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Guy Clark’s
songwriting career began in Houston in the 1960s when
folk music was just starting to make it into the
mainstream, thanks to writers like Bob Dylan, Buffy St.
Marie and Joan Baez. Clark made the pilgrimage to San
Francisco in the late 60s where songwriters were turning
the social unrest of racism and the War into powerful
music that would move a generation into action.
 Clark’s
character-driven songs full of unforgettable images
caught the attention of RCA’s Sunbury Music and he moved
to Nashville in 1971. The following year, his eponymous
album, featuring “L.A. Freeway,” was released and
became an FM radio hit. And then the next year, Texas
legend, Jerry Jeff Walker, put “Desperados Waiting
for a Train” on his seminal Viva! Terlingua
album. The tone was set for the progressive country
movement and Clark joined other outlaws from Nashville
in creating this new sound.
Clark and his wife, Susanna, fit
right in with the songwriting community of Music City,
becoming friends and colleagues with fellow Texpatriates
Mickey Newbury, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell and
Billy Jo Shaver. Oh, to be a beer on the Clark’s dining
room table during those song-swapping sessions!
Clark continued to record and
release his songs on albums that impress and invigorate
listeners and fellow songwriters alike. Texas
Cooking, The South Coast of Texas, Better Days
and Old Friends are just a few of the
dozen or so albums included in Clark’s legacy. At the
same time, other singers were mining Clark’s mother lode
of songs. Johnny Cash took three songs to the top of
the charts, Ricky Skaggs made “Heartbroke” a #1,
Vince Gill’s version of “Oklahoma Borderline”
made it to the Top Ten, Steve Wariner reached the Top
Five with “Baby I’m Yours,” and Clark’s
co-writer, Rodney Crowell, had a #1 with their song, “She’s
Crazy for Leavin’.” Other notable artists who have
covered Clark’s songs are Bobby Bare, John Conlee,
Asleep at the Wheel, Brad Paisley and Jimmy Buffett.
In addition to venerable songwriting
skills, Clark’s live performance is both masterful and
charismatic. He has a devout following of fans that
crosses many borders. Clark is as at home in
honky-tonks in Texas as he is at sold out shows in New
York City. His ability to combine poignant melodies
with insightful, touching lyrics has earned him a seat
at the Nashville Songwriters Foundation’s Songwriters
Hall of Fame, the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime
Achievement Award for Songwriting and a stint as the
Artist-in-Residence at the County Music Hall of Fame and
Museum. His latest album Workbench Songs
was nominated for a Grammy in 2007.
The Texas Heritage Songwriters
Association is proud to recognize this Monahans native
for his enormous contributions to the landscape of great
Texas music.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2004 Nashville Songwriters Foundation's Songwriters Hall
of Fame
2005 Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement
Award for Songwriting
2006 Artist-In-Residence, Country Music Hall of Fame and
Museum
2007 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary
Folk/Americana Album
Song Highlights
Texas, 1947
The Last Gunfighter Ballad
Heartbroke
New Cut Road
Oklahoma Borderline
Desperados Waiting for a Train
Let Him Roll
The Carpenter
Baby, I’m Yours |
