Delbert Mcclinton & Self Made Men Prick of The Litter

TThe multi-Grammy Award winning artist is at the top of his game with his 19th studio album, Prick Of The Litter (Hot Shot Records/Thirty Tigers). The new offering captures the balance of soulful energy and restraint that the legendary performer has been delivering in his live performances for decades all over the world. On Prick of the Litter, Delbert incorporates a variety of styles, and as always, just enough to keep him comfortably outside the traditional marketing categories.

The best way to experience Delbert McClinton's rowdy roadhouse combination of blues, roots rock, R&B, country, and Tex-Mex is on-stage with a couple of hundred other fans on a Saturday night. In that spirit, McClinton's second live album, and first since 1989's Live from Austin, documents a single 2003 performance at Norway's Bergen Blues Festival. Originally intended only as a radio broadcast, this is an unpolished example of a typical show. Although it shares five songs with its single-disc predecessor, Live features McClinton weaving newer material in with hits he's been playing for decades, such as "B-Movie Boxcar Blues," "Giving It Up for Your Love," and "Going Back to Louisiana." McClinton's in terrific voice and spirits throughout, and his seven-piece band (including two horns) is tight but loose and ragged enough to grind through rockers with garage band enthusiasm.

Delbert McClinton always understood that it was more than just country music that went down at Texas roadhouses and honky tonks, and his before-his-time rootsy mix of blues, country, R&B, and soul made it hard for his various record labels to market him effectively, although his body of live and recorded work since he got his start as a harmonica player in the early '60s is a very impressive legacy. This set compiles 14 key tracks from his mid- to late-'70s period, including signature classics "Two More Bottles of Wine" and "Solid Gold Plated Fool," among others.