McClinton (April 25, 1940 – September 23, 1987) was an American black country music singer and songwriter.
Listening to Hank Williams as a child around the age of nine or 10 sparked his interest in performing country music.
[1] Although he was unable to secure a recording contract as a soul singer himself, he did pen several songs recorded by James Carr,[2] including the title songs to Carr's albums You Got My Mind Messed Up and A Man Needs a Woman.
[1] Known to refer to himself as the "Chocolate Cowboy", McClinton successfully marketed his album called The Only One on television long before the practice was commonplace.
Featuring his first country chart single "Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You", a top 40 song in 1972, he considered it to be his finest work.