O. B. McClinton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is orphaned as few or no other articles link to it.
Please help introduce links in articles on related topics. (October 2007)

O. B. McClinton (born Obie Burnett McClinton April 25, 1940 in Senatobia, Mississippi, died September 23, 1987) was a Black country music singer and songwriter. The second-youngest child born to Rev. G.A. McClinton, a clergyman and farmer who owned his own 700-acre (2.8 km²) ranch in Mississippi, not far from Memphis, Tennessee. Listening to Hank Williams as a child around the age of 9 or 10 sparked his interest in performing Country music.

Before beginning his Country Music career, he tried to break into R&B. Although he was unable to secure a recording contract as a soul singer himself, he did pen several songs recorded by James Carr, including the title songs to Carr's albums "You Got My Mind Messed Up" and "A Man Needs a Woman."

Known to refer to himself as the "Chocolate Cowboy", McClinton successfully marketed his album called 'The Only One' on television long before the practice was commonplace. Featuring his first country chart single 'Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You', a top 40 song in 1972, he considered it to be his finest work.

He died on September 23, 1987 after a year-long battle with abdominal cancer.