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" McClelland finds home at Beale Street studio. "
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By Norm Shaw
On the back wall at 315 Beale studios hangs a plaque honoring Billy Earl McClelland for his work on a number one hit on the country charts for B.J. Thomas. But as McClelland sits in an adjacent room, that plaque and all it represents seems a million miles away, not thirty or so feet. McClelland has left his country past and is focusing directly on a blues future. "I was in Nashville for 18 years, playing on country records and writing songs," McClelland says. "But all that time, I was still trying to be Elmore James." McClelland moved to Memphis at the urging of Skip McQuinn at 315 Beale, the recording studio located on the east end of Beale Street. It is at 315 Beale that McClelland and McQuinn are working on a project for McQuinn's Big River Productions. The results are a 10-song record of original blues that will be released by Taxim Records in Europe later this year. "I came here to learn more about the blues," McClelland says. "I wanted to be around people like Levi Williams (who also is working with McQuinn). I wanted to learn about the real blues. I'm 46 years old, and I feel like I'm going back to school." The Alabama native certainly has learned other lessons well. As a session guitarist in Nashville, he worked with Thomas, Willie Nelson, Tony Joe White, Hank Snow, Mel Tillis and a host of others. He's written songs for Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings, Jerry Jeff Walker, T.G. Sheppard and more. Eventually, he released a more rock-oriented record on Elektra. A second album, though, remains unreleased by the label. Through it all, though, McClelland says he kept up his interest in the blues. He came to Memphis off and on for several years, working as a session player for McQuinn projects. "I'd spend the day in the studio, and then sit in with Don McMinn at the Rum Boogie and play all night," he says. Next on the agenda for McClelland is more studio work and then tours of Europe. "We've been asked to go to Germany to tour in support of the record," McClelland says. "We'll play blues festivals, including Amsterdam in September. After that, if we find a hot spot, we'll go back. Mostly I'm just getting ready for what happens next."
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