Delbert McClinton
"Live from Austin Texas" December 18, 1982. DVD & CD
New West Records Records
By Bob Putignano
Now available for the first time is the two disk set (DVD & CD,) of Delbert McClinton "Live from Austin, Tx," one of several concert series now available on New West Records, featuring previously unreleased performances from the popular award winning TV program- Austin City Limits. Other available "Live from Austin, Texas" titles include Johnny Cash, Fats Domino, and several others, and they are all two disk sets (DVD & CD,) as the tracks are identical on both the DVD & CD. These performances have been re-mixed and re-mastered in stereo 5.1 surround sound which offers the highest quality concert DVDs, and terrific sounding CD's, especially when you consider that they were recorded in the eighties.
Delbert McClinton may not have originated the genre of "roadhouse blues," but he's the one who gave it new meaning with his distinctive merging of blues, rock, soul, country, and R&B. The Texan bluesman is captured live on this 1982 appearance on PBS's Austin City Limits, which has been expanded from its televised half-hour episode to include all 90 minutes of McClinton's performance. Highlights include classics like "Givin' It Up For Your Love," "I've Got Dreams to Remember," and the set closing and rousing rendition of "Turn on Your Love Light," which I am certain Bobby Blue Bland would approve of.
I think it is safe to say that- no one performs and delivers this style of music better than the multiple Grammy award winner- Delbert McClinton, as whatever genre Delbert explores: Texas R&B, Blues, soul classics, or good old rock and roll, this guy makes everything sound so natural and real. The Dvd is almost twenty-five years old, and was recorded right around the same time Delbert made such a splash on Saturday Night Live, (where he met his wife,) so its pretty cool that the New York Yankees t-shirt he wore for this performance is right on the front cover, (Delbert has always told me loves NYC, and in fact he wrote a tune about the Big Apple-appropriately title "New York City.") The entire performance is dynamic, and captures Delbert with an entirely different band than he currently tours with, but make no doubt about it- they all deliver on all cylinders. This box set is an interesting retrospective flashback on an American classic originator, who like good a good bottle of wine- gets more complex and better with age. Enjoy!
Bob Putignano www.SoundsofBlue.com
Bob Putignano
Radio Host WFDU's "Sounds of Blue"
President of the NY Blues and Jazz Society |