0:35
well hello friends and welcome to ask
0:37
Zack today we're going to talk about one
0:40
of my favorite artists and one and what
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I think is probably their greatest album
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of all time and a really influential
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record to me one that kind of was a
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gateway drug to all sorts of uh R&B and
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blues and of course Texas Roadhouse
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music music and that is Delbert
1:02
mcclinton's live from
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Austin this is a an amazing record and
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uh I'm going to talk about it and uh
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talk about the players on it talk about
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the guitarists on there David Milsap and
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uh the late and great uh Steven brutin
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who is one of my favorite players so
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this also gives me a chance to kind of
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talk about Steven brutin
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career and his
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influence and uh yeah and I hope I hope
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you will take away an appreciation if
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you don't already have one for Delbert
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mclinton and you'll go out and listen to
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this album maybe some other great uh
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Delbert records uh I wish he was still
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performing he's kind of retired at this
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point I think he still does some cruises
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every once in a while but uh yeah all
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right so before we dive in I just want
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to thank my patreon on supporters cuz
2:01
they keep this show going and I'm
2:03
grateful so thank you to them if you
2:05
would like to join them or find out more
2:08
well there's a link in the
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description all right so a little bit of
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background info uh just about how I was
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clued into this album so I was uh raised
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pretty strict um I was as a teenager I
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was playing guitar in an assembly of go
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Assembly of God church so I played uh
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youth group on Friday nights and I
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played Sunday morning and Sunday night
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and Wednesday night services so I played
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Four Services a week and starting when I
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was about 13 years
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old when uh when I got a little bit
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older uh I started really trying to
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learn from the drummer that was in our
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church because he started showing me
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some cool vintage guitars that he had
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even though he wasn't a guitar player uh
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the drummer uh his name was Ry Mosby and
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he was from the Tulsa area he had some
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really cool vintage guitars he had some
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old strats and he also had a 61 Les Paul
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SG he had an early 80s Les Paul Custom
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that had a Kor locking tremolo system on
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it talk about a bunch of wood taken out
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uh he had a 57 Tweed
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vibralux and he had a uh
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uh a like a late 60s uh silverface
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bandmaster Reverb head in cabinet and he
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would let me borrow these these things
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and he would bring them to church and
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he'd let me use them in the services and
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such and so it was a lot of
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fun well I started kind of hearing some
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of the music he was listening to cuz of
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course you know my parents really didn't
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let me listen to any kind of non- gospel
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CCM you know Christian music but he was
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listening to stuff like uh Ry cter and
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JJ kale and Delbert mclinton and all
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these different things that I didn't
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really know who they were and it sounded
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really foreign to me because there was
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nothing uh in the gospel music or
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whatever I was listening to that sounded
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anything like that well when I got to be
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16 uh you know of course I had driver's
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license and I'd start driving over to
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see him and he would start playing me
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you know records and so that that's
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where I got exposed to Eric Clapton and
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Chuck Barry and all sorts of different
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you know music and one day when we were
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uh you know visiting and of course I was
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playing through his Tweed vibralux and
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just loving you know the sound and the
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feel of these vintage guitars and amps
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and such one day when I was leaving he
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gave me a a cassette and it was a you
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know a dubbed cassette so there of
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course there was no writing or anything
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and he said you need to listen to
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this I said okay and so when I got in
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the car and put in the cassette well it
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was Delbert mclinton live from
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Austin
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and I wore that cassette out I played it
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nonstop it was really a gateway drug to
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kind of R&B
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music and just
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great a great you know kind of Texas
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Roadhouse or just kind of R&B band the
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fact that you had a big Rhythm Section
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you know with a a B3 SL piano player you
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had the you know drums and bass you had
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two guitar players and then you had a
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horn section uh sounds similar to The
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Blues Brothers Band well that's because
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uh The Blues Brothers were very
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influenced by D mclinton
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well I uh
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you know just really wore that out uh
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and then the thing that was really
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interesting was that all of a sudden
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that performance was on television
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because unbeknownst to me the album was
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the audio was taken from a performance
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on Austin City Limits so then all of a
