Delbert McClinton – Outdated Emotion

Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940)[2] is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. The venerable Delbert McClinton is a legend among Texas roots music aficionados, not only for his amazing longevity, but for his ability to combine country, blues, soul, and rock & roll as if there were no distinctions between any of them, in the best time-honored Texas tradition. A formidable harmonica player long before he recorded as a singer (he played the signature harp riff on Bruce Channel's 1962 number one hit "Hey ! Baby"), McClinton's career began in the late '50s, yet it took him nearly two decades to evolve into a bona fide solo artist with 1975's Victim of Life's Circumstances. After working hard for a few years, McClinton scored a Top Ten hit when the slick, funky "Giving It Up for Your Love" peaked at number eight in 1981. While it was his only pop hit, it laid the groundwork for an enduring career as an American roots artist. McClinton's profile received a boost in 1992, when he won a Grammy Award for "Good Man, Good Woman," his duet with Bonnie Raitt. More duets and awards followed as he settled into a blues direction with several albums for New West (two of which were Grammy winners). McClinton continued to use blues as a foundation for him to explore other roots music in the 21st century, releasing new material and touring steadily. Four-time Grammy® Award winner Delbert McClinton celebrates his coming-of-age musical heroes and influences with his 27th studio album, "Outdated Emotion (Hot Shot Records/Thirty Tigers), released on May 13, 2022. The 19-track collection features Hank Williams, Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles, and Little Richard standards, as well as five original songs written or cowritten by McClinton. Delbert has spent much of the COVID isolation in Kevin McKendree's Rock House Studio in Nashville. This new album brings his music back to where it started. Outdated Emotion pays homage to McClinton's earliest influences, Hank Williams and Jimmy Reed with a salute to Ray Charles and Little Richard, as well as five of his own compositions, influenced by the sounds of his heroes. Along with Kevin and his son, musical prodigy Yates McKendree, Delbert has created the album he has often dreamed of. "I've always wanted to do an album of the songs that influenced me the most. Hank Williams songs, Jimmy Reed songs, and songs that I love. And this was the perfect time to do it. It's important music from another time. It's music that people need to hear again, or for the first time. Nobody knows about them. Or has forgotten about them. Or was never turned on to them. There is a whole generation, maybe two generations now, who don't know this music. My whole idea here was to show them how it was and how we got here. Hank Williams, Jimmy Reed, Lloyd Price, Ray Charles. These songs take me to my youth. They are good if not better now than they were then, and they were great then. They are songs people should just get to hear." 'Rolling Stone' calls Delbert McClinton the "Godfather of Americana Music." In a career that has spanned more than six decades, his honkytonk blues sound and signature smooth voice have provided a soundtrack for American music history. He is a four-time Grammy winner (Traditional Blues Album in 2020 for "Tall, Dark, and Handsome"; Contemporary Blues Album in 2006 for "Cost of Living" and 2002 for "Nothing Personal"; and Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1992 for "Good Man, Good Woman"), and received the Americana Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. Growing up in Lubbock and Fort Worth, Texas allowed Delbert McClinton an early appreciation for the best of 20th century American music, with the songs of postwar America, honkytonk country, and southern blues. Delbert remembers where he was when he heard his first Hank Williams song. And he knew he wanted to play music for a living when he first heard Jimmy Reed. Leading the house band in the desegregated roadhouses on the outskirts of Fort Worth, Delbert backed Jimmy Reed, Muddy Waters, Bo Diddley and other blues legends, while making a name for himself as a regional player in the birth of rock and roll, opening shows for Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and other pioneers of the new sound; and even headlining shows in Great Britain with Bruce Channel ("Hey Baby"), with a little-known Liverpool quartet. The Beatles as the opening act. In the early 1970s, as his "Two More Bottles of Wine" reflects, Delbert "went out west with a burning desire to set the west coast on fire...." He teamed up with Glen Clark for the Delbert and Glen sessions (Clean Records) and released two critically acclaimed albums before returning to Texas as the progressive country/blues awakening movement was starting to happen