Personnel include: Delbert McClinton (vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica); Bill Campbell (guitar); James Pennebaker (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, steel guitar, fiddle); Rob McNelley (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Don Wise (saxophone); Kevin McKendree (piano, organ); Steve Mackey (bass instrument); Spencer Campbell (double bass, bass guitar); Lynn Williams (drums); Bekka Bramlett (background vocals).

Recording information: Fearless, Nashville, TN (2004); The Sound Emprium, Nashville, TN (2005).

Texas blues-rock hero Delbert McClinton sounds remarkably energized on this 2005 album--not bad for a guy whose genre-blending career extends back to the late 1950s. COST OF LIVING features McClinton's distinctively twangy takes on blues, rock, and R&B, as best showcased on the witty, rollicking opener, "One of the Fortunate Few," and the pleading "I'll Change My Style"--which could serve as a tongue-in-cheek anthem for his own subtly shifting aesthetic.

McClinton's good-natured humor is also evident on plenty of other tunes, including "The Part I Like Best," an innuendo-filled barnstormer, and the Randy Newman-like narrative "Hammerhead Stew." The consistent quality of the material here makes this one of the husky-voiced performer's finest offerings in years.

Rolling Stone (No. 982, p.110) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...McClinton [is] a rootsy national treasure...."

Down Beat (p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 - "McClinton combines powerful singing with musical intelligence on a dozen good-to-excellent songs..."

Dirty Linen (p.88) - "McClinton's unrestrained verve allows him to keep making rollicking records, even in his mid-60s....[The songs] communicate his youthful, irascible spirit."