About Me
Songwriting legend Guy Clark doesn't merely compose songs; he projects images and characters with the kind of hands-on care and respect of a literary master. Clark works slowly and with strict attention to detail, and has produced an impressive collection of timeless gems, leaving very little waste behind. The emotional level of his work, as well as the admiration and esteem of his peers, consistently transcends sales figures and musical genres. Clark continues to be the type of songwriter whom young artists study and seasoned writers (as well as discriminating listeners) revere.
Clark was born in the West Texas town of Monahans, where he was raised mostly by his grandmother (his mother worked and his father was in the Army) who ran the town hotel. One of her residents was an oil-well driller who would later end up the subject of one of Clark's most moving and stunningly beautiful songs, "Desperados Waiting for a Train." Many of Clark's songs, in fact, have centered around his days growing up in West Texas, including "Texas 1947" (from his debut album) and the 1992 song "Boats to Build," which hearkened back to a summer job he once had as a teenager on the Gulf Coast.
The first songs Clark learned were mostly in Spanish. Later, when he moved to Houston and began working the folk-music circuit, he met fellow songwriter Townes Van Zandt (the two often toured together until Van Zandt's death in 1997) and blues singers Lightnin' Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb. It was there that Clark began playing and writing his sturdy brand of folk- and blues -influenced country music. In the late '60s, relocated to San Francisco and then returned to Texas, where he met and married his wife Susanna, a painter and songwriter. The pair moved to Los Angeles, where Clark worked for dobro inventors, the Dopyera brothers. Tiring quickly of Southern California (sentiments he expressed in another of his classics, "L.A. Freeway"), in 1971 he and Susanna packed up and headed for Nashville where Clark had been offered a staff writer position at Sunberry Music Publishing, and subsequently signed his first recording contract with RCA Records.
Clark's first album, Old No. 1, came out in 1975, a few years after Jerry Jeff Walker had turned "L.A. Freeway" into a hit. By this time Clark was considered one of the most promising young writers in country music, and while he didn't live in Texas anymore, the state's influence still ran thick in his blood. He recorded one more album for RCA, Texas Cookin', in 1976 before switching to Warner Bros. for his next three albums, Guy Clark; South Coast of Texas; and Better Days, all released between 1978 and 1983. Three of his songs from these albums were in the Top 100.
Clark continued to work as a writer but didn't record again until 1988's Old Friends, released by Sugar Hill. He then moved to Asylum’s renowned American Explorer imprint, releasing 1992’s Boats to Build. His eighth album, Dublin Blues, also on Asylum was released in 1995, and among its finely crafted moments is a re-reading of one of his most enduring songs, "Randall Knife," about the death of his father. Cold Dog Soup followed in 1999 and the The Dark in 2002, both released to critical acclaim on Sugar Hill. Clark’s discography also includes as well as two compilation releases: Rounder’s Craftsman in 1995 and RCA’s The Essential Guy Clark in 1997; as well as two live recordings: Keepers, a best-of collection released on Sugar Hill in 1997, and 2001’s Guy Clark/Steve Earle/Townes Van Zandt Together At The Bluebird Café on American Originals.
Tough, bare-boned and dryly sentimental, his beautiful songs reflect the man himself and display an old-fashioned masculinity that emphasizes honesty, integrity and carefully chosen words, rather than bluster and pomp. His recordings are full of craggy, wistful story-songs, and his plain-spoken delivery lends itself to his persona. A number of Clark’s songs were hits for other artists such as Johnny Cash, David Allen Coe, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Vince Gill, The Highwaymen, Rodney Crowell, Lyle Lovett and Jimmy Buffet.
Guy Clark remains a national treasure and folk icon, creating masterful, poignant melodies and insightful lyrics that speak to the heart. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Foundation’s Songwriters Hall of Fame, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Songwriting by the Americana Music Association in 2005.