in Austin. Hippies and cowboys crowded together on sawdust dance floors watching history in the making as Delbert, Doug Sahm, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freda and the Firedogs and Asleep at the Wheel set the stage for a new sound coming out of Texas. There, Delbert began to develop his signature sound, mixed rocking blues and hardcore country to create the unique style that has served him well through the last half century. Further solidifying his sound, Delbert went into the famed Muscle Shoals, Alabama studio and called on the Muscle Shoals Horns, who had recorded with everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Elton John. They joined his longtime band to create his next album. That signature horn sound has remained a mainstay in Delbert's music. When Texas became the rage in New York City, a music venue called the Lone Star Café served as capital of Texas chic. Austin musician Cleve Hatttersley was the manager of the Lone Star. He said, "Everyone who was anyone came through the door on any given night: Mick Jagger, Johnny Paycheck, Tommy Tune. Jerry Garcia... and Delbert was the biggest star of the bunch. Delbert is the absolute heart and soul of Texas rhythm and blues. We had James Brown, George Strait, Elvis Costello... but the one that all the other stars came out to see was Delbert." Delbert had succeeded in creating his own genre, a melting pot of American music, and people still cannot get enough of it. From those early days in Fort Worth roadhouses until the recent COVID crisis shut down touring shows Delbert and his band have crossed the country playing festivals, theatres, and iconic music institutions. From Farm Aid to Carnegie Hall, his popularity grew, and Delbert continues as a "musician's musician," influencing many artists along the way. Delbert released "Tall, Dark & Handsome", (Hot Shot Records/Thirty Tigers) in 2019, to celebrate his 79th birthday. The album earned Delbert his fourth Grammy® for Best Traditional Blues Album. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association, and has been featured several times in the Country Music Hall of Fame's series of live performances, programs and podcasts. In May of 2021, Delbert announced his retirement from touring. Fans and music journalists speculated about what he would do next. This was to be the first time in 64 years that he was not traveling interstate highways and backroads, playing a rigorous schedule. It will be a special year for Delbert McClinton, this year you will not find the Texas roadhouse rocker anywhere on the road with his backing band. The stage was his familiar habitat for almost 65 years. In the early 1960s, while on a UK tour with the Bruce Channel, he came into contact with John Lennon who adapted McClinton's harmonica licks from "Hey Baby" into "Love Me Do." With his own band he put his own music, a unique fusion of R&B, Honky Tonk country, Texas blues and roadhouse rock in the spotlights together with personalized cover work in dynamic shows. McClinton's music can also be found on the long players that he released under his own name from 1975, after the collaboration with Glen Clark with whom he released the reunion album Blind, Crippled & Crazy a while ago. In the meantime, the eighties has amply been exceeded, but the supple, frayed vocal chords still resound on new works, "Pick Of The Litter" was followed by the equally strong "Tall, Dark & ​​Handsome". Now that he's saying goodbye to touring life, it's time for a look back at the past and the musical influences. During the isolation period, McClinton spent a lot of time in the Rock House Studio of his trusted keyboardist Kevin McKendree, his son Yates is also involved in the recording sessions for "Outdated Emotion" and is listed as a co-author on 'Connecticut Blues' and on ' Call Me A Cab', in the closing section, filled with his own work. In 'I Want A Little Girl' and 'Hard Headed Hannah' the blues crooner and an unrelenting fascination for Ray Charles are discussed. We know 'One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer' from John Lee Hooker, but here we get the playful piano-driven jazzy version by Amos Milburn, the boogie piano once again plays a leading role in Little Richard's rousing 'Long Tall Sally' . In the snack with 'Two Step Too' the ingredients of the richly varied musical McClinton menu are unraveled. In 2022, that will still be 'alive and very kickin', as will Delbert McClinton's singing performance and creative ability. Just listening to this dive into the past with a superior jukebox is enough. Outstanding new album from veteran recording and performing artist Delbert McClinton, whose unique brand of country blues is a timeless commodity. Every song on this album is a delight, proof positive that the down home blues which were the roots of R&B and early rock and roll will never get old.

