Showing posts with label Obituary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Obituary. Show all posts

Sunday, 28 January 2018

Lari White Artist Singer Songwriter Passes Away at age 52

The Tennessean reported that Lari White, a songwriter, singer, producer and actor, died Tuesday morning (Jan 23, 2018).
She was 52 years old, and had been diagnosed with advanced peritoneal cancer in September 2017.
Last week, she entered hospice.
























Life Note: Recently Lari was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. The Singer/songwriter Lari White (Cannon) was battling cancer and receiving treatment. Friends and fans were encouragement to donate at P.O. Box 218138, Nashville, TN 37221 and additionally, a GoFundMe page was set up for the family.
White's mother had given fans an update on her daughter's battle revealing White had been admitted to hospice care. Her mother seemed hopeful about a new round of proposed treatments in a post to Caring Bridge on Sunday (Jan. 14), but by Friday (Jan. 19) the news had very sadly turned bleak.

Birth name: Lari Michele White
Born: May 13, 1965
Origin: Dunedin, Florida
Died: January 23, 2018 (aged 52)
Genres: Country Soul

Lari, age 52, first gained attention as the winner of the 1988 talent competition, "You Can Be A Star," which aired on The Nashville Network (TNN).
She initially signed to RCA Records and later joined Lyric Street Records; her singles included "That's My Baby," "That's How You Know (When You're In Love)," and "Now I Know."
Her vocal collaborators on disc included Rodney Crowell, Toby Keith, Hal Ketchum, Trisha Yearwood, Shelby Lynne, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Faith Hill and Radney Foster.
In 1994, White had a major role in the CBS-TV movie XXX’s And OOO’s.
White’s second RCA album, 1994’s WISHES, made her a country star. It became a Gold Record and yielded her first top-10 hits.
Her 1997 Best Of Lari White CD included her hit duet with Travis Tritt “Helping Me Get Over You,” which they co-wrote.


Albums
LEAD ME NOT (RCA) - 1993                

WHITE ON WHITE (RCA) - 1993 - #24 Billboard Top Country Albums | GOLD certified Released JUNE 14, 1994; Gold (May 15, 1995); 0.5 Million units            

WISHES (RCA) -1994               

DON'T FENCE ME IN (RCA) 1996 - #53 Billboard Top Country Albums

 STEPPING STONE (Lyric Street Records) 1998 - #50 Billboard Top Country Albums

 GREEN EYED SOUL (Skinny WhiteGirl Records) 2003

 OLD FRIENDS, NEW LOVES (2-CD; Skinny WhiteGirl Records) 2017    

Singles
1994: "That's My Baby" #10 Hot Country Songs
1994: "Now I Know" #5 Hot Country Songs
1995: "That's How You Know (When You're in Love)" #10 Hot Country Songs (feat. harmony vocal from Hal Ketchum)
1998: "Stepping Stone" #16 Hot Country Songs


Lari White returned to acting via a plumb role in the 2000 Tom Hanks movie Cast Away. Then she was featured in the Kate Jackson indie feature of 2004, No Regrets.

She issued her R&B effort, GREEN EYED SOUL, in 2004, and it became especially successful in the UK.

Lari White performing “Nothing But Love" (writer: Lari White, Kimmie Rhodes, Kevin Savigar) (May 2004) TOTP2 UK Performance


She co-produced Toby Keith's 2006 White Trash With Money.
She launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund her 2016 double album OLD FRIENDS NEW LOVES. One CD contained re-recordings of her hits and the other compiled her new songs.

In February of last year, White's OLD FRIENDS, NEW LOVES double-EP collection commemorated her 25th anniversary as a recording artist. Guest vocalists on the project included Delbert McClinton, Suzy Bogguss and Lee Roy Parnell, with Charlie Worsham contributing mandolin to the track "In God's Hands."
As a songwriter, White had tunes cut by Toby Keith, Patti Page, Pat Green, Danny Gokey and Sarah Buxton, among others. In 2014, she produced The Shoe Burnin': Stories of Southern Soul, a CD compilation combined with a book of short stories by various authors, including White herself.
White is survived by her husband, Chuck Cannon, and their three children.

