'Delbert McClinton: One Of The Fortunate Few' By Diana Finlay Hendricks Out December 6 Via Texas A&M University Press

From The Beatles to Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt to The Blues Brothers, indelible songs and stories, GRAMMY wins and beyond, Delbert McClinton’s life can be viewed as a soundtrack to pivotal moments in American music history.  Delbert’s legendary career is celebrated in the first biography of the iconic musician with ‘Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few,’ written by Diana Finlay Hendricks, and available December 6 through Texas A&M University Press.

Today, Rolling Stone Country ran the first interview with Delbert and Diana about the book – read the feature here: http://rol.st/2m09CPE

A rough and tumble story of hard work, ‘One of the Fortunate Few’ is a thrilling profile of a legendary statesman of the Blues, Country, Americana, the Texas music scene and beyond.  Delbert’s obsession with border radio, Elvis Presley and Big Joe Turner infused music in his blood at an early age.  His career took off with a featured harmonica performance on Bruce Channel’s U.S./U.K. smash hit “Hey Baby.”  But it still meant Delbert would spend years grinding it out on the road and in ramshackle clubs leading bands like The Straitjackets and The Rondels, who would back or share the stage with everyone from Jimmy Reed and Bo Diddley to Chuck Berry and B.B. King. 

Delbert would go on to write songs recorded by Albert Lee, The Blues Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris (whose version of “Two More Bottles of Wine” was a #1 hit), Etta James, Eric Burdon, Vince Gill, Waylon Jennings – a true cross-section of blues, soul, country and Americana that few other songwriters can claim.  He won his first GRAMMY for his duet with Bonnie Raitt, from her album ‘Luck of the Draw’ (1992).  He went on to win Best Contemporary Blues Album GRAMMY Awards for ‘Nothing Personal’ (2002) and ‘The Cost of Living’ (2006), and was nominated for ‘Live from Austin’ (1989).    

Delbert’s career has been punctuated by some fascinating first-hand experiences in modern American history. When Delbert McClinton toured England with Bruce Channel to support “Hey Baby” in 1962, the little-known Beatles were their opening act.  He showed John Lennon a few tricks on the harmonica backstage after the shows.  His sound inspired The Blues Brothers, and Delbert appeared on Saturday Night Live twice in the show’s early heyday.  He was a major figure in Austin’s emergence as a musical epicenter in the mid-70s.  He even built planes for the Air Force during Vietnam, and saw JFK’s motorcade in Fort Worth on the day the president was assassinated (and was later questioned by the FBI because he had performed in clubs owned by Jack Ruby).  

His path was not without bumps in the road: booze and drugs, bad deals and divorce, trouble with the IRS.  This fast-paced book traces it all: the peaks and valleys, indelible songs, decades spent on the road, the importance of family, and more.  

Author Diana Finlay Hendricks interviewed Delbert extensively for the book, and had access to his journals and other personal archives.  She also interviewed Bonnie Raitt, Joe Ely, Peter Guralnick, Joe Nick Patoski, T Bone Burnett, and more. Delbert’s longtime friend and fan, Don Imus, wrote the foreword for this compelling book. 

DIANA FINLAY HENDRICKS, a Texas Hill Country–based writer has spent her career in journalism, photography, and feature writing, focusing on Texas and Southern music and culture. She is a regular contributor to the Journal for Texas Music History, Lone Star Music, and recently contributed the James McMurtry chapter to ‘Pickers and Poets: The Ruthlessly Poetic Singer-Songwriters of Texas.’ 

‘Delbert McClinton: One of the Fortunate Few’

By Diana Finlay Hendricks

Publication: December 6, 2017

Texas A&M University Press