1 Stagger Lee

Backing Vocals - Vicki Hampton, Wendy Moten

Drums, Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Piano - Kevin McKendree

Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone - Jim Hoke

Vocals [Vocal Intro], Backing Vocals - Robert Bailey 

Written-By - H. Logan, L. Price

2:35

2 Settin' The Woods On Fire

Acoustic Guitar [Arch-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Wes L'Anglois

Acoustic Guitar [Flat-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Jimmy Stewart 

Bass [Upright Bass] - Mark Winchester

Fiddle - Stuart Duncan

Steel Guitar, Guitar - Chris Scruggs

Written-By - E. Nelson, F. Rose

2:40

3 The Sun Is Shining

Drums, Guitar - Yates McKendree

Guitar - Kevin McKendree

Harmonica - Delbert McClinton

Written-By - C. Carter, A. Ewart, J. Reed

2:36

4 One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer

Drums, Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Piano - Kevin McKendree

Written-By - R. Toombs

3:12

5 Long Tall Sally

Drums, Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Piano - Kevin McKendree

Tenor Saxophone - Jim Hoke

Written-By - E. Johnson, R. Penniman, R. Blackwell

2:30

6 Two Step Too

Acoustic Guitar [Arch-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Wes L'Anglois

Acoustic Guitar [Flat-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Jimmy Stewart 

Bass [Upright Bass] - Mark Winchester

Fiddle - Stuart Duncan

Steel Guitar, Guitar - Chris Scruggs

Vocals - Delaney McClinton

Written By - D. McClinton

3:06

7 I Want A Little Girl

Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Piano - Kevin McKendree

Written-By - B. Moll, M. Mencher

3:02

8 Ain't That Lovin' You

Drums - Yates McKendree

Guitar - Kevin McKendree

Harmonica - Delbert McClinton

Written-By - J. Reed

2:19

9 Jambalaya

Acoustic Guitar [Arch-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Wes L'Anglois

Acoustic Guitar [Flat-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Jimmy Stewart 

Bass [Upright Bass] - Mark Winchester

Fiddle - Stuart Duncan

Steel Guitar, Guitar - Chris Scruggs

Vocals - Delaney McClinton

Written-By - H. Williams

2:50

10 Connecticut Blues

Drums, Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Piano - Kevin McKendree

Written-By - D. McClinton, K. McKendree, Y. McKendree

2:26

11 I Ain't Got You

Drums - Yates McKendree

Guitar - Kevin McKendree

Harmonica - Danny Flowers

Written-By - C. Carter

2:31

12 Move It On Over

Acoustic Guitar [Arch-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Wes L'Anglois

Acoustic Guitar [Flat-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Jimmy Stewart 

Bass [Upright Bass] - Mark Winchester

Fiddle - Stuart Duncan

Steel Guitar, Guitar - Chris Scruggs

Written-By - H. Williams

2:42

13 Hard Hearted Hannah

Drums, Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Piano - Kevin McKendree

Written-By - C. Bates, J. Yellen, M. Ager, B. Bigelow

3:01

14 Sweet Talkin' Man

Drums, Bass, Guitar, Piano - Kevin McKendree

Written-By - D. McClinton, S. Vaughn

2:40

15 Money Honey

Acoustic Guitar [Arch-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Wes L'Anglois

Acoustic Guitar [Flat-Top Acoustic Guitar] - Jimmy Stewart 

Bass [Upright Bass] - Mark Winchester

Fiddle - Stuart Duncan

Steel Guitar, Guitar - Chris Scruggs

Written-By - D. McClinton, G. Nicholson

2:57

16 Call Me A Cab

Bass [Upright Bass] - Yates McKendree

Written-By - D. McClinton, Y. McKendree

0:36

Recorded in The Rock House in Franklin, TN

Dedicated to Beegie Adair, a world-class piano player, a national treasure, and a dear friend