TRIBUTES

Hit Singer-Songwriter Lari White Passes - Music Row

Country Singer Lari White Dies at 52 - Billboard

Lari White, 'Now I Know' Country Singer and Actress, Dead at 52 - Rollingstone

Travis Tritt: I’m extremely saddened by the passing of my friend Lari White. She was so talented and a joy to write and record with. My heart goes out to all of Lari’s family and friends during this extremely difficult time.
ACM Awards: We are incredibly saddened to hear about the passing of singer, songwriter and ACM Top New Female Vocalist nominee Lari White. 
Jamie O'Neal - I just heard the heartbreaking news that Lari White passed away RIP Lari you are already missed but your legend lives on forever
Michelle Wright - This is so heartbreaking. May you RIP Lari.

Suzy Bogguss - Such a sad day... "Saying Goodbye To A Friend" Lari White passed on today. She was a tremendous talent and such a bright spirit. I am grateful to have had her friendship. She fought cancer like a warrior. Lari, I will hold the memory of your shining green eyes always and the sound of your beautiful voice bluesy and soulful! My heart is breaking for Chuck and their kids and all all of Lari's family and dearest folks. https://www.instagram.com/p/BeTg2Ftl_l3/
Charlie Daniels: Condolences to the family of Lari White. Rest in peace Mam Music City will miss you.
Gary Levox (Rascal Flatts): My heart is so sad today for the passing of Lari White. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends. Country music has lost a pioneer and a dear friend. #RIP
Bryan White: Deeply saddened at the loss of Lari White (@skinnywhitegirl) She was a mountain of talent. Artist, writer, producer; the whole package. 1 of the best singing voices ever 2 grace Country Music and a good soul. Prayers 4 Chuck and family #RIPLariWhite

The Oak Ridge Boys: Saddened by the death of Lari White.... RIP singing girl
Gretchen Peters: Indeed. So sad to wake up to this news.
WSMradio: We’re mourning the loss of our sweet friend, the talented Lari White. She was a frequent visitor to the station, and we’ll certainly miss hearing her beautiful voice.  https://twitter.com/WSMradio/status/955919019655286784
Erin Enderlin: It just seems wrong to be on social media today without taking a moment to recognize this wonderful talent

Live! At Jelley's JamRoom: Published on Jan 23, 2018


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Thursday, 29 September 2016

Country Music Hall of Famer Jean Shepard dies aged 82

Ollie Imogene "Jean" Shepard Nov 21, 1933 - Sept 25, 2016 (aged 82)

Trailblazer Jean Shepard, a Country Music Hall of Fame member & 
member of the Grand Ole Opry for more than 60 years dies at the age of 82.
Pure honky-tonk voice and consistently vibrant recordings with their tales of romantic entanglements made her one of the most important country artists of the last half of the Twentieth century

Montage Tribute: CLICK to ENLARGE

(25 Sept 2015)
Opry Matriarch Jean Shepard Passes at 82

Honky-tonk siren, independent-female country pioneer, Grand Ole Opry matriarch and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Jean Shepard has passed away at age 82.

She entered hospice and reportedly died of complications from Parkinson’s Disease on Sunday, Sept 25, 2016.
Jean Shepard & Benny Birchfield (Husband)
Hall Of Fame Medallion Ceremony in 2011






















Jean Shepard is the 4th Country Music Hall Of Famer to pass away in 2016. Sonny James, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Brown are the others

Among her 45 charted country titles over three decades are such enduring favorites as “A Dear John Letter,” “A Satisfied Mind,” “Second Fiddle” and “Slippin’ Away.”
Her fiery, outspoken manner made her one of the most memorable country personalities of her era.
Born Ollie Imogene Shepard on Nov. 21, 1933, she was the fifth of 10 children born to an Oklahoma sharecropper. The family moved to California during the Dust Bowl Migration. Desperately poor during the Great Depression, her parents hocked their furniture to buy her an upright bass so that she could pursue a career in music.
Shepard joined The Melody Ranch Girls all-female band while still in school. At age 15, she was singing every weekend in the towns around Bakersfield, CA. Honky-tonk superstar Hank Thompson discovered her and brought her to Capitol Records.

Her first single, “Crying Steel Guitar Waltz,” (1955) failed to dent the Billboard charts, but she would soon pair with Ferlin Husky for the 1953’s million-selling “A Dear John Letter.” He spoke a Korean War soldier’s recitation while she sang the song’s refrain. Because she was only 18 when they toured together, her parents made Husky her legal guardian. However Shepard couldn’t tour to promote the single. She was a minor at the time, and she told Billboard in 2014 that you had to be 21 years old to leave the state in those days.

