MIGHTY SAM McCLAIN

Samuel “Mighty Sam” McClain nació el 15 de abril de 1943 en Monroe (Luisiana)  y  falleció el 16 de junio de 2015 a consecuencia de un derrame cerebral que padeció en el mes de abril de este año.  Cantante de “southern soul-blues”,  grabó unos cuantos temas de R&B en los sesenta y trabajó durante los siguientes años en varias ocupaciones al margen de la música hasta los ochenta en que volvió mediante una gira por el Japón y posteriores  colaboraciones estelares. Sacó varios discos a su nombre y creó su propio sello, Mighty Music. 

     

Empezó cantando góspel en el coro de la iglesia. A los 13 años se fue de casa siguiendo los pasos del guitarrista de R&B  Little Melvin Underwood. A los quince años ya cantaba en los clubes del llamado  Chitlin' circuit, que es el nombre por el que se conocía a locales como el Cotton Club o el Victory Grill donde los músicos y cualquier tipo de artistas afroamericanos debutaban.  El nombre procede de chitterlings, plato tradicional a base de intestinos de cerdo guisado o en sopa, por entonces común en la comunidad afroamericana en los estados del Sur.

Cuando cantaba en el 506 Club en Pensacola, Florida, fue descubierto por el productor y Dj  Papa Don Schroeder en  1966. McClain grabaría una versión del tema de Don Gibson interpretado por Patsy Cline, "Sweet Dreams". De las sesiones en Muscle Shoals salieron varios singles para Ami y Stateside con temas como "Fannie-May" (Waymen Glasco aka Buster Brown) y "In the Same Old Way" (Oldham, Penn). En 1969 salió un disco con varias de sus canciones con el título de "Mighty Soul" para Soul City.  Después, y durante quince años, primero en Nashville, Tennessee, y después en New Orleans, McClain trabajó en varias ocupaciones. Volvería en los ochenta grabando un directo en Japón en 1989, “Live in Japan”, con la colaboración del guitarrista de blues, Wayne Bennett. 

A primeros de la década de los noventa se trasladó a Nueva Inglaterra donde participó en la grabación del disco  "Hubert Sumlin Blues Party", del guitarrista Hubert Sumlin. Esta grabación le llevó a contactar con Joe Harley y AudioQuest Music con los que grabó varios discos como  “Give It Up To Love” (1993), “Keep On Movin'” (1995), “Sledgehammer Soul And Down Home Blues”, y  “Soul Survivor” (1998). En 1999 firmó con Telarc Blues y grabó con su antiguo productor Joe Harley los discos “Blues for the Soul” (2000) y “ Sweet Dreams” (2001). En 1996 crearía McClain productions. También crearía su propio sello  Mighty Music con el que editó su disco “One More Bridge To Cross” en 2009.

Desde 2008 formaba parte de la asociación “Give US Your Poor” de ayuda a personas sin hogar, y es autor con el saxofonista Scott Shetler, de la canción "Show Me the Way". En 2009 grabó un álbum de duetos con la cantante iraní, Mahsa Vahdat. El disco se llamaría “Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations”. Ya en 2012 grabó el disco “Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)”,  con la ayuda de Pat Herlehy.  En 2014 participaría en el proyecto “Songs from a Stolen Spring”, en el que se emparejan cantantes americanos con egipcios con motivo de la llamada “primavera árabe”. McClain cantó con  Ramy Essam los temas "Bread, Freedom” y “If I Can Dream" popularizado por Elvis Presley.

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Samuel McClain (April 15, 1943 – June 15, 2015), billed as Mighty Sam McClain, was an American soul blues singer and songwriter.

He was born in Monroe, Louisiana.As a five-year-old, he began singing in his mother's Gospel Church. McClain left home when he was thirteen and followed local R&B guitarist, Little Melvin Underwood through the Chitlin' circuit, first as his valet and then as lead vocalist himself at 15.

While singing at the 506 Club in Pensacola, Florida he was introduced to the record producer and DJ, Papa Don Schroeder and in 1966, McClain recorded a cover version of Patsy Cline's "Sweet Dreams". Several recording sessions at Muscle Shoals produced the further singles, "Fannie-May" and "In the Same Old Way". For fifteen years, first in Nashville, Tennessee, then in New Orleans, McClain worked at menial jobs. McClain toured and recorded in Japan in 1989. The end product, Live in Japan, featured Wayne Bennett.[citation needed]

By the early 1990s, McClain relocated to New England through his participation in the "Hubert Sumlin Blues Party" project. This led to Joe Harley and AudioQuest Music. The results were the successful releases, Give It Up To Love and Keep On Movin'. After his move to New Hampshire, then followed Sledgehammer Soul and Down Home Blues. In 1998 McClain had two releases, Journey and Joy & Pain on the CrossCut Records label. Soul Survivor: The Best of Mighty Sam McClain was his farewell to AudioQuest in 1999. McClain signed on with the Telarc Blues in 1999, taking his longtime producer Joe Harley with him, and recorded the Blues Music Award nominated Blues for the Soul (2000) and Sweet Dreams (2001).

In 1996, McClain formed McClain Productions after successfully co-producing his albums with Joe Harley. He also created his own record label, Mighty Music, which released One More Bridge To Cross in February 2003. Betcha Didn't Know was issued in July 2009 on Mighty Music. It was nominated by the Blues Association as 'Soul/Blues Album 2010'.

In 2008, McClain joined the 'Give US Your Poor' project, benefiting the homeless. He also co-wrote with the saxophonist Scott Shetler, "Show Me the Way". He continued to work with this project, performing at both the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, and at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and other venues, sharing the stage with Natalie Merchant, and Mario Frangoulis. In early 2009, McClain recorded an album of duets with the Iranian folk singer, Mahsa Vahdat. The resulting album, Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations reached #6 in the European World Music Chart.[citation needed]

McClain and the guitarist for this project, Knut Reiersrud, collaborated on One Drop is Plenty that was recorded in Norway in January 2011. Also, McClain sung the theme song for the film, Time and Charges. "Find the Sun" was written by Thompson and Joe Deleault, and McClain appeared in a cameo role in the film singing the song.

McClain recorded Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey) in 2012. The following year the title song, "Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)," written by McClain and Pat Herlehy, was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Best Song' category.

In 2014 McClain was featured on the compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring that paired Western musicians with artists from the Arab Spring. On the album McClain performed "If I Can Dream" - a Walter Earl Brown song made famous by Elvis Presley. The performance was meshed with "Bread, Freedom" by the Egyptian musician Ramy Essam who is best known for his appearances in Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.

McClain suffered a stroke in April 2015, and died on June 15, 2015. The cause of death is not yet known.