DOCD-5669
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| Tommy McClennan The Complete Recordings Vol. 1 (1939-1940) £7.99 |
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| McClennan would work in the cotton fields by day and in the evenings he would play on the streets of Greenwood, MS. Later he worked in juke joints and for dance parties, playing both the guitar and the piano. McClennan was a small man, standing just 4 feet 10, but this in no way negated the powerful voice that he possessed. His voice was rough, hoarse and loud. Loud enough to be heard over the hubbub in a Mississippi juke joint on a Saturday night. Honey Boy Edwards tells of Tommy's habit of standing in front of a mirror talking to himself. It was a trick he carried forward into his act; as he sang a number he would supply a secomd voice to offer himself advice, admonitions and praise, sometimes laughing as if he recognised the absurdity of what he was doing. He sounded ferocious, unstable, big and mean. However throughout his life McClennan was an ill man, suffering from tuberculosis, and an addiction to alcohol. In 1939 McClennan was 'discovered' by Lester Melrose of Bluebird Records and recorded the first of 5 sessions for him. Three of these sessions are featured on this Document Records CD. After the recording of these sessions, Melrose decided to release McClennan from the label due to his unreliability and alcoholism. McClennan then 'disappeared', only playing occasionally here and there in the Chicago clubs. Honey Boy Edwards tried to resurrect McClennan's career in 1962, by which time Tommy was destitute and living in a truck trailer he had converted into a makeshift house. Edwards tried to bring McClennan back to the stage but his constant desire for alcohol and unreliability ended this second opportunity of fame. McClennan returned to his life in the slums and shortly afterwards died alone and penniless. | ||
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