Lonesome Onry and Mean: Concluding Our African-American Country Series With O.B. McClinton

William Michael Smith December 7, 2009 2:15PM

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One other Charley Pride contemporary who cut a wide swath through country music in the '70s and '80s was Mississippian O. B. McClinton.. After failing to break into R&B, although several of his songs were cut by other artists, McClinton hit the Billboard country charts twice in 1972 with "Six Pack of Trouble" and "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You."

McClinton stayed in the country charts throughout the '70s with songs like "My Whole World is Falling Down" (his highest-charting single), "I Wish It Would Rain," "Something Better," and "Soap."

McClinton released his final album, The Only One, on Epic in 1987. He was one of the first to market his records through television advertising. The Only One featured his previous hit "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" and was No. 55 on Billboard's year-end country album chart.

McClinton died of abdominal cancer that same year.