Music is a gift from a divine source we will never really understand. I share that gift with you today and so wish that someone had shared this specific gift with me a long time ago … since that didn’t happen I must pass it along to you and if it’s something you already possessed then count your blessings, and if not, well, I offer it to you with the same happiness only music can bring.
In 2018 I wrote a post called “The Rock & Roll Miracle”. It was a fuckin’ good post, the point of which was that finding new music as good as the old music in the age of hippety-hoppity requires the same kind of black magic that makes pigs fly.
Well, the force that delivered the miracle of 2018 sent me another in 2020.
John Prine died in 2020. I’d never heard of him. In the buzz surrounding his death I heard the song “In Spite of Ourselves” for the first time (an instant classic) and saw a virtual tribute to him that featured dozens of songs by tons of big-name musicians across genres. So I dialed up a John Prine station on Pandora and started paying attention. The first song was always by Prine, but the second song always seemed to be by the same person as well, not Prine, but someone playing and singing in a similar genre. It turns out it was a dude named Guy Clark, an American legend unknown to me.
Guy Clark and John Prine were both born in the 1940s, Clark in Texas and Prine in a Chicago suburb. Prine was 73 when he died and Clark 74 and they walked a similar path, namely, they were story tellers in the great American tradition. Their music is sometimes called country, sometimes folk, but at its heart it’s pure Americana.
They sing with scratchy voices that say, “I have something to say and I don’t give a fuck about how it sounds.” They write songs about everyday life, heartfelt songs, sad songs, funny songs, memorable songs. Both are master guitar players (always acoustic) and in fact Clark is an accomplished luthier, playing guitars he made himself. Prine sings a lot of duets with a who’s who of female performers; he said he just kept asking pretty girls who could sing if they’d do a song with him and he couldn’t believe that they all said yes.
Their songs are wonderfully unpretentious, they typically start and end with little warning, telling musical stories in a straight, driving style without unnecessary decoration. Each has an unmistakable style that can’t be faked or duplicated.
The music of John Prine and Guy Clark, miraculous discoveries we can all share.
10 John Prine Songs You Might Should Want To Listen To
-In Spite of Ourselves
-Spanish Pipedream
-Other Side of Town
-Dear Abby
-Hello in There
-Crazy As A Loon
-Please Don’t Bury Me
-Sam Stone
-The Bottomless Lake
-Illegal Smile
10 Guy Clark Songs You Might Should Want To Listen To
-The Cape
-The Guitar
-L.A. Freeway
-My Favorite Picture of You
-The Randall Knife
-Desperados Waiting For the Train
-Out in the Parking Lot
-Homegrown Tomatoes
-The Last Gunfighter Ballad
-Stuff That Works
Photo on Best Running