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Tommy McLain, born on March 15, 1940 in Jonesville, Louisiana, and died on July 24, 2025 at the age of 85, was an iconic American musician of swamp pop, a style mixing R&B, country, rock and Cajun influences. A singer with a clear, moving tenor voice, he also played piano, drums, bass, fiddle and keyboards. From his childhood in Pineville, where his family settled six months after his birth, he sang at family parties, standing on a box to reach the microphone. At the age of five, he began playing bass and developed a passion for music, influenced by Little Richard, Fats Domino, Hank Williams and Grand Ole Opry radio shows. In the 1950s, he joined the group The Vel-Tones with country singer Clint West, then moved on to The Boogie Kings, a pioneering group mixing black repertoire with white audiences. In 1965, he recorded the duet "Try to Find Another Man" with West. His biggest hit, a stirring cover of "Sweet Dreams" in 1966, reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #49 in the UK, selling millions of copies. The hit earned him an appearance on Dick Clark's Where the Action Is and tours with bands like The Yardbirds and Paul Revere and the Raiders. McLain writes over 150 songs, including the country hit "If You Don't Love Me Alone (Leave Me Alone)" for Freddy Fender. He appeared with his band, Mule Train Band, in the film The Drowning Pool (1975) with Paul Newman. Also a radio host at KREH in Louisiana, he broadcasts swamp pop. After a studio hiatus, he returned in 2022 with the album I Ran Down Every Dream, collaborating with Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ivan Neville and Jon Cleary, hailed as a masterpiece. In 2025, he contributes to the album A Tribute to the King of Zydeco, a tribute to Clifton Chenier. Inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2007, McLain continued to perform with the Mule Train Band until his death. Despite hardships such as a fire, hurricanes and a heart attack, he remained active, leaving a lasting legacy in swamp pop.
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