{"id":1219,"date":"2018-12-31T16:16:44","date_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1219"},"modified":"2018-12-31T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2018-12-31T16:16:44","slug":"lone-star-book-reviews-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/?p=1219","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Book Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Lone Star Book Reviews
of Texas books appear weekly
at LoneStarLiterary.com<\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n
\n

BIOGRAPHY \/ TEXAS MUSIC<\/p>\n

Diana Finlay Hendricks<\/span><\/p>\n

foreword by Don Imus<\/span><\/p>\n

Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Texas A&M University Press<\/p>\n

Hardcover, 9781623495886 (ebook also available); 232 pages, 30 color\/30 b&w photos, bibliography, index; $29.95<\/p>\n

December 11, 2017<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Si Dunn<\/p>\n

The journey from the flat plains of West Texas to worldwide musical stardom<\/span> can be long and hard, with ample opportunities to get lost on side roads or slammed into bar ditches by life\u2019s passing eighteen-wheelers.<\/p>\n

Lubbock native and blues rock singer-songwriter Delbert McClinton<\/span> knows that he has been one of the \u201cfortunate few\u201d to complete that arduous journey from obscurity to fame. Now a three-time Grammy winner with many albums to his credit, McClinton has been on stage for more than sixty years. And he keeps performing his songs with his widely envied voice, plus his well-honed skills on harmonica, guitar, and piano.<\/p>\n

In this engrossing, enlightening new biography by San Marcos writer Diana Finlay Hendricks,<\/span> McClinton recounts some of his life\u2019s and career\u2019s darkest moments, as well as the bright times when his bands found their grooves and his performances, concerts and recording sessions seemed to take on memorable lives of their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cSongwriting has been key to Delbert\u2019s unique brand,\u201d Hendricks writes. \u201cHis songwriting is a patchwork quilt of American styles and genres,\u201d and he learned over time how \u201cto blend those influences into his own sounds.\u201d Quoting him from an interview with Texas music historian Kathleen Hudson,<\/span> McClinton explained his distinctive songwriting this way: \u201cI\u2019ve probably been influenced by everybody I\u2019ve heard because I like a little bit of everything. The only conscious direction that I believe I\u2019ve ever taken is that I\u2019m not trying to copy anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in 1940, McClinton grew up listening to music of all types, including songs popular during World War II. He was a teenager when rock \u2019n\u2019 roll caught fire nationally and spread around the world. He got a guitar, learned some songs, and began doing his first solo performances before age seventeen. Soon he formed a band, the Mellow Fellows. Mostly, McClinton recalls in the book, it was \u201cjust a bunch of us hanging out with guitars and spending more thinking of a great band name than actually practicing and getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n

But his group, later known as the Straitjackets, got gigs at restaurants and parties and gained experience and exposure. Before long McClinton and bandmates were fronting for performers who later would become big-name stars, such as Jerry Lee Lewis.<\/p>\n

Exposure can work the other way, too. In 1962, McClinton played harmonica on a recording that became a big hit, Bruce Channel\u2019s \u201cHey! Baby!\u201d A record producer took McClinton to England for Channel\u2019s tour. And, McClinton recalls: \u201cThe Beatles were opening for us on a couple of the shows, in Liverpool and New Brighton.\u201d One of the then-barely-known group\u2019s members, John Lennon, got some harmonica tips from Delbert.<\/p>\n

The Lubbock native won his first Grammy in 1991 for his duet with Bonnie Raitt, \u201cGood Man, Good Woman,\u201d in the category Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group. His second Grammy came in 2002 for Best Contemporary Blues Album, \u201cNothing Personal.\u201d He won his third in 2006 for \u201cCost of Living,\u201d also in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category.<\/p>\n

Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few<\/span> delivers fascinating tales of the famed singer-songwriter\u2019s achievements in Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Austin, Nashville, New York, and beyond, while not shying away from the dark moments that threatened, but failed to derail, his life and career.<\/p>\n

* * * * *<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lone Star Book Reviews of Texas books appear weekly at LoneStarLiterary.com BIOGRAPHY \/ TEXAS MUSIC Diana Finlay Hendricks foreword by Don Imus Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few Texas A&M University Press Hardcover, 9781623495886 (ebook also available); 232 pages, 30 color\/30 b&w photos, bibliography, index; $29.95 December 11, 2017 Reviewed by Si Dunn The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.etypegoogle10.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}