Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter Guy Clark, who wrote hits like "LA. Freeway" and "Desperados Waiting for a Train," has died. He was 74.
Clark died today at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, according to his manager, Keith Case. He'd been in poor health, although Case didn't give an official cause of death.
A native of Monahans, Texas, Clark befriended fellow songwriter Townes Van Zandt and Mickey Newbury. Together with his painter-songwriter wife, Susanna, Clark's home in Nashville became a gathering place for songwriters like Rodney Crowell and Steve Earle. He wrote songs for Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Jeff Walker, Bobby Bare, Vince Gill and John Conlee.
Born in 1941, Clark's upbringing in west Texas inspired the scenes and characters for many of his songs, including "Desperados," based on an oil well digger who once stayed at his grandmother's shotgun hotel.
His interest in music was inspired by his father's law partner, and most of the first songs he learned to sing and play were in Spanish.
He moved to Houston in the 1960s, where he met Van Zandt and several other folk songwriters and played in coffee shops and bars.
He married his first wife, Susan Spaw, and they had a son, Travis, in 1966. After his split with Susan, he met painter Susanna Talley and they moved to Los Angeles to pursue his music career.
His dissatisfaction with the city's hectic lifestyle was the basis of his song "L.A. Freeway," which was recorded by Walker on his debut album. He and Susanna moved to Nashville in 1971.
