One Of The Fortunate Few

Delbert McClinton brings everybody together.

- John Wirt

A music maverick from Texas, Delbert McClinton defines Americana. He spans blues, country, rhythm and blues, and rock ’n’ roll. In 2017, McClinton realized a longtime ambition with the release of his jazz standards–inspired album, Prick of the Litter. Last year, too, the harmonica-playing singer-songwriter saw the publication his biography, Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few.

Despite a career in which highs were often muted by lows, McClinton stayed his course. He released hits. He won Grammys. Major artists, including Emmylou Harris, Martina McBride, Vince Gill, the Blues Brothers and Wynonna Judd, cut the songs he wrote.

“Most of my songs are just little short stories defining a moment in time,” McClinton said in advance of his May 5 return to Jazz Fest.

During his childhood in Lubbock and Forth Worth, McClinton played “Red River Valley” and other folk songs on cheap harmonicas. In 1957, everything changed when he heard Jimmy Reed’s harmonica-drenched “Honest I Do” on a car radio. “I lost all control,” McClinton remembered. “I had to do that.”

In the late 1950s and early ’60s, McClinton soaked up all he could from the blues and rhythm and blues stars his band backed up in Fort Worth roadhouses. The acts included Reed, Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Parker, Muddy Waters and Bo Diddley. “I asked questions and made notes,” he said. “I learned the stylish things that I turned into my own.”