b. April 8, 1908 in Yazoo City, MS, d. 1962 in Chicago, IL. McClennan's biography is fairly typical of many blues singers of his time and place. He was raised on the J.F. Sligh farm in rural Mississippi and learned to play the guitar at an early age. Working for tips on the streets and at private parties, he became acquainted with other performers such as Honeyboy Edwards and Robert Petway. Petway and McClennan shared a style so close that, later on record, it became difficult to tell them apart, a confusion they sometimes compounded by recording together. McClennan had a limited but effective percussive guitar style, often played by working on a single string. His voice was rough but full of humour, and also capable of expressing poignancy and subtle emotions. Around 1939, he moved to Chicago (as did Petway) and made a name for himself playing at clubs where expatriate southerners gathered to hear the 'down-home' sounds of their younger days. McClennan was an uncompromising character who, according to a famous story told by 'Big' Bill Broonzy, found himself in trouble by refusing to adapt his songs to conform with northern sensibilities. His refusal to be impressed by the big city found expression in his often used, self-addressed, facetious aside: 'Play it right, you're in Chicago'. Although his 40-track career on record ended in 1942, he continued to play in the clubs into the post-war boom typified by Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. One of his two known photographs shows him in the company of Sonny Boy 'Rice Miller' Williamson, Little Walter and Elmore James. His death is unconfirmed, but word of mouth suggests that he died, in poverty, around 1960.
