Sarasota Blues Fest headliner Delbert McClinton on teaching harmonica to John Lennon: interview

Delbert McClinton has released four CDs that have reached No. 1 on the blues albums chart, has been inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame and won a Grammy Award.

And that's just since 2001.

Go back a couple more decades, and there's the Top 10 single "Giving It Up For Your Love," the popular country duet with Tanya Tucker "Tell Me About It," and another Grammy Award for his duet with Bonnie Raitt, "Good Man, Good Woman."

McClinton also wrote the Emmylou Harris No. 1 hit "Two More Bottles of Wine."

And gave harmonica lessons to John Lennon.

Yes, THAT John Lennon.

McClinton, a Texas roots music hero who first tasted international fame in the early 1960s, has finally started to slow down a little.

He scheduled just a handful of shows this month including his headlining spot at the Sarasota Blues and Music Festival on Saturday.

"I just don't care anymore about being out there eight days a week," McClinton said by phone while vacationing in Mexico earlier his month. "I work just enough to satisfy the jones."

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Sarasota Blues and Music Festival schedule  

—Delbert McClinton publicity photo provided.