stuff, but they were mostly indifferent---Ratt and Night Ranger being more compelling to them at the time. As a result, I ended up doing things like attending his 1984 New Year's Eve concert at the Arcadia Theater in Dallas by myself. It was a fantastic show, and I even managed to snap a couple of dark, grainy, and slightly out of focus photographs. 

       I was happy to later realize that the keyboardist for Delbert on that night was Reese Winans, who would later surface in my consciousness playing for Stevie Ray Vaughn. Oh, and besides Delbert's sizzling set that night, I got a bonus country-blues history lesson by the opening act, guitar-slinger Lonnie Mack.

        In the early nineties, I came into possession of what I consider Delbert's quintessential recording: "Live From Austin." It's nothing short of a perfect balance of country and soul. Imagine the Blues Brothers in overalls, or maybe Waylon Jennings in a James Brown wig. Okay, maybe Waylon Jennings in a James Brown wig is pushing it, but you get my drift. Standout tunes are plenty, but the ones that immediately come to mind are "Givin' It Up For Your Love," "B Movie Boxcar Blues," and a stirring cover of Otis Redding's "I've Got Dreams To Remember."

        I was in the Coast Guard at that time and my friend Greg and I would spin "Live in Austin" while playing round after round of computer golf down in my Fire Control shop on the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell. That CD helped us get through many boring patches in our Bering Sea patrols.

        Over the years, I heard from several sources that Delbert McClinton taught John Lennon to play the harmonica. In fact, I'd heard it so many times that there was no doubt in my mind as far as the truth of the tale. But unfortunately, I recently learned that while McClinton and Lennon did meet, Lennon had already learned to play the harmonica.

        Last Thursday, while driving around town in my work truck, I heard "Givin' It Up For Your Love" on Lonestar 92.5, Dallas' ultra-cool roots-rock radio station. It brought back a lot of memories.

        Delbert McClinton's still out there touring. He plays at Billy Bob's in Fort Worth every now and then, and I hear he performs steadily on cruise ships. Good for him. In show-biz, if you're not appearing, you're disappearing.

        Wherever he's playing tonight, I'll bet the audience is having a really good time.

        Peace!