DELBERT MCCLINTON

ACQUIRED TASTE

2009-09-02

With a career that spans fifty years, a top 40 hit, "Giving It Up for Your Love", and a Grammy® to his credit for his 2005 release Cost of Living, Texas native Delbert McClinton has not only had a successful career; he’s covered a wide swath of the musical landscape with rock, country, blues and even a little gospel thrown into the mix. McClinton’s twangy, roughed up voice, adds a lived in feel that makes everything he does sound stone cold authentic. This release finds him raw and bruised by love gone sour with a number of ballads serving as the emotional touchstones. "On Never Saw It Comin’" he’s befuddled at missing the signs of a romance on the rocks. On "Until Then" he’s crushed by the reality of “lying alone in bed like butter without any bread” while on "Out Of My Mind" he’s haunted about not being able to get over a lost lover and on "Wouldn’t You Think (Should’ve Been Here By Now)" he’s stunned to find he’s the lover being dumped. "Starting a Rumor" is also a ballad but this time around his soulful croon is used plant the seeds of a new romance. While there’s also a Country weeper, "Can’t Nobody Say I Didn’t Try", there’s plenty of upbeat material here as well. "Willie" is rollicking tale of a hen-pecked buddy who’s just glad to have a woman after a long drought. "When She Cries at Night" is a soulful rocker with sweet background vocals that hide the sorrow of a woman who can’t get out the door. "Mama’s Little Baby" uses the old plantation tune "Shortnin’ Bread" as a musical backdrop to a tale about a woman so hot “she could pop corn just hold it in her hand.” "I Need to Know" has a tough John Lee Hooker beat while "People Just Love to Talk" is a jazzy tale about speculation run wild and "Do It" is a funky Muscle Shoals style soul work out. "She’s Not There Anymore" is a mid-tempo number with a cha-cha beat and the rocking "Cherry Street" finds McClinton regretting getting lured by alcohol and women into a set up that leaves him in the emergency room. While the musical backdrop covers much the same ground as prior releases, McClinton’s sharp eye for emotional detail and ability to make each tune a first person account make this worth adding to your collection. Smitty