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Guy Clark’s new release Workbench Songs leaves one nagging question: why isn’t this guy more famous? Guy Clark is an Austin institution, but with only a small following nationwide. He doesn’t pack stadiums or even sell out pubs, most nights. Hell, you can catch him almost any week as a regular early evening performer at the Continental Club. But Clark writes and plays in the finest country traditions, rivaling the likes of Billy Joe Shaver and Ray Wylie Hubbard for honest tunes that capture a moment of happiness, pain, fear, sadness or wry humor, but without the patronizing tone common in mainstream country and less authentically alternative country songwriters.
Anyone who saw the recent Townes Van Zandt documentary Be Here to Love Me saw a lot of Guy Clark interviews. In the documentary Clark comes off as a goofy good ol’ boy who’s maybe a little too addled from the ganja plot out back. This album is anything but addled. (Though, the tenth track, “Worry B Gone,” gives us a bit of a clue to Clark’s on-camera persona in Be Here to Love Me).
Most of the tunes on Workbench Songs are co-written by Guy Clark and at least one other artist. Rodney Crowell, Lee Roy Parnell and Steve Nelson are just a few of the writers whose talents Clark draws on for this album. Each and every song on the album is a gem, and with the exception of the Townes Van Zandt song “No Lonesome Tune,” Clark is the constant. So, even though a lot of writers have their hands in this album, the songs are consistently Clark’s.
Probably the biggest hit on Workbench Songs is the upbeat “Tornado Time in Texas,” which has been receiving the bulk of the album’s radio play both on Austin stations and the satellite radio country stations. It’s a catchy tune and worthy of the airplay, but for brilliance in songwriting “Tornado Time in Texas” pales next to other cuts on the album, such as “Out in the Parkin’ Lot” and “Cinco de Mayo in Memphis.” “Out in the Parkin’ Lot” will find a soft spot in the heart of anyone who’s ever found themself on the fringes, a little too broke and a little depressed, but not too depressed to stay home on a Friday night, anyone who’s ever found themself “drinkin’ Old Crow whiskey and hot 7-Up.” “Cinco de Mayo in Memphis” is a great, lively song worth a dance or two, and also worth better than having me ruin its charm by telling you any more about it in this review.
Another song on the album, “Analog Girl,” finds itself in a developing alternative country sub-genre that bemoans the digitization of, well, everything. And while less rambunctious than Mojo Nixon’s “I Don’t Want No Cybersex,” the song is a sweet articulation of the preference for “a real deal ol’ fashioned analog girl in a digital world.” Amen. The album openers “Walkin’ Man” and “Magdalene” are more testament to Clark’s virtuosity as a songwriter who knows just how to pluck a guitar string or a heart string. I can’t recommend the album highly enough—“it’ll blow the tattoo right offa your arm.”
Websites:
www.guyclark.com
Myspace
