Guy Clark, a Grammy-winning recording artist, songwriter’s songwriter and mentor to a generation of Nashville artists, died on Tuesday (May 17). He was 74.

A 2004 inductee into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, Guy Clark’s standards include “Desperados Waiting for a Train,” “Heartbroke,” “Texas 1947,” “She’s Crazy for Leavin,’” “L.A. Freeway,” “Oklahoma Borderline” and “Baby I’m Yours.”

In 2005, the Americana Music Association presented him with its Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting. A star-studded tribute album titled This One’s for Him won the AMA’s Album of the Year honor in 2011. He earned a 2014 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album with his collection My Favorite Picture of You.

Guy Clark was born in 1941 in the West Texas town of Monahans and raised near the state’s Gulf Coast. He began his performing career on the Houston folk scene of the 1960s, singing traditional material alongside K.T. Oslin, Jerry Jeff Walker and Townes Van Zandt. Throughout his life, he identified himself as a folk singer.

By 1967, he was composing original material. He headed for San Francisco to sing in clubs and work as a guitar restorer. Back in Houston, he worked as the art director for a TV station. Next came a stint in L.A., again working as both a musician and a guitar maker.

His publishing company had an office in Nashville. Encouraged by that, he moved to Music City in 1971. Guy married painter Susanna Talley Wallis in 1972.

Inspired by her husband and his friends, Susanna Clark (1939-2012) began writing songs, too. In fact, she broke through before Guy with “I’ll Be Your San Antone Rose” (Dottsy, 1975), “Easy From Now On” (Emmylou Harris, 1978; Carlene Cater, 1990; Miranda Lambert, 2007) and “Come From the Heart” (Kathy Mattea, 1989).

The paintings on the jackets of such albums as Willie Nelson’s Stardust, Harris’s Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, Nanci Griffith’s Dust Bowl Symphony and her husband’s Old No. 1 are Susanna’s.

She was also a great host. The Clarks’ Nashville home became a headquarters for other left-of-center tunesmiths. This scene was captured in the documentary film Heartworn Highways. Shot in 1975, it was released to acclaim in 1981.

Guy Clark was at the vanguard of such artists moving to Nashville. In his wake, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, David Olney, Richard Dobson, Dave Loggins, David Allan Coe, Mickey Newbury, Emmylou Harris, Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett, Billy Joe Shaver, Nanci Griffith and many more made the pilgrimage to Music City. Clark released his debut LP, Old No. 1, on RCA in 1975.

It included “L.A. Freeway,” which was popularized by Jerry Jeff Walker, Spanky & Our Gang and others. The album’s “Texas 1947” became a hit single for Johnny Cash, and its “Desperados Waiting for a Train” was covered by many, including Rita Coolidge, Tom Rush and the country supergroup The Highwaymen. Cash later covered “Let Him Roll,” yet another classic song from this extraordinary debut disc.

Clark’s sophomore LP was 1976’s Texas Cookin.’ It included such fan favorites as “Broken Hearted People,” “The Last Gunfighter Ballad” and the title tune. Cash covered “The Last Gunfighter Ballad” in 1977.

Guy Clark’s tall, rangy good looks and tough/tender onstage manner added to the appeal of his striking songs. Boozy charm, a deadpan sense of humor and plain old charisma made him widely popular on the country/folk touring circuit.

He moved to Warner Bros. Records and issued the LP Guy Clark in 1978. It included the first version of “Fools For Each Other.” That song became a yet another hit for the widely respected tunesmith. Lynn Anderson and Ed Bruce sang a duet version of the song in 1986.

Clark issued The South Coast of Texas in 1981. This was his biggest breakthrough yet. Produced by Crowell, the collection included “New Cut Road,” which became a hit for Bobby Bare. Ricky Skaggs went to the top of the charts with “Heartbroke.” Clark had a minor hit with the LP’s “The Partner Nobody Chose.” Crowell later hit No. 1 with this album’s “She’s Crazy for Leavin.’”