Beginning at age 21, she scored a string of hits on her own, including “A Satisfied Mind” (1955), “Beautiful Lies” (1955) and “I Want to Go Where No One Knows Me” (1958).
Her 1954 LP SONGS OF A LOVE AFFAIR was country music’s first female “concept” album.
Shepard’s 1955 hit “I Thought of You” was later the song that launched the career of her fellow Hall of Fame member Connie Smith. Jean Shepard joined The Ozark Jubilee in Missouri, then became a breakthrough female solo singer on the Grand Ole Opry.
She became a member on her birthday, Nov. 21, 1955.
She was named Cash Box Magazine’s Top Female Country Singer of 1959.
During her early career, she was chaperoned by Husky and then by Hawkshaw Hawkins, whom she married in 1960. After Hawkins died in the 1963 plane crash that also killed her friend Patsy Cline, Shepard was left to fend for herself in a male-dominated industry....
Read More

She was the single mother of two sons, battling for her rights.
She said she developed her feisty, sassy personality as a result.
Her hits of the 1960s included the yodeling standout “Second Fiddle” (1964), the peppy “Many Happy Hangovers to You” (1966), her Ray Pillow divorce duet “I’ll Take the Dog” (1966) and the classic “If Teardrops Were Silver” (1966; >> Video).
Other memorable singles during this era included “Heart We Did All That We Could” (1967), “Your Forevers Don’t Last Very Long” (1967) and the standard “Seven Lonely Days” (1969).
In the 1970s, she continued to score with such hits as her Grammy Award nominated “Then He Touched Me” (1970), plus “A Woman’s Hand” (1970) and “Another Lonely Night” (1971).
Shepard moved from Capitol to United Artists Records and reignited her chart fortunes with the Bill Anderson songs “Slippin’ Away” (1973), “At the Time” (1974), “Poor Sweet Baby” (1974) and the evergreen “The Tip of My Fingers” (1975). ..Read More at

Yesteryear In Nashville - Jean Shepard Published on Nov 27, 2015 Archie Campbell interviews Jean Shepard TNN 1983



Jean Shepard - Seven Lonely Days Published on Jan 9, 2016


 Jean Shepard - Above and Beyond:


 Jean Shepard - The Tips Of My Fingers Published on Sep 12, 2012
Country Family Reunion Second Generaton: http://www.cfrvideos.com

“She’s one of those people who opened doors,” Opry announcer and WSM DJ Eddie Stubbs said in late 2015. “There were some she had to push open and some others she had to kick her way through.”

“The Opry family is truly saddened by the news of Jean’s passing,” Grand Ole Opry general manager Pete Fisher said. “Although we will miss Jean’s presence on the Opry stage, she has left us the wonderful gift of her music which will be remembered for generations to come.”

ALBUMS
MANY HAPPY HANGOVERS Released: May 1966 Label: Capitol #6
HEART, WE DID ALL THAT WE COULD Released: January 1967 Label: Capitol #6

Noteworthy Songs
1953: “A Dear John Letter” (No. 1) >> YouTube Country Family Reunion
1955: “A Satisfied Mind” (No. 4) (Written by Joe "Red" Hayes - Jack Rhodes). >> Audio
1964: “Second Fiddle (To an Old Guitar)” (No. 5) Opry Video Classics >> YouTube
1966: “Many Happy Hangovers to You” (No. 13) >> Audio
1966: “I’ll Take the Dog,” a duet with Ray Pillow (No. 9) >> Audio
1967: ”Heart We Did All We Could” (No.12) 1967 title cut and 2nd single writer Ned Miller
1973: "Slippin' Away" (written by singer-songwriter Bill Anderson) (No.4)
Country Family Reunion Video



Songwriter: Bill Anderson Publisher: Stallion Music, Inc. (BMI)
1975: "The Tip of My Fingers" (No.16) Album: Poor Sweet Baby (And Ten More Bill Anderson Songs) writer Bill Anderson
1974: "Poor Sweet Baby" (No.14)
1976 *** "Ain't Love Good" (No.41) Album: Mercy/ Ain't Love Good

