In 1962, a 22-year-old from a Texas bar band cornered John Lennon backstage at a UK club and gave him a harmonica lesson, and for Delbert McClinton that was barely the prologue. Born in Lubbock in 1940 and raised in Fort Worth from age eleven, he came up in the Straitjackets, a roadhouse band that backed touring giants like Sonny Boy Williamson II, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, and Jimmy Reed. His harmonica riff drove Bruce Channel's international smash Hey! Baby, and after a minor 1965 hit with the Ron-Dels, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1972, formed the duo Delbert and Glen with Glen Clark, and launched a solo career.

This episode traces the paradox of a songwriter whose biggest successes came in other people's voices, from Emmylou Harris taking Two More Bottles of Wine to number one on the country chart in 1978 to the Blues Brothers  ...