A Conversation with Delbert McClinton – HuffPost 8.2.13

Mike Ragogna: Delbert, you have a new album, Delbert & Glen: Blind, Crippled And Crazy. Glen Clark’s still a pretty important figure in your life, especially these days.

Delbert McClinton: Well, right now, he’s a pretty prominent feature in it.

MR: What’s the history, how did that come about?

DM: Glen and I did a couple of records together back in ’72 and ’73 and they made a little noise but they didn’t do anything really. After we made the second one, we both kind of decided we’d do different things, so I moved to Nashville and he stayed in California. He played keyboards with Bonnie Raitt for a while, worked with Kris Kristofferson for a while, with The Blues Brothers. But about the last eight years, he was musical director for theAccording To Jim show, the Jim Belushi thing. When that ran its course, he was pretty flush. He didn’t want to go into doing that again. He loved the money but he hated the job. So we started getting together more, took a trip up to Southern Colorado and spent a week up there at his cabin, about five us, and spent a week up there writing some songs and just hanging out. A few years ago, we started talking about making another record since the last couple of years, he’s been kind of free and I pretty much do what I want to do at this point. I’ve got a home down in Mexico, so we went down there and wrote a bunch of songs and then we came back. Gary Nicholson was with us; he’s also another old friend in our trio. Gary and I have been making records now for about fifteen years together. We all went down there, hung out, wrote a bunch of songs, came back and went over them. A couple of years ago, in 2011, we went to California. Glen and I went out there with a couple of guys who put it together and it was good but it wasn’t great. We came to Nashville and did it again about a year later, but we were ready when we went in. We worked on getting ready, so when you’re ready, that’s when you go in to record. You don’t go in there unrehearsed, you pay the price.

MR: Did the reunion feel like when you first started out together?

DM: It was like we never stopped. That’s always been the thing with he and I that’s so much fun. The way we sing together is not exactly harmony. I don’t know what it is but we move in and out of each other’s singing. It was always fun way back then and it’s still fun. But this time, we had a whole lot better perspective on what we were doing and how to do it and what to do with it.

MR: How did you guys write the material? Was there anything special or unique about this time out?

DM: As far as writing? When we were writing the material, well, of course, we’re not young men chasing women anymore, so it would be absurd for us to write a bunch of songs like that. That kind of thing is kind of weird. That’s when you become a dirty old man. [laughs] We’re all very aware of who we are and where we are in life and what counts and what doesn’t, so we wrote songs about that. I don’t know if it’s poking fun at ourselves, but at least it’s based in reality, you know? Another part of it is there’s no reason for us to not write songs about being in a good place and feeling good and being so thankful for it, you know?

MR: How long did the album take to record?

DM: We cut the tracks in two and a half days.

MR: Wow. So everyone was in the same room playing together?

DM: Oh yeah, we were all in the same place at the same time, which is a much better way to do things unless you’re a digital perfect guy and you’ve got to have everybody playing the same thing separate every time they record it. I don’t come from that school, I come from the old school of recording. But there’s also great technology that makes all of that easier to do because you can move it around and everything is totally controlled individually. But you can polish something ’til it don’t shine, and I try hard not to do that. When we record, we want it to sound like the fun that it is.

MR: Yeah. You worked with Patrick Granado over at Fearless.

DM: Right. That’s Gary Nicholson’s studio at his house. It’s really nice now but two years ago on Christmas Day, he had a fire in his basement that gutted a lot of stuff down there. He spent the next two years putting it all back together, and he put a great studio in there. It’s amazing. It used to be just a garage and now it’s a bona fide control room.

MR: Maybe that was God’s way of saying, “You need an upgrade.”

DM: [laughs] Maybe so.

MR: Delbert, you wrote “Two More Bottles Of Wine,” Emmylou Harris had a big single with that, plus there was “B Movie Box Car Blues” with The Blues Brothers. But you also had your own hit with “Giving It Up For Your Love,” and you had “Tell Me About It” with Tanya Tucker, and much more. What are your thoughts about your recording career at this point?

DM: Well, you know, I’ve had an unusual career with record companies. Every record company that I was on went out of business while I was on the label and had something on the chart. All of them but one.

MR: You also received a Grammy for your duet with Bonnie Raitt, “Good Man, Good Woman.”

DM: Right, yeah. That was great.

MR: Well, you’ve certainly been accepted by the country crowd, but I would put you more in the blues category, personally.