"Leavin' Fever" Intro: 0:06 Total Duration: 2:16 Tempo: Fast Songwriters: Tommy Cash and Lorrie Morgan Publishers: Tomcat Music (BMI) and Acuff-Rose (BMI)

Jean Shepard - The Melody Ranch Girl Box Set 5-CD (Bear Family-Rollercoaster)
Audio CD (1 Jan. 2010)
Number of Discs: 5
Format: Box set
Label: Bear Family-Rollercoaster
Amazon UK | Amazon.com | Bear Family.com
Jean Shepard: The Melody Ranch Girl (5-CD) 5-CD box (LP-size) with 36-page book, 151 tracks. Playing time approx. 375 mns. When Jean Shepard burst onto the country music scene in 1952, she had few female role models to follow. In the early 1950s, country music was still a largely male-dominated business and some people actually believed women were incapable of selling large numbers of country records. With the help of country bandleader and singer Hank Thompson, Jean landed a recording contract with Capitol Records and managed to change that opinion.
The Melody Ranch Girl Box Set 5-CD
CLICK to ENLARGE

Presented here are 151 legendary sides that Shepard recorded for Capitol between 1952 and 1964. 

 The set includes her first number one single A Dear John Letter (featuring Ferlin Husky), Two Hoops And A Holler, A Satisfied Mind, Beautiful Lies and Second Fiddle (To An Old Guitar). 

 This set features material from Jean's 1955 landmark album 'Songs Of A Love Affair' which is widely acknowledged as the first concept album recorded by a female country artist as well as her 'Got You On My Mind', 'Lonesome Love' and 'Heartaches And Tears' albums. Included in addition is a 36-page book with a newly researched biography by Chris Skinker, a discography and numerous rare photos.

Discography Amazon UK | UK iTunes

(5 Aug 2016) Jean Shepard - Country Music: Pure and Simple 50 Track Best Of 2-CD (Humphead)
50 Tracks | Amazon UK | Amazon.com

OBITUARIES
Jean Shepard Obituary - Alan Cackett.com
Country Music Hall of Famer Jean Shepard dead at 82 - The Tennessean
Grand Ole Opry Star Jean Shepard Dies – Billboard.com
Opry Star Jean Shepard Dies - Taste Of Country
Grand Ole Opry Icon Jean Shepard Dead at 82 -  Rollingstone
Jean Shepard Passes at 82 – Music Row

 Related Posts
November 6, 2015: Jean Shepard Is Angry Over Today’s Country Music “And I Don’t Care Who Knows It, I’ll Tell the World.”
Saving Country Music
“I’m very adamant about how I feel about country music. And I don’t care who knows it, I’ll tell the world,” Shepard said. “Country music today is not the country music of yesterday. It’s a lot more important than that. Candy coated country don’t make it. They candy coat it and try to be something they ain’t. Well it ain’t gonna work my friend.”
“It’s a good fight for a good cause and I mean that with all my heart,” Shepard continued. “Today’s country is not country, and I’m very adamant about that. I’ll tell anybody who’ll listen, and some of those who don’t want to listen, I’ll tell them anyway. … Country music today isn’t genuine.”
Shepard also had some more veiled criticism for the Grand Ole Opry.
“Sixty years ago, I loved what the Grand Ole Opry stood for,” she told The Tennessean. “I still love what it stands for, but not quite so much. Isn’t it terrible being so truthful?”

Interview: Country Stars Central

Her sons are Don Robin Hawkins, Harold Franklin Hawkins II and Corey Birchfield.

She is also survived by husband Benny Birchfield and by several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A public visitation was set and held at Hendersonville Funeral Home, located at 353 East Main Street, HENDERSONVILLE, TN on Thursday, September 29th from 12p to 8p (CT) and Friday, September 30th from 11a to 1p (CT).
A celebration of life service will follow on Friday (Sept 30) at 1p (CT). The public is welcome to both the visitation and the service
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Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Bluegrass Music Patriarch Ralph Stanley dies at 89

 Ralph Stanley February 25th, 1927 – June 23rd, 2016

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 23, 2016) 

Ralph Stanley, a patriarch of Appalachian music who with his brother Carter helped expand and popularize the genre that became known as bluegrass, died Thursday from difficulties with skin cancer. He was 89.















