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| The 15-track Truly Handmade collection of Guy Clark's solo acoustic demos was produced by his pal Rodney Crowell. |
Here's the scoop...
The focus of Truly Handmade, Volume 1 is a collection of Guy Clark’s solo acoustic demos, which reveal the early forms of several Clark classics. His fans may have heard “L.A. Freeway” or “Let Him Roll” or “Lone Star Hotel” dozens of times, but hearing them like this affords a precious peek behind the curtain. Even more intriguing are songs that were left on the cutting-room floor. Nearly half the songs on Truly Handmade will be new to even longtime fans. A few stretch back to the early ’70s, before Guy had ever released an album. We also finally get to hear Guy’s early version of “Step Inside My House.” Guy often claimed this was the first song he ever wrote.
First came a biography, Tamara Saviano’s Without Getting Killed or Caught, which shed light on the lives of Guy and his wife Susanna (and their close friend Townes Van Zandt). The book served as a blueprint to Saviano’s 2021 documentary film of the same name. And now there’s more music. Anyone who ever saw Guy’s workshop—or the re-creation of it at the Country Music Hall of Fame exhibit—no doubt noticed all the tapes on the wall. Cassettes were filled with songs-in-progress over the decades. Stashed away were even more recordings on reel-to-reel.
Truly Handmade, Volume 1 is out May 3rd. You can get a copy on vinyl from Guy Clark's site right here.
Check out Peter Blackstock's assessment followed by the track list and a video for "Step Inside My House" along with a Lyle Lovett performance of his version of the song from 2011. In the mid 1960s, Guy Clark wrote "Step Inside My House," his first composition, at 1548 Castle Court in the Montrose neighbourhood in Houston, Texas. Guy did not record the song for release, but his friend Lyle Lovett, who heard Eric Taylor sing the song, recorded Eric's version with slightly different lyrics in 1998. This original demo of Guy singing "Step Inside My House" was found on a cassette tape in Guy's basement workshop after his death. The footage from Guy's house in the video was taken by Paul Whitfield for the documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught, released in 2021.
Truly Handmade
Those closest to Guy have been combing through those tapes carefully, seeking gems worth passing along to the public. They’ve found a lot: Truly Handmade is subtitled “Volume 1,” indicating there’s more to come. If it’s anything like this batch of 15 tracks from the early years of Guy’s career, his fans will want to hear all of it.
The work began with Dylan Clark, Guy’s grandson, transferring hundreds of tracks from tape to digital. (Guy’s only son, Travis, died at 50 a year after his father’s death.) Dylan’s efforts made it easier for producer Rodney Crowell to dig through the treasure chest and select material for posthumous release.
The focus of Truly Handmade is solo acoustic demos, which reveal the early forms of several Clark classics. Crowell, who produced Clark’s 1981 album The South Coast of Texas, chose a few demos from that record, as well as four from Clark’s highly acclaimed 1975 debut Old No. 1. His fans may have heard “L.A. Freeway” or “Let Him Roll” or “Lone Star Hotel” dozens of times, but hearing them like this affords a precious peek behind the curtain.
Even more intriguing are songs that were left on the cutting-room floor. Nearly half the songs on Truly Handmade will be new to even longtime fans. A few stretch back to the early ’70s, before Guy had ever released an album. Crowell says “Miss Alice Pringle” — a co-write with Susanna — dates back to at least 1972. “That's when I first heard it, and I always wanted him to record it,” Crowell says.
We also finally get to hear Guy’s own version of “Step Inside My House,” which gave Lyle Lovett the title of his 1998 album featuring songs by Texans who deeply influenced his own work. Now we get the blueprint of Lovett’s graceful rendition, as well as an important historical artifact: Guy often claimed this was the first song he ever wrote. (Was that actually the case? Sort of. “I think it's the first thing he ever considered a keeper,” Crowell says. “He wrote songs before that, but that's probably the first one he would stand behind.”)
And then there’s “Don’t Let The Sunshine Fool Ya,” which Guy’s fans first heard when his pal Townes included it on The Late Great Townes Van Zandt nearly a half-century ago. A more produced take from Guy turned up on the 1997 RCA set The Essential Guy Clark. But this demo is likely a better representation of what convinced Townes to record it in 1975.
So what comes next in the Truly Handmade series? That’s still in the works – but Crowell got exactly what he wanted for this first volume. “When I started finding these (demos of) just Guy alone, guitar vocal, I said ‘This is what we need to start with.’ And luckily, there was enough material to do that.” — Peter Blackstock
Guy Clark – Truly Handmade, Volume 1
1. L.A. Freeway 3:54
2. Let Him Roll 4:01
3. Nickel For the Fiddler 2:55
4. Lone Star Hotel Café 3:53
5. Looks Like Rain 2:19
6. All the Way From California 4:01
7. Texas Goodbyes 2:37
8. Calf Rope 2:31
9. Who Do You Think You Are (Rainbow Pie) 3:36
10. Old Time Feeling 4:12
11. Don’t Let the Sunshine Fool You 3:05
12. Miss Alice Pringle 2:24
13. Hold On Brother 4:00
14. Step Inside My House 4:29
15. Susanna Let Your Hair Down On Me 1:16
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