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sudden I was able to see you know what
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was going on also and I was able to see
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the guitar players and see who was
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playing what and that was a a really
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wonderful uh
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Revelation and I became a big fan of
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Steven brutin and David
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milap and one thing that was really
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interesting was I had listened to the
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album so much that when I saw the uh the
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Austin City Limits you know episode on
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television I could tell the difference
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between the two because they they
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weren't the same and of course they had
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been mixed slightly different
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differently and also the uh they were
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edited differently so you know it's a
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different order of songs and also some
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of the songs were shortened so at times
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you know the Austin City Limits version
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of the song is longer because it's the
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full performance while on the album here
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at times they would pull out a horn solo
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or a guitar solo to shorten the song to
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make it where it was more like 4 minutes
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long instead of 5 minutes
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long
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so uh you know really enjoyed that and
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also you of course watching it on on
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Austin City Limits you could see what
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kind of guitars they were playing and
7:37
everything and so step Bruin's guitar
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playing was very interesting to me and
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part of what it was is that he played a
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Telecaster with a B Bender but he used
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it in a very
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noncount way you know he wasn't doing
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any type of Clarence white or Albert Lee
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or Ricky Skaggs type you know B Bender
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licks he was you know using it in a very
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kind of
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R&B you know kind of rock you know kind
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of rock kind of way and he was using of
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course a little bit you know dirtier of
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a tone
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so and I really that's one thing that I
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I really uh think guys should check out
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is uh you know I think brutin was
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probably one of the guys that used a b
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Bender in the most nontrad traditional
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way and that didn't mean he couldn't do
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that but he was able to use it just as a
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tool and not oh all of a sudden I have a
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b Bender I'm going to start playing
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Clarence white licks so I really loved
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that yeah the gear they were using was
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cool so brutin had this black all black
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Telecaster that had EMG pickups and had
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a Parson's white you know string bender
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on it on the B
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string and he also had a red it was a
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fiesta red uh 80s you know Fender
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reissue 62
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Strat and those were his two guitars and
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he had a uh blackface vibralux Reverb
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and he had a uh it was ianz made this
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uee series and it was it was a rack
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mount double space rack but it was
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analog effects with knobs no you know
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digital programming stuff and it had a
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little foot controller thing that had a
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uh you know heavyduty cable that uh
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connected it and so that was his rig and
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then the other guitarist uh who was
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David Milsap he had a real black guard
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and he was using a uh a blackface super
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Reverb and he had a couple of Boss
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pedals sitting on top of his amp it
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looked like it was probably a boss
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overdrive like the
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sd1 and then I think an octaver and uh
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and then a delay so but uh and the thing
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one of the things was really interesting
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about this whole album and uh and the
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two guys the two guitarists interplay
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was the backstory that I got from James
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pennebaker now Delbert mclinton has had
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an amazing list of great guitar players
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playing his band and probably one of the
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first was James pennebaker and if you're
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not familiar with James you ought to
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look him up he's a really great great
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guitarist and uh he uh he played with
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Delbert for quite a while while
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throughout the uh the 70s and 80s and I
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think was on some of his first hits like
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giving it up for your love but uh James
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told me the backstory on this album in
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that David Milsap was the guitarist in
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the band and that brutin was just
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sitting in so brutin was probably
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playing with Chris kristopherson at that
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point uh who of course a long-term you
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know gig that he had had and uh and
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Bruin's just sitting in and
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the album is amazing because of the
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interplay between the two guitarist
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so you know on all a lot of the songs
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David Milsap is playing the main riff
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and that's because it's his gig and you
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know and he's the one that's that's been
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been doing that and so brutin ends up
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playing all these you know complimentary
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parts and
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probably my favorite example of them
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complimenting complimenting each other
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in their playing is they play the old
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Otis reading tune uh Dreams to