Stanley was born and raised in southwest Virginia, a land of coal mines and deep forests where he and his brother formed the Stanley Brothers and their Clinch Mountain Boys in 1946. Their father would sing them old traditional songs like "Man of Constant Sorrow," while their mother, a banjo player, taught them the old-time clawhammer style, in which the player's fingers strike downward at the strings in a rhythmic style.

Ralph Stanley: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert published Oct 19, 2009



Heavily influenced by Grand Ole Opry star Bill Monroe, the brothers fused Monroe's rapid rhythms with the mountain folk songs from groups such as the Carter Family, who hailed from this same rocky corner of Virginia.
Ricky Skaggs, Ralph Stanley, Keith Whitley
Archive (Absolute Publicity)

The Stanleys created a distinctive three-part harmony that combined the lead vocal of Carter with Ralph's tenor and an even higher part sung by bandmate Pee Wee Lambert. Carter's romantic songwriting professed a deep passion for the rural landscape, but also reflected on lonesomeness and personal losses.

Songs like "The Lonesome River," uses the imagery of the water to evoke the loss of a lover, and "White Dove," describes the mourning and suffering after the death of a mother and father. In 1951, they popularized "Man of Constant Sorrow," which was also later recorded by Bob Dylan in the '60s.

The brothers were swept into the burgeoning folk movement and they toured the country playing folk and bluegrass festivals during the '60s, including the Newport Folk Festival in 1959 and 1964.

But when Carter died of liver disease in 1966, Ralph wasn't sure he could continue. His brother had been the main songwriter, lead singer and front man, and Ralph, by his own account, was withdrawn and shy, although he had overcome some of his early reticence.

"Within weeks of his passing, I got phone calls and letters and telegrams and they all said don't quit. They said, 'We've always been behind you and Carter, but now we'll be behind you even more because we know you'll need us,'" Stanley told The Associated Press in 2006.

After Carter's death, Ralph drew even deeper from his Appalachian roots, adopting the a cappella singing style of the Primitive Baptist church where he was raised. He reformed the Clinch Mountain Boys band to include Ray Cline, vocalist Larry Sparks and Melvin Goins. He would change the lineup of the band over the years, later including Jack Cooke, and mentored younger artists like Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs, who also performed with him.

Dylan and Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia praised his work and, in the case of Dylan, joined him for a remake of the Stanley Brothers' "Lonesome River" in 1997.

Best Of:
Discography – Amazon | iTunes

He was given an honorary doctorate of music from Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee, in 1976, and he was often introduced as "Dr. Ralph Stanley." He performed at the inaugurations of U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, was given a "Living Legends" medal from the Library of Congress and a National Medal of Arts presented by the National Endowment for the Arts and President George W. Bush. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2000.

But at age 73, he was introduced to a new generation of fans in 2000 due to his chilling a cappella dirge "O Death" from the hit Coen Brothers' "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" movie soundtrack. The album was a runaway hit, topping the Billboard 200 chart, as well as the country albums and soundtrack charts, and sold millions of copies.

He won a Grammy for best male country vocal performance in 2002 — beating out Tim McGraw, Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Lyle Lovett — and was the focus of a successful tour and documentary inspired by the soundtrack. The soundtrack, produced by T Bone Burnett, also won a Grammy for album of the year. The following year he and Jim Lauderdale would win a Grammy for best bluegrass album for "Lost in the Lonesome Pines."

He said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2002 that younger people were coming to see his shows and hear his "old time music," and was enjoying the belated recognition.
"I wish it had come 25 years sooner," he said. "I am still enjoying it, but I would have had longer to enjoy it."

Despite health problems, he continued to record and tour into his 80s, often performing with his son Ralph Stanley II on guitar and his grandson Nathan on mandolin.


Stanley was born in Big Spraddle, Virginia and lived in Sandy Ridge outside of Coeburn, Virginia. His mother was Lucy Jane Smith Stanley and his father was Lee Stanley. He is survived by his wife Jimmie Stanley – they were to celebrate their 48th wedding anniversary on July 2nd. He is also survived by his children: Lisa Stanley Marshall, Tonya Armes Stanley and Ralph Stanley II; His grandchildren: Nathan Stanley, Amber Meade Stanley, Evan Stout, Ashley Marshall, Alexis Marshall, Taylor Stanley, and Ralph Stanley III; and great grandchild Mckenzie Stanley.

