Artist:Guy Clark
Song:Desperadoes Waiting for a Train
Album:The Essential Guy Clark
Though Guy Clark was never a commercially successful recording artist, he was revered by other singers for the quality of his songs. In that sense he's very similar to Townes Van Zandt. He was born Nov. 6, 1941 in Monahans, TX. His family moved to Rockport in 1954. After graduating from high school, Clark and his wife lived in Houston until they moved to Nashville in the early 70s. And that's when he started having success as a songwriter. Jerry Jeff Walker recorded Desperadoes Waiting for a Train on his 1973 album Viva Terlingua. Then it appeared on Rita Coolidge's 1974 album Fall into Spring, David Allan Coe's 1974 album The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy and Tom Rush's 1974 album Ladies Love Outlaws. Clark signed with RCA and recorded Desperadoes Waiting for a Train on his 1975 debut album Old No. 1. Desperadoes Waiting for a Train charted when The Highwaymen recorded it in 1985. And that's how things went for Clark. He recorded two albums for RCA, three for Warner Bros, three for Asylum and then for the smaller labels Sugar Hill and Dualtone. This budget comp covers Clark's RCA recordings. Clark's successful songs include Ricky Skaggs 1982 cover of Heartbroke, Vince Gill's 1985 cover of Oklahoma Borderline, John Conlee's 1987 cover of The Carpenter, Steve Warriner's 1988 cover of Baby I'm Yours and Rodney Crowell's 1989 single She's Crazy for Leavin' which Crowell wrote with Clark. Clark credited Townes Van Zandt as a major influence. The two were best friends until Van Zandt's 1997 death. They recorded a live album with Steve Earle called Together at the Bluebird Cafe. Earle released the tribute album Guy in 2019. Clark continued to perform and record until his death on May 17, 2016 at age 74. Here's Guy Clark performing Desperadoes Waiting for a Train on Austin City Limits 1977.
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