Like his wife, Guy Clark was an accomplished visual artist. He was also a carpenter who could build anything with wood. In his youth, he had built boats in Texas. As an adult, he became a master craftsman of guitars.

This was reflected on his 1982 LP Better Days. John Conlee scored a major hit with its “The Carpenter.” Asleep at the Wheel issued “Blowin’ Like a Bandit” as a single. Clark got radio airplay with “Homegrown Tomatoes.” But his highest regarded song on the collection was his salute to fatherhood, “The Randall Knife.”

In 1986, Vince Gill had a hit with “Oklahoma Borderline,” which he co-wrote with Clark and Crowell. Two years later, Steve Wariner scored with “Baby I’m Yours.” Pirates of the Mississippi had a single with Clark’s “Too Much” in 1992.

Among the many who have recorded his songs are Harris, Earle, Dobson, Lovett, Griffith, Don Williams, George Strait, Lacy J. Dalton, Mark Chesnutt, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Everly Brothers, John Denver, Billy Dean, Hal Ketchum, Charley Pride, T. Graham Brown, Tammy Wynette, Patty Loveless, Crystal Gayle, Alan Jackson and Waylon Jennings.

Guy Clark was a meticulous song craftsman, choosing his phrases carefully. He seldom settled for the easy couple – instead he’d labor for weeks to paint the precise word portrait of a time, person or place.

This is why his albums appeared with less frequency in his later career. He issued the Grammy-nominated Old Friends in 1988. Boats to Build followed in 1992. Dublin Blues was a highlight in 1995. Then came Keepers in 1997, Cold Dog Soup in 1999 and The Dark in 2002.

Clark was honored with a residency at the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006. At the time, Brad Paisley was singing Clark’s “Out in the Parking Lot” and Jimmy Buffett was performing “Boats to Build.”

Also by that time, Guy Clark was thought of as a songwriting mentor. The universally respected troubadour was considered to be a master wordsmith among his songwriting peers. The rich detail and expressive imagery of his creations were models for a generation of country/folk/Americana creators.

Guy Clark’s most recent CDs have been on Dualtone Records. They include Workbench Songs (2006), Some Days the Song Writes You (2009) and Songs and Stories (2011).

The title tune of Kenny Chesney’s 2010 album Hemingway’s Whiskey was co-written by Clark, as was the title tune of Ashley Monroe’s Like a Rose debut collection in 2012.

In late 2011, an all-star collection saluted his artistic prowess. The double-CD This One’s for Him tribute album featured Willie Nelson, Rosanne Cash, Kevin Welch, Suzy Bogguss, Emmylou Harris, John Prine, Radney Foster, Kris Kristofferson, Vince Gill and others singing his works.

The tribute album was organized by Tamara Saviano, who had become his publicist. She has also been working on a biography of the song poet for the past few years. It is due this fall.

Guy Clark’s next solo CD appeared two years later. His 2013 album was titled My Favorite Picture of You. It came out following the 2012 death of his wife, Susanna Clark, and won its creator a Grammy Award.

Since then, he had been in increasingly frail health. He went into nursing-home care in the spring of 2016. Guy Clark is survived by his son, guitarist Travis Clark 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.

Guitar icon and longtime Nashville-area resident Lonnie Mack passed away on Thursday, April 21, in Smithville, Tennessee. He was 74 years old.

He was initially a rockabilly instrumentalist with such 1963 hits as “Memphis” and “Wham!” Later in his career, he was also widely respected as a blue-eyed soul singer.

Born Lonnie McIntosh in 1941, he came of age in rural Indiana. He listened to both the Grand Ole Opry and R&B radio as a boy and began playing guitar at age 7. His family formed a bluegrass band.

Mack dropped out of school at age 13, obtained a fake I.D. and started playing in the roadhouses of Cincinnati, Ohio. His first records were country performances on small local labels. Mack’s early hits were on the Cincinnati label Fraternity Records.