Funeral arrangements have been announced for bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. His many fans are welcome to pay their respects to the icon at a public ceremony that will take place on Tuesday (June 28, 2016).
According to Stanley’s official Facebook page, his memorial service is set for Tuesday at the Hills of Home Park, which is located on Carter Stanley Highway on Smith Ridge, between Coeburn, Va., and McClure, Va. The location is the same site where Stanley hosted an annual Memorial Day Weekend bluegrass festival.
Mourners are asked to arrive by 5PM, with the funeral service set to begin at 6PM.

TRIBUTES:
Steve Martin tweeted Ralph Stanley, one of the last remaining original bluegrass artistes, has died. Listen to him sing Oh Death.

Ryan Adams tweeted RIP RALPH STANLEY Safe Travels to the stars and beyond you beautiful man

Rhonda Vincent Rest In Peace My Friend! Just heard news of the passing of #Bluegrass Legend / @Opry member Dr #RalphStanley <3

 Joe Bonsall (Oak Ridge Boy) RIP Dr Ralph Stanley Thank you for a life of Bluegrass Rest Easy sir and thanks for being so gracious to Ban-Joey
Dierks Bentley ugh..... like a punch to the heart. thank you God for Ralph Stanley. thoughts and prayers for his family.
Grand Ole Opry Our hearts are saddened by the news of the passing of Opry member Ralph Stanley. His music will live on forever

Nashville, Tenn. (June 24, 2016) - Upon learning the news of the passing of the iconic Dr. Ralph Stanley, Country and Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs released the following statement:
 "The end of an era, the passing of a King, a kind and humble King from the mountains.  He carried the ancient sounds from God knows where.  Ralph found it in the music of the mountains, in the hollows, in the people and in the churches.  He was my hero and I was blessed to know him, love him and make music with him as a young teenager.  The Scriptures tell us 'God uses the simple things to confound the wise.'  He certainly used Ralph Stanley to bring the music of the mountains to the masses."
- Ricky Skaggs

Rollingstone - Ralph Stanley: His 10 Greatest Performances
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Saturday, 4 June 2016

Guy Clark dies aged 74 - Obituary

Guy Charles Clark
November 6, 1941 – Tuesday May 17, 2016

Grammy-winner, Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame member, Academy of Country Music Poet’s Award honoree, and fearless raconteur Guy Charles Clark died Tuesday after a long illness. In this video The Tennessean announce Mr.Clarks passing:


 He was born in the dusty west Texas town of Monahans on November 6, 1941. The family lived at his grandmother’s 13-room shotgun hotel; home to bomber pilots, drifters, oilmen and a wildcatter named Jack Prigg, the subject of Clark’s famous song “Desperados Waiting For A Train.” When Guy’s father returned from WWII and graduated from law school, the Clarks moved to the Gulf coast town of Rockport, Texas. 




Photo:
Guy Clark Press Photo
Nashvilleportraits2016





Guy came of age in the pretty little beach town. As captain and center, Guy led the football team. He played guard in basketball, ran the 100-yard dash and threw discus in track and field. He won science fairs, joined the Explorer’s club, presided over the junior class as president, acted in school plays, excelled on the debate team, illustrated the yearbook, and fell in love with Mexican folk songs and the Flamenco guitar.


 After a couple of false starts at university, Guy joined the Peace Corps in 1963. He trained in Rio Abajo, Puerto Rico, practicing water survival, rock climbing and trekking, followed by a month of book learning at the University of Minnesota. After turning down an assignment in Punjab, India, Guy moved to Houston, where he opened a guitar repair shop with his friend Minor Wilson. He played guitar and sang folk songs at the Houston Folklore Society, Sand Mountain coffee shop and the Jester Lounge, where he began life long friendships with fellow struggling songwriters and musicians Mickey Newbury, Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Kay Oslin, Frank Davis, Gary White and Crow Johnson. 
He married his first wife, folksinger Susan Spaw, and they had a son Travis in 1966.
Guy Clark & Susanna
share a moment-
ExitIn (10 Dec 1975)
In 1969, after splitting with Susan, Guy moved to San Francisco and again joined Minor Wilson in a guitar repair shop. Within a year, he moved back to Houston, met and fell in love with a beautiful dark haired painter named Susanna Talley. Susanna moved from Oklahoma City to Houston to be with Guy and after a few months, she sold a painting to fund the couple’s move to Los Angeles. Guy landed a job building Dobros at the Dopyera Brothers Original Musical Instruments Company. He played with a bluegrass band on the weekends and pitched his songs to publishing companies in between. 

