Tall, Dark, and Handsome (album)

Tall, Dark, & Handsome is a studio album by American blues musician Delbert McClinton and his second album with Self-Made Men. It was released on July 26, 2019, through Hot Shot Records with distribution via Thirty Tigers/The Orchard. Recording sessions took place at The Rock House in Franklin, Tennessee. Production was handled by Bob Britt, Kevin McKendree, and McClinton himself. It features saxophone player Dana Robbins, who contributed to three of the fourteen tracks on the album and also credited on the album's cover.

Tall, Dark, & Handsome
Studio album by Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana
Released	July 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
Studio	The Rock House (Franklin, TN)
Genre	Blues
Length	40:00
Label	Hot Shot Records
Producer	Bob Britt Delbert McClinton Kevin McKendree
Delbert McClinton chronology
Prick of the Litter (2017) Tall, Dark, & Handsome (2019) Outdated Emotion (2022)

The album peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Top Album Sales, number 51 on the Top Current Album Sales, number 15 on the Independent Albums, and topped the Blues Albums chart in the United States.

At the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, the album won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	79/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
All About Jazz	[2]
AllMusic	[3]
American Songwriter	[4]
The Austin Chronicle	[5]

Tall, Dark, & Handsome was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on five reviews.^[1]

Reid Jowers of The Austin Chronicle wrote: "picking up both pace and vigor after Prick of the Litter, McClinton finds a Second Wind going all the way back to 1978, his voice still ragged but right and, here, full of piss and vinegar".^[5] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated: "where Prick of the Litter settled into a mellow vibe, Tall, Dark, And Handsome is bold and restless, finding McClinton trying on all manner of blues for size".^[3] Hal Horowitz of American Songwriter wrote: "in other words, it's McClinton as we've come to know and love him, cranking out another solid disc of Americana, Delbert-style. It sounds inspired and freewheeling, like he's just getting started. And considering his age and extensive resume, that's quite a compliment".^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Mr. Smith"	Delbert McClinton Bob Britt Kevin McKendree	4:03
2.	"If I Hock My Guitar"	McClinton Britt Michael G. Joyce	2:07
3.	"No Chicken on the Bone"	McClinton Britt Dennis Wage	3:07
4.	"Let's Get Down Like We Used To"	McClinton Pat McLaughlin Al Anderson	3:03
5.	"Gone to Mexico"	McClinton	2:16
6.	"Lulu"	McClinton Britt McKendree	3:04
7.	"Loud Mouth"	McClinton Britt Joyce	3:06
8.	"Down in the Mouth"	McClinton	2:07
9.	"Ruby & Jules"	McClinton Britt Wage	3:00
10.	"Any Other Way"	McClinton Britt McKendree	3:22
11.	"A Fool Like Me"	McClinton	3:06
12.	"Can't Get Up"	McClinton Britt Joyce	2:35
13.	"Temporarily Insane"	McClinton Britt Joyce	4:04
14.	"A Poem"	McClinton Britt McKendree	1:00
Total length:			40:00

Personnel

Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men + Dana Delbert McClinton – vocals, producer Bob Britt – guitar (tracks: 1, 2, 5–14), acoustic guitar & mandolin (track 3), slide guitar (track 4), backing vocals (track 6), producer, engineering, mixing Kevin McKendree – piano (tracks: 1–3, 5–8, 10–12, 14), Hammond B-3 organ (tracks: 1, 4, 7, 11, 12), backing vocals (track 6), guitar (track 7), mellotron (track 13), producer, engineering, mixing Quentin Ware – trumpet (tracks: 1, 11) Dennis Wage – Wurlitzer electric organ (track 4), piano (track 9) Michael G. "Mike" Joyce – bass (tracks: 4, 9) Jack Bruno – drums (tracks: 4, 9) James Pennebaker – guitar (track 8) Dana Robbins – tenor saxophone (track 1), saxophone (tracks: 5, 10)

Additional musicians Wendy Moten – backing vocals (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9) Vicki Hampton – backing vocals (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9) Robert Bailey – backing vocals (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8) Delaney McClinton – backing vocals (tracks: 2, 11) Glenn Worf – bass (tracks: 1–3, 5–8, 10–13) Joe Maher – drums (tracks: 1–3, 5–8, 10–13), percussion (track 5) Jim Hoke – baritone saxophone (tracks: 1, 2, 11), tenor saxophone (track 2), clarinet (tracks: 4, 11), accordion & saxophone (track 5) Roy Agee – trombone (track 1), tromba marina (track 11) Stuart Duncan – violin (track 3) Patrick James "Pat" Mclaughlin – backing vocals (tracks: 4, 13), guitar (track 4) Yates McKendree – guitar (track 7), engineering Jim DeMain – mastering Fetzer Design – art direction, design, photography

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[6]	62
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[7]	15
US Top Blues Albums (Billboard)[8]	1