Acoustic Country guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire Guy Clark was born on this day in 1941 in Monshans, TX. Clark plays in a Blues and Bluegrass influenced acoustic country style and is considered by his peers, and yours truly, to be one of Country music`s premier songwriters. Check out Old #1 or Cold Dog Soup on Sugar Hill Records, Boats To Build on Electra, Craftsman on Philo, or Essential on RCA. Guy Charles Clark (born November 6, 1941)[1] is a Grammy Award winning American Texas Country and folk singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer. He has released more than twenty albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, and Rodney Crowell. Guy Clark won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album: My Favorite Picture Of You. Clark was born in Monahans, Texas and eventually settled in Nashville, where he helped create the progressive country and outlaw country genres. His songs L.A. Freeway and Desperados Waiting for a Train that helped launch his career were covered by numerous performers. He is an accomplished luthier and often plays his own guitars.[2] He achieved success as a songwriter with Jerry Jeff Walkers recordings of L.A. Freeway and Desperados Waiting for a Train. Artists such as Johnny Cash, David Allan Coe, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, Hayes Carll, Brad Paisley, John Denver, Alan Jackson, Rodney Crowell, The Highwaymen, and Kenny Chesney have recorded Clarks songs.[3] Emmylou Harris has accompanied him on several recordings, particularly his own version of Desperados Waiting for a Train on his first album, Old No. 1, released in 1975. Clark is frequently referred to as The Fifth Highwayman. Clark has been a mentor to such other singers as Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell. He organized Earles first job as a writer in Nashville. In the 1970s, the Clarks home in Nashville was an open house for songwriters and musicians and it features in the video Heartworn Highways, an evocation of the songwriter scene in Nashville at that time.[citation needed] Numerous artists have charted with Clark-penned tunes. In 1982, Bobby Bare made it to the Country Top Twenty with Clarks New Cut Road. That same year, bluegrass leader Ricky Skaggs hit No. 1 with Clarks Heartbroke, a song that permanently established his reputation as an ingenious songwriter. Among the many others who have covered Clarks songs are Vince Gill, who took Oklahoma Borderline to the Top Ten in 1985; The Highwaymen, who introduced Desperados Waiting for a Train to a new generation that same year; and John Conlee, whose interpretation of The Carpenter rode into the Top Ten in 1987. Steve Wariner took his cover of Clarks Baby Im Yours to No. 1 in 1988; Asleep at the Wheel charted with Clarks Blowin Like a Bandit the same year. Crowell was Clarks co-writer on Shes Crazy for Leavin, which in 1989 became the third of five straight #l hits for Crowell. Brad Paisley and Alan Jackson cover Clarks Out in the Parkin Lot, co-written with Darrell Scott, on Paisleys Time Well Wasted CD. Jimmy Buffett has covered Clarks Boats to Build and Cinco de Mayo in Memphis.[4] Clark credits Townes Van Zandt as being a major influence on his songwriting. They were best friends for many years until Van Zandts death in 1997,[4] and since then Clark has included one of Van Zandts compositions on most of his albums. In 1995, he recorded a live album with Van Zandt and Steve Earle, Together at the Bluebird Cafe, which was released in October 2001. Other live material can be found on his album Keepers. In 2006, Clark released Workbench Songs. The album was nominated for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album at the Grammy Awards. He also toured with Lyle Lovett, Joe Ely, and John Hiatt in 2004, 2005 and 2007. In May 2008, Clark canceled four concerts after breaking his leg.[5] After two months on crutches, he began to perform again on July 4 at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC where he appeared with Verlon Thompson. On June 20, 2009, Clark announced a new album entitled Somedays the Song Writes You which was released on September 22, 2009. It features originals along with a Townes Van Zandt song entitled If I Needed You. In December 2011, This Ones For Him: A Tribute to Guy Clark (a two-CD set) was released by Icehouse Music.[6] The CD won Americana Album of the Year[7] Guy Clark won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album in 2014 for My Favorite Picture of You. Family Clark was married to songwriter and artist, Susanna Clark from 1972 through her death from cancer on June 27, 2012.[8]
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 15:33:36 +0000
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