Old Friends

by Thom JurekOne would think that coming off what amounted to the closest thing to a hit Guy Clark ever had -- with "Homegrown Tomatoes" off his Warner album Better Days -- he'd want to follow it up with something. Not so, for Guy Clark is the king of anti-ambition. While an RCA greatest-hits package had appeared in the interim, Clark had not made a new record in five years and had left Warner. With 1988's Old Friends, Clark teamed with eccentric producer Miles Wilkinson for the first time and recorded his debut album for Sugar Hill. In many ways this set feels like nostalgia. There are familiar faces (Rodney Crowell, Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash) and sounds from the days of yore -- meaning his 1970s records -- but there are some new ones too (Verlon Thompson, Sam Bush, and slide boss Mike Henderson to name three). What is new is Clark's willingness to cover songs and co-write. There are only two songs he penned solo -- "Watermelon Dream" and "Doctor Good Doctor," two of the finest things on the record -- and there are three covers, including a stunning read of Townes Van Zandt's "To Live Is to Fly" and Joe Ely's "The Indian Cowboy" as well as a cover of wife Susanna's collaboration with Richard Leigh entitled "Come From the Heart." The rest are co-writes with Susanna, Jim McBride, Joe Henry, Richard Leigh, Thompson, and Jim Murraugh. Sonically Wilkinson keeps everything restrained and held in check. For others this would be a travesty, but for Clark it's the right touch. The singing is inspired and the playing more so. It's the way the material is carried off that doesn't work as well. The feeling here on all but the Van Zandt track and the opening title track is that Clark was looking for the feel of "Texas Cookin'" with a producer whose very nuances are proscribed and elegant. While the material is good and the performances are as well, the sound feels flat, two-dimensional. It's not disappointing, but it is the least memorable of his recordings. It's as if there isn't enough Clark in the mix, personality-wise anyway.