A Conversation with Delbert McClinton (continued)
PM: While we're on co-writers, any words on Benmont Tench or Al Anderson?
DM: Well, both of them are geniuses.
PM: Yeah, amazing guys. [Benmont is the keyboard mensch of Tom Petty's band, and Al Anderson is a legendary guitarist, for decades with NRBQ, now his own act and a hit songwriter in Nashville.]
DM: They are unbelievable. Benmont is probably the most innovative keyboard player I've ever met.
PM: Wow.
DM: I mean, he can do stuff that can't be done. Like on Nothing Personal, on "When Rita Leaves," the mandolin is him on the keyboard.
PM: Get out!
DM: Yeah.
PM: God, I didn't hear that.
DM: Well, he can do it where you can't hear it better than anybody I ever heard.
PM: Is he a co-writer on "Livin' it Down"? [from Nothing Personal]
DM: Benmont did write "Livin' it Down" with us, yes. He's not playing on it, but he co-wrote it with us.
PM: That is one of the funniest, greatest songs I ever heard. Every single line is funny. You just never hear that, where every line is funny. I mean, "I had my ducks in a row and she shot 'em."
DM: [laughs]
PM: Every time I think of that line, I lose it.
DM: Yeah, I know. We all laughed a lot when we wrote that song. We wrote that song in nothing flat.
PM: No kidding.
DM: Gary and Benmont and I went in to write. And when I got there, over to Gary's house where we usually write, they'd already been there for a little bit. And I came in and Gary says, "Benmont's got a great first line." I said, "What did he did do?" "My ship came in and she sunk it."
PM: [laughs]
DM: And immediately Gary said, "I was the toast of the town and she's drunk it."
PM: [laughs]
DM: And then I said, "I had a run of good luck and she ran it right into the ground." And we just rolled from there.
PM: I mean, those first six lines are just golden.
DM: [laughs] Well, you know, it's good to write with guys who are clever. And Benmont will say anything, which is great in a songwriter.
PM: Right.
DM: I mean, he really will. You know, there's good stupid and there's bad stupid. And it's really important to be able to know the difference.
PM: But you got to say stupid. You can't think if--
DM: Oh, Ben will. He'll say anything.
PM: Now, what's the difference writing with a guy like Al, who's a very different personality than Benmont?
DM: Well, Al is just--he's great. Al can make you write by the way he plays.
PM: Wow.
DM: Because he plays so good.
PM: He's such a powerful guitar player.
DM: Oh, god, I'm telling you man, it's unbelievable. He gets something going, and all of a sudden the lines just start coming out.
PM: Damn.
DM: So it's a magic mixture that makes good songs, you know?
PM: Yeah, it really is a chemical deal.
DM: It really is. continue
