Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark, who helped mentor a generation of songwriters and wrote hits like LA Freeway and Desperados Waiting For a Train, has died. He was 74.
Clark died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, according to his manager, Keith Case. He had been in poor health.
A native of Monahans, Texas, Clark belonged to a group of highly influential Texas songwriters that included Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury. He wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bobby Bare, Vince Gill and John Conlee.
Born in 1941, Clark’s upbringing in west Texas inspired the scenes and characters for many of his songs. He moved to Houston in the 1960s, where he met Van Zandt and several other folk songwriters and played in coffee shops and bars.
He married his first wife, Susan Spaw, and they had a son, Travis, in 1966. After his split with Susan, he met painter Susanna Talley and they moved to Los Angeles.
His dissatisfaction with the city’s hectic lifestyle was the basis of his song LA Freeway.
I’m glad that I raised the bar to some extent, but you can’t live on that every day
He and Susanna moved to Nashville in 1971, where his success as a songwriter led to a recording contract with RCA, and he released his first album, Old No. 1, in 1975. The album included songs like She Ain’t Going Nowhere and Texas 1947, which Cash also recorded.
His home became a musical haven for artists and was full of demo tapes of songs and Susanna’s paintings and artwork. He was close friends with many of Nashville’s talented musicians, including Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett and Shawn Camp.
“It’s almost like his music was embedded in the land,” said fellow Texan Sarah Jarosz, a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and mandolin player.
“He touched countless lives with the gift of song, and the world is a much better place having had him in it.”
His songs were very detailed, literary and full of imagery. In fact, Clark received the Poet’s Award from the Academy of Country Music in 2012. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I am glad that I raised the bar to some extent, but you can’t live on that every day,” Clark said in 2013. “You have to reinvent yourself the next day. You have to write as good and continue to do so.”
He recorded several albums, although he never achieved the same success as a performer.
His final album, My Favorite Picture of You, won a Grammy in 2014 for best folk album.