Working For Delbert McClinton

[@otisgibbs]

What's your favorite Delbert McClinton song? Have you seen him live?

[@kelseywake]

“Two more bottles of wine” is my favorite. Such a great tune. You should check out Bruce Robinson’s interview of Delbert on Bruce’s Next Waltz KZbin channel.

[@zuluromeo1232]

Never been rocked enough or Every time I roll the dice. I've instructed my long suffering wife of 60 years that when my time comes I will be marched down the beach with Delbert blaring and my ashes scattered on the nude section where Ill be wedging myself into places I've admired from afar...in perpetuity

[@Kickstart500]

I backed into Delbert via, I think the Blues Brothers? Or was it J Geils Band 😂

[@thomaslochrie2462]

“When Rita Leaves” is a great one

[@CCaraway]

I was fresh out of rehab for the twelveteenth time in 1997. My oldest daughter was less than two years old and the sponsor who picked me up had gotten "One of the Fortunate Few" at a live show. He played that CD for the three hour drive home. When he dropped me off he handed me the CD a orange syringe cap and a 30day NA chip and said everyday will be a choice between the two and drove off. I listened to that CD problem 10k times and it seemed like every single song was written just for me. I know that wasn't the question exactly but that entire album is just poetry to me.

[@dhix2388]

Delbert is a American treasure. Thanks

[@duncanfrere2656]

Back in the 80s, we were house sound crew at Grant Street in Lafayette, LA. Delbert was touring with his Big Band, and everything Kevin is saying is true. A master band leader! Watching him rehearse, guiding the band with hand signals, singing his Texas ass off, was a clear highlight, a step above the touring acts we'd routinely do. Delbert McClinton is an American music master, a songwriter par-excellence, and like Kevin says, a great guy with an honest soul.

[@otisgibbs]

That's beautiful to hear, Duncan! : )

[@sanne9598]

I saw Delbert and his band in Tampa one time. They were so tight you couldn't fit a bad note in anywhere! I stood with my mouth hanging open the whole set. SO GOOD

[@mgmassey174]

Worked in many music clubs..waitress..Delbert was a gentleman, respectful and that was a rare thing back then. We appreciated his lack of the music biz predator class with him. Made our jobs easier.

[@michaelgregory2231]

Every player I've known that has spent time in Delbert's band has painted the same "what you see it what you get" picture of him and that's so great to hear and have confirmed.

[@johnnymalone-q3p]

1st time was 1965 at a place called the Eastside Club in Fort Worth. Yes, I was underage. He and Ronnie Casey tore it up. Been a fan ever since.

[@ish474]

glad to see the interview videos come back.

[@otisgibbs]

I hit a bot of a drought for a bit, but there will be more new ones in the next two weeks or so. : )

[@msdixiepearl]

I’ve seen Delbert in more backwoods Mississippi juke joints than I care to remember! We was rockin in the ‘90’s 😁

[@elliottcrews4997]

While I've never met him I've been a fan since the mid-70s and have made a point of collecting everything I could on vinyl. I'm not sure if it is complete but it is very darn close. For years he's been a close friend to someone in my hometown. In fact his friend was put in charge of customizing a bus for him many years ago. The work on the bus was the subject of nice little article in our hometown weekly newspaper and included interviews with the ladies at the cleaners that did all the upholstery, cushions, curtains etc., and others in the area that worked on it. When the bus was finish and Delbert was playing a gig in the nearby city or Raleigh he had all the folks that worked on the bus on the guest list for the show. Seems like a not only a great musician but a considerate, nice guy.

[@ardenevox]

Wow, that is exceptional.

[@vinniepaolizzi]

Huge Delbert Fan! Especially Delbert and Glenn records

[@glennh7297]

Otis, it's great seeing you and Kevin together! Thanks for bringing him on. Love you both, and miss seeing you.

[@rachelkopel5678]

I want to thank you baby Going back to Louisiana Seen him many times and went on the first Sandy Beaches Cruise! 💕💕🎶🎶

[@evanrose6373]

If he was playing for Delbert in 2012, I actually helped get his Hammond B3 onstage....it was a private party at a large farming operation in Eastern NC...I can't recall if it was Kevin or not...but I do remember the Organ Player was driving a Suburban, he got it out and we took a forklift and gently placed the B3 onstage.... got to spend some time with Delbert after the show, super cool guy...as a musician myself it was a honor to be around not only Delbert, but the entire band.

[@tomburgett7123]

I saw Delbert live for the first time about 1964 at the Skyliner Ballroom out on the Jacksboro Hwy in Ft. Worth.. I was still in high school. Joint was run by a suspected mobster and they weren’t very particular about fake IDs in those days. Delbert was fantastic. Saw him live the last time in 2014 at the Gothic Theater in Denver where I now live. Just amazing - 50 years later and he and his band were even better! What a talent and what a performer. In his eighties now and no longer touring but at least we have his work product to enjoy forever.

