Friday, August 14, 2015

40 Year Itch : Hill Country Honky Tonk

Presidio, Texas, 1975 by Stephen Shore
Guy Clark : Rita Ballou


    By the time Guy Clark released his critically praised 1975 debut, Old No 1, his song "L.A. Freeway" had already been a hit for Jerry Jeff Walker. Walker had also recorded "Desperados Waiting For the Train".  It's an album full of characters and moments straight out of Clark's life spent in a small West Texas town called Monahans where he was raised by his grandmother who owned a small hotel. Clark enlisted a few stars to help him with the debut, including Randy Crowell, Emmylou Harris and Sammi Smith. This is country without strings attached and that may have been one of the reasons countrypolitan soaked country radio ignored what is now considered a classic. For more information ( and more mp3's) check out this post from The Rising Storm.


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