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Remember and they it's in of course it's
11:44
in 68 and it's got that you know that uh
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of course the part that Cropper you know
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that Steve Cropper played you know you
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have
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[Music]
11:57
that well milsaps playing that part and
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then Steven brutin takes it up a third
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and
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[Music]
12:11
plays and when you hear the album and
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when you hear those two parts together
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it just sounds amazing cuz they're just
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locked in together and uh it's a it's a
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wonderful uh just example of two guitar
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players really working together to uh to
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make for a really great musical
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performance and it's one of the reasons
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why the album's just one of my favorites
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of all time is it's like two guitar
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players that are really sympatico
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they're really uh they you can tell they
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they they like each other they respect
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each other and they're uh they're
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trading off you know they're they're
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each you know both of them are taking
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solos and and doing their thing and you
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know they're sounds work together and uh
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it's just a great album just to give a
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little bit of info on on Steven brutin
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um brutin was was born in Delaware and
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uh but his parents moved to uh the Fort
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Worth area when he was
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two uh his parents had a uh a record
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shop there and that's what he grew up
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there and uh he you know got hooked up
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with Del mclinton and got hooked up with
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Chris Kristofferson early on I think he
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started playing with kristoferson in
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like 70 or
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71 appeared in movies you know as
13:33
Christopherson did movies uh Steven
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brutin was uh you know had bit Parts in
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those films and sometimes he plays a you
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know you can see him sometimes as a
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general or a bartender all sorts of
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different roles that uh he played
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through the years uh there's many
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performances of kristoferson with brutin
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playing guitar with him usually that
13:59
same black Telly with the string bender
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and and a lot of times in the 80s he's
14:04
playing that red that Fiesta red 62
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reissue
14:09
Strat uh you know and he would he would
14:12
play with Delbert off and on you know
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kind of sitting in because they were old
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friends and then in the uh late 80s
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early 90s uh brutin started playing with
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Bonnie rate when her career kind of
14:25
exploded and I think I think the album
14:27
after Nica time you like something to
14:29
talk about that era I think he started
14:31
playing with her in fact he's in that
14:33
video and yeah there's a lot of
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performances of uh brutin playing with
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Bonnie rate because of course she was
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very hot and she was on a lot of
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television shows at that point
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um brutin uh seemed to to really like
14:51
gear and to be a a a gearhound just like
14:54
the rest of us and uh in the 9s he
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started using dumble overdrive special
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amps and uh and he had some PRS guitars
15:04
that kind of look similar to
15:07
dgts uh he played Custom Shop fenders he
15:11
liked he really liked dot neck 335s and
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so you'd see him playing a number of
15:15
different uh you know Sunburst neck 335s
15:19
and and he started a solo career he's a
15:22
great songwriter a lot of people uh
15:25
covered his tunes and of course he did a
15:27
bunch of great solo records
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uh he uh unfortunately he got throat
15:33
cancer and probably the last thing he
15:35
did was the he worked with T-Bone
15:38
Bernett another old kind of Dallas Fort
15:41
Worth friend on the soundtrack for a
15:44
Crazy Heart of course he was also
15:46
involved in just the making of the movie
15:47
in general and I think the movie if I
15:50
remember correctly the movie is
15:51
dedicated to to brutin but uh he was an
15:55
incredibly influential guitarist and uh
15:59
songwriter and everyone that knew him
16:02
kind of felt like they were his best
16:03
friend and he uh he seemed to be really
16:07
a really great guy I uh you know only
16:10
got to see him on uh on TV and such but
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uh uh my friend JD Simo got to open a
16:17
show for him and he said it really
16:19
changed his life and really changed what
16:22
he wanted to do CU at the time JD was
16:24
really kind of doing a Steve Ray vongh
16:27
Jimmy Hendrick kind of routine and uh
16:31
brutin made him really think about
16:33
songwriting and uh and playing parts and
16:38
and doing your own thing not just aping
16:41
uh Stevie Ray and Jimmy Hendricks
16:45
so this album really really important to
16:49
me and uh you really need to uh check it
16:52
out I I need to mention just all the
16:55
guitar players you know just a short
16:57
list of the players that have been
16:59
through Delbert mcclinton's band of
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course you know some of the early albums
17:04
had Reggie young playing on them uh
17:06
James pennebaker toured with him and
17:09
also recorded with him for years you had
17:12
uh you of course David Milsap you had
17:15
Steven
17:16
brutin you had uh Todd Sharp uh played
17:21
with him for uh for a while as did Rob
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McNelly there's a lot of footage of Rob
17:26
McNelly playing with uh
17:29
with debert mclinton uh you also have
17:31
Bob Britt you know who's now playing
17:34
with uh you with Bob Dylan he he played
17:37
with
17:38
uh with old uh Delbert for a long time
17:41
so uh yeah it's and and some of the
17:44
records uh in the 90s that he did have
17:48
Stuart Smith playing guitar on them so
17:50
there's if you ever pick up a Del MC
17:52
Clinton record it's going to have great
17:54
guitar playing on it and and also great
17:57
songs and greater Arrangements and and
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it's uh yeah and it's just that that fun
18:02
mix of R&B with a dash of country and
18:06
soul and rock and all sorts of things
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combined together and of course you know
18:10
I have to mention Delbert of course
18:12
native Texan and uh you know probably
18:16
he's you know famous for playing on the
18:19
uh Bruce Chanel you know hey baby that's
18:22
him you know playing the harmonica part
18:24
which of course they ended up running
18:26
into the Beatles and it's always been
18:28
you know talked about how Delbert uh you
18:31
know evidently showed John lennen some
18:34
uh some harmonica things which of course
18:37
led to some of the Like Love Me Do and
18:40
other things that the Beatles
18:41
did all right let's uh let's look at
18:46
that uh intro guitar part uh you know
18:50
standing on Shaky Ground you know it's
18:52
it's it's not hard it's just
18:59
[Music]
19:07
so uh you you just have you know it's in
19:09
the key e and uh you're
19:12
[Music]
19:17
hitting you have the little uh scratchy
19:20
scratchy
19:25
[Music]
19:27
part so you have this um you know low E
19:31
then the octave
19:34
e then you're hitting this uh you know C
19:40
sharp then the
19:42
[Music]
19:45
D then you do the
19:48
[Music]
19:52
scratchy and then you have the walkup
19:54
part
20:01
so uh easy but uh but fun little guitar
20:07
[Music]
20:11
part all right guys well I hope you've
20:14
enjoyed today's episode again thank you
20:16
to my patreon supporters go listen to
20:19
some Delbert McClinton also check out
20:21
some Steven brutin thanks guys I'll see
20:24
you next time bye-bye