[@ereed9192]

Keep on keeping on,OTIS!

[@hypnocracy6102]

Only time Delbert Came to My home town...he came down with the flu and I had to do with just his band...Sometime in the early-mid 1990's...so let down I tried to forget.

[@alanhope9139]

When Bruce Channel was having his massive hit 'Hey Baby' in1962/63, he was on tour in Great Britain with Delbert McClinton, who played harmonica on the self same record. I was fortunate enough with my band to be on the same show at The Agincourt Ballroom in Camberley, Surrey, England. I was called Kerry Rapid and the band at the time was called The Bandits. I still have a photo somewhere, I shall find it and put it up on here ! ! !

[@brianmobley1720]

Been checking out some of Kevin’s stuff!! Man the dude is fire 🔥 🔥🔥

[@michaelbasile6049]

Take It Easy from the Second Wind album - Delbert backed by the Muscle Shoals A Team and produced by the late, great Johnny Sandlin (who also toured as a Delbert sideman for a while). This album and Keeper Of The Flame (also a Sandlin production) were both originally on Capricorn Records and are my favorite Delbert era. I’ve been a rabid fan since 1976 and have seen him maybe two dozen times since then. A true American music legend.

[@elliottcrews4997]

same here, I think Keeper of the Flame is his best album, and it always brings back such great memories from that period (late teens) in my life it and the Amazing Rnythm Aces Too Stuffed To Jump seem like the soundtrack to that time in my life.

[@michaelbasile6049]

@@elliottcrews4997 Two Stuffed To Jump is my favorite Aces album too, Elliott. I'm also a giant Aces fan. Here's a quick story you might enjoy. The first time I saw Delbert was in July, 1978 at the Town Hall (called the Mad Hattyr at that time) in Chapel Hill, NC. He played Friday and Saturday (14th and 15th) and I was there both nights. He had one of his all-time classic bands at that time - Billy Sanders (guitar), Robert Harwell (tenor sax), Ernie Durawa (drums), Lewis Stephens (keys) and Dave Stanley (bass). They were absolutely UNREAL. On Sunday I drove to Greensboro to see Delbert and his band open a show with the Amazing Rhythm Aces at Aycock Auditorium. At the end of the show, both bands played a few tunes together as an encore. A magical weekend - one of the best of my life.

[@elliottcrews4997]

@@michaelbasile6049 Now that was a weekend to treasure right there!!!!! I only got to see the Aces once, at a short lived club called Music City in Raleigh around 79 or 80? But I got to see Delbert any number of times, my favorites would have been in Greenville when I was at ECU. Once he played a small Downtown back alley club called JJ's where he just had us all in a frenzy all night long and the other at an outdoor show that he headlined along with Johnny Paycheck. Some great memories.

[@rustytable]

Hi Otis, we love your channel and all the cool stories! Thank you!!

[@jackpeters9349]

I saw DM in a little country town in Ga. Outside at at the fairgrounds

[@Whysicist]

I found Dilbert through Mike Williams, BFD Records from Austin, middle 1970s… thanks!

[@denisetowe895]

I want to hang out with Delbert! ❤

[@MyPromixdirt]

hi, i have only listened to a couple of albums, not as intently as one should soes to absorb the groove the musician(s) is (are) exuding, but my favorite song so far is " momma's little baby " what an awesome groovey song this version is. "momma's little baby go on n on, she don't leave no chicken on the bone".

[@jammininthepast]

Great story. He's got to be a hell of a player, I would have gotten the (on stage) high sign and wet my pants.

[@johnrosier1686]

I am not familiar with Kevin but if he stepped into a gig like that he must be a good musician. If I even tempted to do something like that it would definitely be a catastrophic train wreck. Lone Star Blues might be my favorite although I could change my mind and pick something else tomorrow.

[@HamptonGuitars]

My late friend Tommy Dills was Roy Orbison's sound man from the early 80s until Roy's death. Roy's road manager Terry went to work for Delbert. They bugged Tommy for the longest time to go out with them, he'd say 'No, I can't tour with a young bunch of drinkers', put them off until he really needed some work and relented. As if on cue, one of the band members threw up into Tommy's open suitcase on the bus the first weekend out, so Tommy said to hell with this and went on home.

[@julesotis13]

with a name like Delbert id expe ct nothing less than authentic cool feelgoodery

[@travissmith9451]

Yes, I've had the pleasure of seeing Delbert a couple of times - he's a natural band leader for sure. My favorite song is "Sidewalk Diploma" from the Delbert and Glen album. The Blues Brothers recorded it years later. Even with Steve Cropper and Matt "Guitar" Murphy it wasn't nearly as funky as the original, in my opinion...

[@jlaw9336]

Never have..Id buy him a cold brew.