Tag: Delbert McClinton

I remember hearing this song for the first time on the way to a baseball game that I was set to pitch. It was the best game I ever pitched. I didn’t have my best stuff at all but I pitched a one-hitter. There was one big problem…the other pitcher pitched a no-hitter and shut us out.  I remember I walked someone and he was on second base. The ball was hit to left field and our left fielder Greg C****** dropped the ball and the run scored. We lost 1-0. I didn’t give Greg any grief but I can STILL see him drop that ball.

McClinton is an excellent singer and musician. He plays an eclectic mix of tough soul, blues, rock and roll, country, Tex-Mex, some reggae, and jazz. He is a guy that was never a huge star but should have been. I love his music because it’s so down-to-earth and rootsy.

The song was released in 1980 on Delbert’s album “The Jealous Kind.” Giving It Up for Your Love peaked at #8 on the Billboard 100.

Delbert has performed for years but this is his only Billboard top forty hit. He did reach #5 in the Country charts with Tanya Tucker with the song “Tell Me About It.” McClinton also won a Grammy in 1992 on a duet with Bonnie Raitt in a song called “Good Man, Good Woman.”

Some trivia about Delbert… he played the harmonica on Bruce Channel’s hit “Hey Baby.” Bruce Channel with Delbert had the Beatles supporting them during a few shows during the Love Me Do era. There was a rumor that Delbert gave John harmonica lessons…Delbert has said that John already knew how to play…he just gave him a few tips.

Delbert McClinton on showing John some tips: “These things are getting romanticized by everyone, They [The Beatles] were just another group of guys. They hadn’t yet changed the world. [But] we were all going to change the world, every one of us. And there was no doubt about it.”

Givin’ It Up For Your Love