Guy Clark

Guy Clark is the Clint Eastwood of singer-songwriters, meeting the world with a steely gunslinger's gaze and stoic style, and dispensing words of wisdom without wasting a single syllable. Though the country side of his sound eventually brought him to Nashville, Clark's the patron saint of maverick Texas troubadours, and you can taste every ounce of the mesquite-grilled Lone Star flavor loaded into his "Texas Cookin'." Early on, he logged some California miles, and his "L.A. Freeway" is a bittersweet hasta la vista to the City of Angels — Outlaw Country legend Jerry Jeff Walker had a hit with it before the author even recorded his own version. And if you can make it through "Desperados Waiting for a Train" — Clark's tale of a Texas boy and his elderly father figure — without getting misty, you'd better snag a stethoscope and make sure your ticker's working.

Get in step with Guy's outlaw rep, as he remembers running buddy Townes Van Zandt in Next Steps.

In the '70s, Guy Clark was a leading light of Outlaw Country's balladeer branch, the hard-bitten Hemingway to brother-in-arms Townes Van Zandt's fanciful Fitzgerald. Clark's songs were covered by Van Zandt — he even pops up in a Townes tune — and Guy gladly reciprocated. Clark's versions of Van Zandt's "Rex's Blues" and "No Lonesome Tune" were both cut after Townes's tragic 1997 passing, and they stand as a salute to the late songwriter's transcendent talents, from his running buddy and poetic peer. And lest we forget Clark's own masterful way with words, his Western saga "The Last Gunfighter Ballad" — covered by Johnny Cash — is like a Larry McMurtry novel with a chorus.

Clark's no-nonsense sound connects straight to the heart, in Deep Cuts.

Part of the power in Guy Clark's work is the homespun simplicity of his style. Some songs bang around like fancy, flashy sports cars, but his tunes reach their destination like a good, old reliable pickup — an American make, of course. It's the everyday details lesser writers leave out that make Clark's songs ring true. He counts his blue shirt and old boots among the "Stuff That Works," but you could easily throw his carefully crafted tunes onto the list too. Staring down his own mistakes unblinkingly, he doesn't utter a word of regret, merely musing "Maybe I Can Paint Over That." And his deceptive ease in depicting a woman leaving bad love behind on "She Ain't Going Nowhere" might make you wonder whether he could've slipped into screenwriting during his early stint in L.A.

It's no wonder one of Guy Clark's albums is called Workbench Songs — all of his creations are meticulously handmade pieces lavished with TLC and built to last. With cohorts like Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury, he changed the game in '70s country, making a place for the song-poet in Nashville, inspiring everyone from Lyle Lovett to Steve Earle, and providing tunes for Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, and many more. Still, the best way to hear Clark's material is straight from the songsmith's mouth, with his flinty tone and deadpan delivery making every word count. We've raided the master craftsman's workshop, gathering his finest creations together in one place, from the lighthearted, taste-bud-teasing "Homegrown Tomatoes" to the emotional sucker-punch of the father-son narrative "The Randall Knife." Step on in and let the weathered-but-warm glow of these Clark classics give you "That Old Time Feeling."