McClinton not ready to retire

Delbert McClinton's life and times have given us such revealing and wry songs as "Victim of Life's Circumstances" and "One of the Fortunate Few," and he now proudly proclaims (via the title of his latest album, released Jan. 27) that he is the Prick of the Litter.

A Texas musician noted for his forays into rock, country, blues, honky tonk and even jazz, McClinton is on tour in support of the new album with his five-man band, Self-Made Men. Over the course of his nigh onto 60-year career, he has released some 40 albums, won three Grammy Awards and freed himself of bad behaviors that did not hold him back but slowed him down.

"I'm not about to wrap up and sit back," McClinton says. "I'm planning the next batch of songs and a lot of other stuff."

Other stuff has always been part of McClinton's appeal, with a wide-ranging resume that began in the early days of rock 'n' roll and took him from historic roles in the scenes that developed in Texas, then California, New York and Nashville, Tenn.

With his youthful stints leading the Straitjackets in Fort Worth, along with a hit single, "If You Really Want Me to I'll Go," by the Ron-Dells, and membership in a duo with Glen Clark, McClinton's first brush with future legends came in 1962 when he played harmonica on a hit single, "Hey Baby," by Bruce Channel. The song was so popular in England that Channel and McClinton traveled there to headline a tour.

One of Channel's opening acts was The Beatles, which led to a chance meeting between McClinton and John Lennon, who requested some instruction on how to play the harmonica. The results can be heard on The Beatles' first hit single, "Love Me Do."

Hit singles by McClinton include "Giving It Up for Your Love," "Shotgun Rider," "Two More Bottles of Wine," "Every Time I Roll the Dice," "B-Movie Boxcar Blues" and "Sandy Beaches," a 1981 single that proved to be a much more significant part of the Delbert story more than a decade later. Some music fans may even know McClinton best as the host of the 23 Sandy Beaches cruise excursions, with the next one announced for February.

"I went on a couple of blues cruises and I was sitting on the beach with my partner," he recalls, "and I said 'We could do a better job at this,' and I was so sure, so absolutely positive, that we knew how it would work. But one year, the cruise line we were using slipped into bankruptcy, and they took our money with them. We were in debt for nearly 1 million dollars, but we never lost the vision of what we wanted to do. Now we have a rate of return of 70 percent of our fans."

Come this summer, fans can read a McClinton biography, One of the Fortunate Few, written by Diana Finlay Hendricks and published by the Texas A&M Press.

"I've proofread everything I said in the book, and I'm a pretty private guy," McClinton says. "I know people are going to say wonderful things about me, but I never said I was perfect. The thing that got me about the deal with Texas A&M was that the book will never go out of print. I was on so many labels that folded that I figure that part of the deal really sealed it for me."

The band that recorded Prick of the Litter with him is also along for the tour, and McClinton couldn't be happier.

"They're the best band in the world," he says, of the Self-Made Men, who consist of Bob Britt on guitar, Kevin McKendree on keyboards, Jack Bruno on drums and Quentin "Q" Ware on trumpet.

The tour will keep McClinton and his band on the road through Oct. 7, except for the month of June. One of the shows will be Saturday in Clear Lake, Iowa, at the Surf Ballroom -- the last venue to host a performance by the legendary Buddy Holly, who, like McClinton, was born in Lubbock, Texas.

"In 1951, we moved to Fort Worth," McClinton, 76, says, "so I never knew Buddy, but my brother, who is six years older than me, went to school with him. Buddy sure made Lubbock proud and lots of us were inspired by him, for sure."

Style on 04/25/2017