Search - Guy Clark :: Keepers

Guy Clark approaches songwriting the same way he approaches fishing--if what he comes up with is too meager, he throws it back; only the best specimens are considered "keepers." Fifteen of those specimens are featured on Keepers--A Live Recording (Sugar Hill), which was taped at a Nashville club in 1996 on Halloween weekend. Two strong songs are unveiled--"A Little of Both," a bouncy, witty song about avoiding choices, and "Out in the Parking Lot," a slow, poignant look at the action outside a nightclub. These two are joined by 13 old favorites, including those turned into hits by Ricky Skaggs ("Heartbroke"), Jerry Jeff Walker ("L.A. Freeway"), and Johnny Cash ("The Last Gunfighter Ballad"). They're all wonderful songs, but these aren't necessarily the best versions. Clark is a limited singer, but his voice cracks more than usual on several of these live renditions; this version of "She Ain't Goin' Nowhere" is practically unlistenable. Clark did put together a sharp little band for this recording, but if he was going to make a live album, why didn't he deliver some of his long, droll stories rather than these truncated introductions? --Geoffrey Himes