Room to Breathe
Texas roadhouse veteran Delbert McClinton hit upon his masterful mix of country, blues, and R&B; stylings decades ago, but it took the Grammy-winning 2001 release,Nothing Personal, to fully showcase his talents.Room to Breathe, once again benefiting from a diverse selection of original McClinton songs, updates and embellishes the approach with most of the same participants present. McClinton uses his classic blue-eyed-soul voice with full authority and more than a little eclecticism, bouncing through "Blues About You, Baby" with an almostJerry Lee Lewisboogie feel, while infusing the snaky "Jungle Room" with laid-back nightclub coolness. "Ain't Lost Nothin'," cowritten with producer Gary Nicholson and harp heroKim Wilson, is the purest blues expression, although the piano-led ballad "Everything I Know About the Blues," a McClinton-Nicholson tune cowritten by Heartbreaker Benmont Tench, also works well. McClinton rocks through "Same Kind of Crazy," gets funky on "The Rub," and even conjures a distantLynryd Skynyrdecho on the uptempo "Money Honey." Yet his biggest effort is saved for the star-studded sing-along "Lone Star Blues," a tribute to Texas complete with fiddle and pedal steel guitar and featuring an anthemic country chorus from a host of famous McClinton friends and fans.--Michael Point