At the tail end of his performance of “L.A. Freeway,” master songwriter Guy Clark pauses to share a memory from that time decades ago, about a landlord and a grapefruit tree that might have added to the final push to say, “Adios to all this concrete. Gonna get me some dirt road back street.”
It’s the kind of story you want to hear from a legend like Clark and on the live album Songs And Stories, Not only are there the beloved songs, “The Randall Knife,” “The Cape,” “Homegrown Tomatoes,” and “Stuff That Works,” but also the essential asides and insights that can only be experienced from a seat in the audience.
Recorded at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Clark warmly surrounded by his musical family -- his longtime sidekick and co-writer Verlon Thompson, along with Shawn Camp, Bryn Davies and Kenny Malone.
Songs and Stories is evidence why Clark is a member of The Songwriters Hall of Fame, with craftsmanship that young writers study and seasoned writers admire. Clark has continued to reap awards with a recent Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Association, and Grammy nominations for his last two studio albums.
Track listing
1 Introduction
2 L.A. Freeway
3 Story: Sometimes They Come Easy
4 Maybe I Can Paint Over That
5 Story: Townes' Road Keets
6 If I Needed You
7 The Cape
8 Homegrown Tomatoes
9 Shawn And Verlon
10 Story: The Legend Of Sis Draper
11 Sis Draper
12 Magnolia Wind
13 Story: I'm From Greasy Bend
14 Darwettia's Mandolin
15 Story: Hang In There
16 Joe Walker's Mare
17 A Nod To Rodney Crowell
18 Stuff That Works
19 Out In The Parkin' Lot
20 Intro: The Randall Knife
21 The Randall Knife
22 Curtain call for the cast
23 Dublin Blues
review 10 August 2011
