02/02/2026
We lost a Cottonport legend in 2025.
Swamp pop musician Tommy McLain was born on March 15, 1940 in Jonesville, Louisiana. He first started singing at family parties and began playing bass guitar at age five. In addition to singing and playing bass guitar, McLain also plays drums, fiddle, bagpipes, and keyboards. Tommy was highly influenced by the Louisiana sounds of Fats Domino, and Larry Williams. He played in a high school band and worked as a disc jockey at the Oakdale radio station KREH. McLain began performing with country singer Clint West in the 50's; they were both members of the Vel-Tones in the late 50's and the Boogie Kings in the 60's. In 1965 he recorded the duet single "Try to Find Another Man" with West. Tommy scored his biggest hit with a poignant and inspired swamp pop cover of "Sweet Dreams," which peaked at #15 on the pop charts in August, 1966 and sold over three million copies. The success of "Sweet Dreams" led to a guest appearance on Dick Clark's TV musical variety show "Where the Action Is" (McLain also performed with Clark's "Caravan of Stars") and concert tours with such popular groups as the Yardbirds, Paul Revere and the Raiders, and Tommy James and the Shondells. Tommy wrote the hit song "If You Don't Love Me Alone (Leave Me Alone)" for country singer Freddy Fender (he has written more than 150 songs altogether). McLain appears along with his backing group the Mule Train Band in the Paul Newman film noir mystery thriller "The Drowning Pool." He has been inducted into the Swedish Rock & Roll Hame of Fame and more recently was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in October, 2007. McLain died in Hessmer, Louisiana on July 24, 2025, at the age of 85.