He signed a publishing deal with Sunbury Dunbar and moved to Nashville in the fall of 1971. He and Susanna crashed on songwriter Mickey Newbury’s houseboat for a few weeks and then moved into a small rental house at 1307 Chapel Avenue in East Nashville.  Guy and Susanna returned to Newbury’s houseboat on January 14, 1972 along with Mickey and Susan Newbury and Townes Van Zandt as best man; the five friends sailed up the Cumberland River to the Sumner County Courthouse where Guy Clark and Susanna Talley married.
In that first year in East Nashville Susanna and Townes wrote “Heavenly Houseboat Blues,” while Guy turned out “Desperados Waiting for a Train,” “L.A. Freeway,” and “That Old Time Feeling.” By the time Guy released Old No.1 (#41), his debut critically acclaimed album for RCA Records in 1975, he had written several soon-to-be classic songs including “She Ain’t Going Nowhere,” “Let Him Roll,” “Rita Ballou,” and “Texas 1947.”

He jumped from RCA to Warner Brothers in 1978, scoring a number one song with Ricky Skaggs’s take on “Heartbroke” in 1982 and breaking into the Billboard country chart with “Homegrown Tomatoes” in 1983. Clark hit his stride when he signed with Sugar Hill Records in 1989, and then released a string of significant folk and Americana albums with Sugar Hill, Asylum Records and Dualtone Music Group during the next two-and-a-half decades: 
Old Friends, Boats to Build, Dublin Blues, Keepers, Cold Dog Soup, The Dark (#46 Top Country albums), Workbench Songs (#74), Somedays the Song Writes You (#59) and his final 2013 Grammy-winning Best Folk Album, MY FAVORITE PICTURE OF YOU (#12).

For more than forty years, the Clark home was a gathering place for songwriters, folk singers, artists and misfits; many who sat at the feet of the master songwriter in his element, willing Guy’s essence into their own pens.
Throughout his long and extraordinary career, Guy Clark blazed a trail for original and groundbreaking artists and troubadours including his good friends Rodney Crowell, Jim McGuire, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett, Verlon Thompson, Shawn Camp, and Vince Gill.
THIS ONE'S FOR HIM: A Tribute to Guy Clark (Icehouse Music; Amazon; Inlay), was released Jan 23, 2012 to celebrate Clark's 70th birthday. The tribute includes 30 tracks by 33 Americana artists who were friends and colleagues of Clark or who have been influenced by his remarkable compositions. The collection was mixed and mastered by Austin's Cedar Creek Records principal Fred Remmert.
Guy Clark: Guitar sound box, working at home 3 Feb 2003



















His beloved Susanna died from complications of lung cancer in 2012. Due to ongoing health problems, Guy stopped touring and recording shortly thereafter.
Mr. Clark is survived by his son Travis and daughter-in-law Krista McMurtry Clark; grandchildren Dylan and Ellie Clark; sisters Caroline Clark Dugan and Jan Clark; manager and friend Keith Case; caretaker and sweetheart Joy Brogdon; nieces, nephews and many, many dear friends, colleagues and fans.

 Photo Below:
Guy Clark with Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith Vince Gill and Rodney Crowell 
gather at the home of Clark for a night of music 14 May1999


































TRIBUTES:



weet" data-cards="hidden" data-lang="en-gb">
Guy Clark was my friend. The world is a better place because he lived. I pray for comfort for all who loved him. pic.twitter.com/trvmNPRLDx
— Lyle Lovett (@LyleLovett) 17 May 2016

GUY CLARK OBITUARIES
40 Photo Picture Gallery at Tennessean.com
Alan Cackett.com
Billboard.com
NY Times
Rollingstone.com
The Guardian
The Tennessean
This is a feature from Country Music People, July 2013: Guy Clark talks to Spencer Leigh about his new album, My Favourite Picture Of You

Bob Harris Country (BBC Page) He was one of the great songwriters in my opinion
Keith Greentree (BBC Norfolk; 1 hour 38)
Steve Cherelle (BBC Essex; 1 hour 18) 
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