Tommy McClennan

Tommy McClennan was a Delta blues guitarist and singer whose raw, aggressive style was among the most uncompromising on record. He recorded 38 sides for Bluebird between 1939 and 1942, featuring a rough, driving guitar and a hoarse, intense vocal delivery that made few concessions to commercial polish. His recordings 'Bottle It Up and Go,' 'New Highway No. 51,' and 'Cross Cut Saw Blues' (later covered by Albert King) were powerful examples of unreconstructed Delta blues transplanted to the Chicago recording studio. He died in obscurity in Chicago, his health destroyed by alcoholism.