Cold Dog Soup (CD - 1999)

Personnel includes: Guy Clark (vocals, acoustic guitar); Verlon Thompson (acoustic, nylon-string & National resonator guitars, banjo, nylon-string banjo, harmonica, background vocals); Darrell Scott (acoustic & nylon-string acoustic guitars, dobro, mandolin, mandocello, autoharp, accordion, bass, background vocals); Shawn Camp (acoustic guitar, fiddle, background vocals); Emmylou Harris (background vocals).

Producers: Guy Clark, Verlon Thompson, Darrell Scott, Chris Latham.

Recorded at EMI Studio, Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel: Guy Clark (vocals, acoustic guitar); Verlon Thompson (vocals, acoustic guitar, resonator guitar, banjo, harmonica, sound effects); Darrell Scott (vocals, acoustic guitar, nylon-string guitar, autoharp, mandocello, mandolin, accordion, bass guitar); Shawn Camp (acoustic guitar, fiddle).

Audio Mixers: Chris Latham; J.D. Andrew.

Recording information: EMI Studio, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Senor McGuire.

When the roster of great Texas songwriters is called, the two names that usually tumble out first are Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. These two compatriots shared a gift for combining the simple and the poetic in an unassuming but endlessly memorable country/folk style. With Van Zandt's passing, Clark was left to shoulder the burden of Lone Star poet laureate alone (he's based out of Nashville these days, but you can't take Texas out of the boy). COLD DOG SOUP registers the presence of Van Zandt nevertheless; the opening song mentions him by name, and is followed by Steve Earle's Townes memorial "Ft. Worth Blues."

Nevertheless, Clark has always been fully his own man, and his unique vision is fully intact throughout the album. The songs are presented in a pared-down acoustic format, with Clark mostly accompanied only by Darrell Scott (mandolin) and Verlon Thompson (guitar). This allows the uncluttered, deceptively simple imagery of Clark's songs room to breathe. His weathered, gritty voice sounds full of wisdom as it delivers sharply observed truisms about the ups and downs of life, all the while maintaining a bemused but ultimately optimistic attitude. minimize