Tommy McClennan

Tommy McClennan

Infobox musical artist | Background = solo_singer | Instrument = Guitar
Name = Tommy McClennan


Img_capt = Photo booth portrait of Tommy McClennan c. 1940
Born = birth date|1908|4|8|mf=y
near Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.A.
Died = 1962
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.
Genre = Delta blues, country blues, blues
Years_active = 1939-1942
Label = Bluebird
Associated_acts = Robert Petway
URL =

Tommy McClennan (April 8 1908 - 1962?) was a delta blues singer and guitarist.

Life and career

McClennan was born on a farm near Yazoo City, Mississippi and grew up in the town. He played and sang blues in a rough, energetic style.

He made a series of recordings for Bluebird Records from 1939 through 1942 and regularly played with his friend Robert Petway. He can be heard shouting in the background on Petway's 1942 recording "Boogie Woogie Woman".

McClennan made an immediate impact in 1940 with his recordings of "Shake 'Em On Down", "Bottle It Up and Go", "Whiskey Head Woman" and "New Highway No.51".cite book
first= Tony
last= Russell
year= 1997
title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
edition=
publisher= Carlton Books Limited
location= Dubai
pages= p. 139
id= ISBN 1-85868-255-X]

He left a powerful legacy that included "Bottle It Up and Go," "Cross Cut Saw Blues" (covered by Albert King), "Deep Blue Sea Blues" (aka "Catfish Blues"), and others whose lasting power has been evidenced through the repertoires and re-recordings of other artists. [http://wc04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=TOMMY|MCCLENNAN&sql=11:0ifrxq95ld0e~T1 All Music Guide biography - accessed January 2008] ]

Although nothing is known of what happened to Petway, McClennan was occasionally seen in Chicago with Elmore James and Little Walter, two other artists who came from the Delta. McClennan is reported to have died from alcoholism in poverty in Chicago, Illinois, in 1962. [ [http://www.cibs.org/legends/delta5.htm Central Iowa Blues Society website - accessed January 2008] ]

Citation

"He had a different style of playing a guitar" Big Bill Broonzy remarked drily. "You just make the chords and change when you feel like changing"

ee also

*List of Delta blues musicians
*List of people from Mississippi

References

External links

* [http://www.yazoo.org/Notables/McClenna.htm Tommy McClennan on yazoo.org - with photograph of McClennan]
* [http://www.cascadeblues.org/History/TommyMcClennan.htm Article on cascadeblues.com]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/x.dll?p=amg&sql=B447 Listing on allmusic.com]
* [http://www.wirz.de/music/mcclenna.htm Illustrated Tommy McClennan discography]


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