Billy Earl McClelland is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 session

Session musician

Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

 guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

 and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

.

Overview

McClelland left High School to go to Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, and was signed by a record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

. As a session guitarist in Nashville, he worked with B.J. Thomas, Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

, Tony Joe White

Tony Joe White

Tony Joe White is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie"; "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and "Steamy Windows", a hit for Tina Turner in 1989...

, Hank Snow

Hank Snow

Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...

, Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt

John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...

, Brenda Lee

Brenda Lee

Brenda Mae Tarpley , known as Brenda Lee, is an American performer who sang rockabilly, pop and country music, and had 37 US chart hits during the 1960s, a number surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis...

, and Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis

Lonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....

. He has written songs for Hank Williams Jr., Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings

Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...

, Jerry Jeff Walker

Jerry Jeff Walker

Jerry Jeff Walker is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is probably most famous for writing the song "Mr. Bojangles.-Biography:...

, T.G. Sheppard, Sawyer Brown

Sawyer Brown

Sawyer Brown is an American country music band founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by five members of country pop singer Don King's road band: Bobby Randall and Jim Scholten , both from Midland, Michigan; Joe Smyth , Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard , and Mark Miller...

 and Delbert McClinton

Delbert McClinton

Delbert McClinton is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist....

.

Eventually, he released a rock-oriented record on Elektra

Elektra Records

Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....

. A second album, 'Ready or Not', remains unreleased by the label.

Later, McClelland moved to Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

 at the urging of Skip McQuinn. While there, his passion for the blues led him to produce the first Big Bill Morganfield

Big Bill Morganfield

William "Big Bill" Morganfield is an American blues singer and guitarist, who is the son of Muddy Waters.-Biography:Morganfield was born in Chicago, Illinois, but had little contact with his famous father, whose real name was McKinley Morganfield. Instead he was raised in Southern Florida by his...

 recording, engineered by Mike Durff.

McClelland continues to be a regular in clubs and festivals throughout the Southeast. McClelland also worked with Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley

Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...

 and Albert Collins

Albert Collins

Albert Collins was an American electric blues guitarist and singer whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across the US, Europe, Japan and Australia...

. His album Judgment Day (2000) received critical acclaim from all the major blues magazines.

McClelland helmed Mojo:Saint, a contemporary blues project, along with veteran drummer David Brazeal and bassist Jack Hall [Wet Willie].

McClelland was inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame.

Discography

• Billy Burnette, Polydor Records, 1979, As a member of Billy Burnette's (of Fleetwood Mac) solo group.
• Zero Hindsight, Elektra Asylum Records, 1980
• Ready or Not, Elektra Asylum Records, 1980
• Murdered for Love, 1986, as a member of the band Blue Monday
• For the Fathers of Rock and Roll, Personal Records, 1986
• Nineteen Years Old: A Tribute to Muddy Waters, Taxim, 1999, producer and member of "Big" Bill Morganfield's band.
• Judgment Day, MojoBlues Records, 2000
• Now And Then, Then And Now, Chips Moman Records, 2001, as a member of Billy Joe Royal's band.
• Even More Good Whiskey Blues, Taxim, compilation, 2005
• Blues From the Heart of Dixie, Taxim, compilation, 2006
• Floral Park Bootleg, Jammates Records, 2006