Song Premiere: Delbert McClinton, “Like Lovin’ Used To Be”

Delbert McClinton

Videos by American Songwriter

“Whatever happened to romance?” In this new song from Delbert McClinton, the Grammy-winning artist, known for his fusion of blues, rock and Americana, wonders just that. It’s a fun, playful tune about the lighter side of love (“I like picnics and wading in a shallow stream”) set to a relaxed acoustic shuffle, punctuated with doo-wop-esque vocal harmonies and carried by a jazzy saxophone that culminates in a solo as laid back and whimsical as the song’s lyrics.

“I love this song,” McClinton says. “I wrote this with Bob Britt and Mike Joyce, who had been playing music with me for over a year at the time.  We decided to get together on Wednesdays to write. The first day we got together, they started playing chords and I heard a vocal part. It’s magic when you’re inspired like that. We wrote part of the song that day and later went to Mexico to finish ‘Lovin” and several other songs for this album.”

The new song is from McClinton’s forthcoming album Prick Of The Litter, a release with his band the Self-Made Men due out January 27. Listen to “Like Lovin’ Used To Be” below.

R.E.M.: Out Of Time (reissue)