This next disc is one of my current favourites, and was a joy to review.
Disc 322 is...Dublin Blues
Artist: Guy ClarkYear of Release: 1995
What’s Up With The Cover?: A serious looking Guy Clark sits on an expensive looking couch. I like that the guitar on his lap is sitting up high on his lap and pointing downward pointing, in that position you used to always see country artists play it at in the fifties and sixties.
How I Came To Know It: This is another artist from the Steve Earle musical tree. I found a live album a couple years ago called "Live At The Bluebird Cafe" (and even reviewed it back at Disc 231). I bought it for Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, but the album had a third artist named Guy Clark. I liked what I heard and so went in search of Guy Clark albums. "Dublin Blues" is the album from the same year as the Bluebird Cafe concert, and has a lot of the same tracks, making it a pretty safe bet.
How It Stacks Up: I only have one Guy Clark album. I did buy his third record, which was self-titled and released in 1978, but I really didn't like it, and sold it within a week. I love "Dublin Blues" so needless to say it is my favourite Guy Clark album.
Rating: 4 stars.
As I mentioned back when I reviewed the "Live At The Bluebird Cafe" album, Guy Clark is a classic singer/songwriter storyteller type. He uses simple, down home language to evoke strong emotions. When I listen to him sing I feel soothed, like that wise old uncle who always seems to have good advice when you need it. The kind of guy who doesn't say much, but when he speaks people listen.
"Dublin Blues" is a great record, that tells stories that run the gamut. The title track is a song about lost love and regret, as a man sits in a pub in a far off country (in this case, Ireland) reflecting on what went wrong over a few too many drinks and cigarettes.
It is a song that sets a sombre opening tone, but Clark doesn't allow himself to wallow, and covers a lot of different topics along the way, including the uplifting "The Cape." It is a song about holding on to your childlike sense of wonder, and not being afraid to take risks.
The last song on the album is "The Randall Knife" the story of a man coming to grips with his relationship to his father through a Second World War combat knife inherited after he dies. It always chokes me up, maybe because of my own failed relationship with my father, or maybe just because the song is real and emotionally resonant. I'm pretty sure regardless of your relationship with your father, "The Randall Knife" will get you in the guts (hopefully not literally). That's what good art does.
All of these songs I already knew from the Bluebird Cafe concert, and so part of me just enjoys hearing the other deeper cuts on "Dublin Blues" that were new to me. In particular, "Stuff That Works" a song about the things in your life that you come to rely on. Although he starts by listing things like an old shirt, a guitar or a reliable car, he quickly extends the metaphor to the people that come into your life:
"I got a pretty good friend
Who's seen me at my worst
He can't tell if I'm a blessing
Or a curse
But he always shows up
When the chips are down
That's the kind of stuff
I like to be around."
I've got a few friends like that, and wise old uncle Guy's song is a gentle reminder of just how lucky I am.
Musically, "Dublin Blues" is a country/folk crossover. The storytelling elements are definitely folk, but the arrangements and instrumentation are classic country. Like his contemporaries Earle and Van Zandt, the songs are very simple in their construction, and easy on the ears. Clark is by no means a gifted vocalist, and he half sings half speaks the lyrics, as he idly plucks his guitar.
I have a hard time imagining going to see him in concert, but I have an easy time imagining having him over and sitting on the back porch and sharing a beer and a few songs with him. Clark's style sets you at ease, and make you want to settle back in a comfy chair and let the afternoon while away.
There are a couple songs on "Dublin Blues" that come off more as songwriting exercises, such as "Hank Williams Said It Best" with a series of unfortunate lines like "One man's hawk is another man's dove/One man's hug is another man's shove" - an idea he takes way too far, with comparisons that visibly strain to rhyme.
Fortunately, these moments are aberrations, and even when they happen, the tracks in question still have agreeable enough melodies that you are willing to indulge Clark his weakness for wordplay.
Because of my bad experience with the other Guy Clark album I purchased, I have been gunshy about getting another record, but when it comes to "Dublin Blues" I have no such reservations; this is a record worth owning.
Best tracks: Dublin Blues, Stuff That Works, The Cape, Baby Took A Limo To Memphis, The Randall Knife
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