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Both Elvis's were represented, encapsulating three generations of rock 'n' roll, while Delbert McClinton — currently responsible for some of the most powerful music to roll down the highway in a long time — stood beside them. On stage left at the Lone Star Cafe was Otis Blackwell, who penned "Don't Be Cruel" and "All Shook Up" for Presley, while stage right belonged to Elvis Costello. Otis sang "Don't Be Cruel" and "Fever," then moved to piano as Elvis II — who said he's here on vacation — took over the vocals for "Don't Lie to Me," Hank Williams' "You Win Again," and the old country standard "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down." All the while McClinton — the real star of the show — stayed in the background, playing some harmonica and contributing occasional vocal support.
McClinton was sensational through three different sets at the Lone Star Monday night. His band, featuring Robert Harwell on sax and Lewis Stephens on keyboards, (along with Billy Sanders on guitar, Dave Stanley on bass, and Ernie Durawa on drums), is a knockout, a tight, sizzling powerhouse, and fronted by McClinton on vocals and harmonica (and sometimes acoustic guitar and keyboards) they treated a frenzied Lone Star audience to some of the best kick-ass music that the club has ever housed. They especially rose to the occasion of a live midnight broadcast over WHN, and McClinton turned a few executive heads prematurely gray over at WHN when he oh-so-innocently uttered the words "fuck" and "shit" over the air. (Needless to say, future WHN broadcasts will have a ten-second tape delay.)
McClinton hails from Texas — perhaps as fertile a musical spawning ground and crossroads that can be found anywhere — and while his music is marked by a strong R&B feel, it's essentially a hybrid of Blues, R&B, early rock 'n' roll, and Country/Western, all of which boast strong Texas roots. Singing with an easygoing delivery and an expressive, bluesy, whiskey voice, McClinton featured soulful covers of James Brown's old "Please, Please, Please" and B.B. King's signature tune "Everyday I Have the Blues," as well as Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," Willie Nelson's "Night Life," and the traditional "Down in the Valley," along with an assortment of his own potent material. For the finale of the third set, Elvis Costello again joined McClinton, this time for a duet of Blackwell's "Long Tall Sally."
After 20 years of honky-tonks and cheap hotels, 18 years after the release of his first record, and 16 years after he played harmonica on Bruce Channel's No. 1 1962 smash "Hey Baby," 37-year-old Delbert McClinton finally seems to be coming into his own. Nobody deserves it more, and with a little luck McClinton just might be voted "Best New Act of 1978."
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