DM: That’s the story of my life. Nobody knows what to call it, and I don’t know what to tell them except it’s fun music. It’s music that’s fun, and even a sad song can be fun if it’s done well, you know?

MR: Yeah. By the way, there are two monkeys and two frogs on the album’s artwork. Which one are you?

DM: Take your pick.

MR: [laughs] Delbert, have you found yourself in the position of mentoring over the years? It seems that with someone with your talents and your history, some folks would seek you out for guidance.

DM: Well, there’s been some of that, but I’m uncomfortable with somebody thinking I know something.

MR: Then you’re not going to like my next question.

DM: What is it?

MR: I ask everyone I interview, “What advice do you have for new artists?”

DM: Never leave your wallet in the dressing room while you’re onstage, or your other coat.

MR: [laughs] Has that happened to you?

DM: You’d better believe it. A long time ago, but it only took me one time to figure it out. I’ve seen it happen all the time. Not really all the time, most places are secure, but you know, when you leave something in a dressing room, you’re taking a risk. But this is metaphorically speaking. Just cover your ass.

MR: In every way, huh.

DM: Yes.

MR: So you’ve gotten yet another Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. “Contemporary Blues” versus “Old Blues”?

DM: I don’t have any idea what that is.

MR: I guess they’re not thinking Lead Belly and Robert Johnson.

DM: My music has never been able to be put in a box, called “this,” and make any sense.

MR: Normally I would ask, “What do you think of today’s music scene,” but I’d rather know what’s singing to you these days?

DM: Oh man, I can’t stand to listen to the radio anymore. I just can’t do it.

MR: How about acts in Nashville? People you’ve come across, your friends.

DM: I don’t even get out in Nashville. But I listen to a lot of older music. I listen to jazz of the late forties to the mid-sixties.

MR: I’m a Miles Davis nut, and I’m into Dave Brubeck, fifties and sixties jazz especially.

DM: Someday My Prince Will Come. That’s a great record. I prefer to listen to music without vocals, because if it’s vocals, I can’t appreciate the music for trying to understand and legitimize the vocal. Because for me, if someone recorded me and my band trying to do something and the band’s the hottest damn band in the world, it wouldn’t matter, if I was lousy. If I was lousy, the whole thing’s lousy. You know what I mean? Sometimes you listen to a band and it sounds good when the singer’s not singing and the players are playing.

MR: Do you ever get “jazzed” out of listening to your own instrumental tracks?

DM: No, I’m just saying that listening to music with vocals and listening to music without vocals is two completely different animals, a whole different focus completely. If you’re trying to focus on a singer that’s not making a whole lot of an impression, you’re taking away from the whole thing. It can’t be good if he’s not good. You just say, “They’re great players, this is a great track, but it’s not complete.”

MR: That’s a good point. And it’s fun to jazz going through a kind of renaissance. It’s less wallpaper now.

DM: I know what you mean.

MR: But I’m with you. Sometimes, I’m disappointed when I hear a singer suddenly pop in.

DM: I know! That’s what I’m saying. There are people who can sing and there are singers. If you don’t know the difference, then you’re stuck in mediocrity somewhere.

MR: Do you still like going out and performing?

DM: Oh, I love it. That’s what I love to do.

MR: How often do you get out on the road?

DM: I’m usually out about six days a month. I usually just work weekends.

MR: Are there certain places you love to play?

DM: There are some, but usually my favorite show is the last place we had a really good night. You’re only as good as your last show.

MR: Do you get inspired to write stuff on the road?

DM: I am writing more today I think than I ever have. It’s just fun.

MR: So you feel like you’re still growing?

DM: Absolutely, absolutely.

MR: When’s the next Delbert McClinton solo album coming?

DM: Well I’ve got the songs for it already! Me and a couple of guys in my band wrote a couple of songs yesterday, so I’ve got enough songs but I want to hold back a few months and see if we’ve got to put another Delbert and Glen record out. Either that or write some more for that, but I’ll probably start doing another solo record within the next four months.

MR: What’s Delbert McClinton going to be doing in like a year?

DM: Oh man, if I’m lucky, I’m going to be down the same thing I am now.

MR: Anything we should know about Delbert McClinton that we don’t know yet?

DM: Nah, nothing I can think of. You probably wouldn’t want to know. I’m a pretty dull boy for the most part. Anything else, I’ll keep to myself. I don’t make enough money to talk about things like that.

MR: [laughs] Okay, Delbert, this was wonderful. I really looked forward to interviewing you.

DM: It was great, good talking to you and I appreciate it a great deal.

Transcribed by Galen Hawthorne