In 1998, Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Eric Taylor appeared on David Letterman’s stage to support a new release from Nanci Griffith.
There are not many times there has been such a collection of talent onstage together since July 21, 1998, when Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Jeff Walker and Eric Taylor appeared together on the Late Show With David Letterman. Griffith had just released the excellent album Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful). And the album featured an all-star version of Guy Clark’s song “Desperados Waiting For a Train.”
Only such an outstanding talent as Griffith could shine even while ceding so much of the song to these other legends of music. On both the album and the Letterman performance, she does not even sing solo until late in the song.
The songwriter Guy Clark starts off the song, and it is clear that the beautiful performance is all about respect. There is Griffith’s respect for Clark’s song and the legendary talent of the other singers. But there is also an amazing amount of respect from those legends for Griffith, coming together for this performance on both the album and on Letterman’s show.
Most who love music of this genre will recognize the big names here for their work as singers and songwriters: Guy Clark, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, and Jerry Jeff Walker. But you might or might not recognize Eric Taylor, who is probably the least well-known of the group. Taylor also was a well-respected Texas singer-songwriter, and his songs have been covered by people such as Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith. He also was married to Griffith for 1976-1982. So it is also cool to see Griffith invite her ex for this amazing performance. Taylor passed away less than two years after this performance from liver disease.
Of the group on stage that night, we have also lost Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, and Jerry Jeff Walker. Letterman clearly knew he was hosting a special gathering on his show at the time, but many may have missed it. We were certainly lucky to have the music of these folks, and extra lucky to have them together for this song.
A new documentary about the life of Guy Clark is being released. Without Getting Killed or Caught recounts the music and life of the legendary Texas singer-songwriter.
Guy Clark is one of my favorite artists, so it is great to see his work getting more attention. One of my favorite all-time songs, Clark’s “L.A. Freeway,” provides the line that is the title of the upcoming film.
The documentary started out and was partially funded as a Kickstarter project. The film features commentary from many of those influenced by Clark, like Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell.
The movie is adapted from Clark’s wife’s writings in The Diaries of Susanna Clark, including the complicated relationship shared by her, Clark, and Townes Van Zandt. In the documentary, actress Sissy Spacek voices Susanna’s narration.
Steve Earle has released a wonderful tribute to one of his mentors, Guy Clark, with his album GUY. Yet, the album is a bit of a surprise. Earle has long been outspoken on important issues, incorporating political messages into many of his songs. So, one may wonder why, during a crazy period of American political history, Earle’s new music is largely silent on the issues of the day. The question about why Earle is doing this album at this time is further complicated by the fact that there is already an outstanding multi-artist tribute to Clark. So, why GUY?
During the George W. Bush administration, Earle released the album Just an American Boy (2003), along with a documentary by the same name. The album featured songs criticizing the war, and Earle provoked controversy with his song humanizing “enemy combatant” John Walker Lindh (“John Walker’s Blues”). When Bill Clinton was in the White House, Earle called for Woody Guthrie and other activists to “come back” in “Christmas in Washington.” When Barack Obama was president, Earle sang about a “City of Immigrants.” Going back to the beginning of his career, Earle was never afraid to take on important issues, recording several songs about capital punishment.
But now, as the current occupant sits in the White House, Steve Earle gives us a tribute album for his friend? Really?
What “GUY” Is
Let’s start with the fact that GUY is one of Earle’s best albums in recent years, perhaps since 2004’s The Revolution Starts Now. As a starting point, Guy Clark was one of the great American songwriters, so Earle had a great group of songs from which to choose.
And Earle and the Dukes sound great. Earle and the Dukes, for the most part, do not change a lot in their interpretations of the songs. There are a few exceptions, like a more rocking version of “Out in the Parking Lot.” While Earle does not radically rework “Dublin Blues,” Earle and the band highlight the boasts in the song (“I’ll stand up and be counted”). While Clark’s voice emphasized the sadness in the lyrics.
Throughout the album, the Dukes give new energy to the songs, and the band’s work is a large reason to get this album. The Dukes include Kelley Looney (bass), Ricky Ray Jackson (pedal steel guitar), Eleanor Whitmore (fiddle and mandolin), Chris Masterson (guitar), and Brad Pemberton (drums).
And the world can always use another version of “L.A. Freeway.” It is one of the best songs ever written about leaving somewhere.
GUY is a personal album for Earle. Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt were two important mentors to Earle. Earle has jokingly explained that the reason he made GUY was that he had already created a tribute album of Van Zandt’s songs, Townes(2009). So, he feared meeting Clark in the afterlife and having to explain why he made an album for Van Zandt but not for Clark.
It is a funny story, but perhaps there is a sense of obligation that helps explain why Earle made GUY. And it gives Earle a reason to gather together friends like Rodney Crowell, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Emmylou Harris to sing Clark’s song, “Old Friends.”
So Come Back Steve Earle, Come Back To Us Now
So, why GUY? Well, Earle crafted a beautiful album of wonderful songs played with energy by the Dukes. And even in troubled times, we need to affirm personal values and our own lives and bonds. Like Earle, who recently saw the ending of his marriage to singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, all of us must trudge on with our own real lives.
So, singing songs about friends, fathers (“Randall Knife”), broken hearts (“Dublin Blues”), old men (“Desperados Waiting for a Train”), and other personal connections is needed in troubled times, perhaps even more than other times. We need to remember our departed friends, as Earle is remembering Guy Clark. We all need sanctuary from the evening news and our lives.
So if you do not have this album, which is one of Earle’s best, get it. He will get around to the political message songs. Earle says he has already been working on such a political album. He plans to release it in time for the 2020 election.
What is your favorite Steve Earle song? Leave your two cents in the comments.
On January 10, 2015, a group of great performers came together at Washington, DC’s DAR Constitution Hall to honor Emmylou Harris. To celebrate Harris’s work, Rounder is releasing DVD and CD versions of The Life & Songs of Emmylou Harris: An All-Star Concert Celebration, created and produced by Blackbird Presents.
The performers on the DVD and CD feature many of my favorite artists. The package includes music by Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shawn Colvin, Sheryl Crow, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Patty Griffin, Chris Hillman, Iron & Wine, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Daniel Lanois, Martina McBride, Buddy Miller, Conor Oberst, Mavis Staples, Sara Watkins, Lee Ann Womack, and Lucinda Williams.
Of course, the celebration would not be complete without Emmylou Harris. She performs “Boulder to Birmingham,” a song she co-wrote about Gram Parsons after he passed away. The song originally appeared on Harris’s 1975 album Pieces of the Sky.
Below, Harris performs “Boulder to Birmingham” at the celebration concert with a little help from her friends. She begins singing the song alone before the others join her onstage. It is not much of a stretch to see the symbolism in the arrangement, considering how Harris must have felt so alone after Parson’s death. But her fans and colleagues, who in many ways are children of Gram Parsons, remind her that she is not alone. It is a beautiful song, and this performance is a nice arrangement.
Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell are following up their duets album Old Yellow Moon (2013) by teaming up again on The Traveling Kind. The album, which will be released May 12, is produced by Joe Henry and will feature eleven songs, with six written by Harris and Crowell.
Below is the title track from the new album, “The Traveling Kind.” Check it out.
will be released in various forms on November 11, 2016.