He also recorded as a session musician. Mack’s distinctive guitar sound achieved its twang from him hitting the whammy bar of his Gibson Flying V. He influenced virtually every rock guitarist who followed him — Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Jeff Beck, Ted Nugent, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Mike Bloomfield among many others.

His emotional singing combined elements of both country and soul music. In 1968, he signed with Elektra Records in Los Angeles. His albums for the label mixed blues, country and rock elements. He also continued to work as a studio sideman, notably on The Doors LP Morrison Hotel.

Mack was hired by Elektra in A&R. But he became frustrated with corporate life and resigned. He moved to rural Kentucky.

In the 1970s, he leaned more toward country sounds. His 1971 LP The Hills of Indiana was a particular highlight. He relocated to Texas and reemerged in the 1980s as a blues-rock artist. He began collaborating with Stevie Ray Vaughan, who produced the Lonnie Mack comeback LP Strike Like Lightning on Alligator Records.

In 1988 Lonnie Mack landed at Epic Records, for whom he recorded the rockabilly album Roadhouses and Dance Halls. He guested on Saturday Night Live in 1989.

He retired to Middle Tennessee in the 1990s, but occasionally toured Europe and performed at benefit concerts and special events in the U.S.

Lonnie Mack died of natural causes at Centennial Medical Center in Smithville. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

PIctured (L-R): Glenn Sutton, Lynn Anderson, Mr. & Mrs. Bob Tubert. Photo: BMI Archive

The Nashville music business has lost Bob Tubert, a man who made his mark in many areas of the industry. Tubert died at age 90 on April 10, according to the Hendersonville Funeral Home.

He was a record producer, a TV scriptwriter, a hit songwriter, an author, a music publisher and a talent spotter. Tubert won the 1978 CMA Founding President’s Award for his years of service to the organization.

In addition, he was a founding member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and helped to establish Belmont University’s music business program.

Born in 1925, Robert F. Tubert was raised in Massachusetts in the 1930s , knowing nothing of Nashville or country music. He attended Arizona State University in Flagstaff on a basketball scholarship. This is where he first heard country records.

He completed his education in Missouri. This turned out to be advantageous, because after graduation, he was hired by the Ozark Jubilee organization in Springfield.

Pictured: Joy Byers, Bob Tubert. Photo: BMI Archive

In 1955, The Ozark Jubilee was launched as one of America’s first network country TV series. Tubert became its scriptwriter and sometime director. Airing on ABC, the show was variously titled Ozark Jubilee (1955-57), Country Music Jubilee (1957-58), Jubilee USA (1958-60) and Five Star Jubilee (1961).

A parallel network program in 1956 was Junior Jubilee. In addition, there was a nationally-distributed radio show, which Tubert also worked on.

Ozark Jubilee regulars included host Red Foley, plus Porter Wagoner, Brenda Lee, Jean Shepard, Sonny James, The Browns, Webb Pierce, Eddy Arnold and Jim Reeves, all of whom later became members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Tubert promoted the idea that Springfield, Missouri, the home of the shows, could become the headquarters of country music. He was embittered that Jubilee executives did not share his vision.

Pictured: Freddie North, Ed Cramer and Bob Tubert at the BMI Awards in 1972. Photo: BMI Archive

When the shows ended, Bob Tubert migrated to the city that did become country music’s headquarters, Nashville. Inspired by this community, he began writing songs.

His first success was “When You Loved Me,” a No. 8 adult-contemporary hit for Brenda Lee in 1964. The following year, he succeeded on the country charts by co-writing the No. 1 Sonny James hit “You’re the Only World I Know.” Tubert also co-wrote the big 1965 Sonny James hit, “I’ll Keep Holding On.”

In 1967, Tubert’s “Gardenias in Her Hair” was a Top 10 hit for Marty Robbins, and “Here Comes Heaven” did the same for Eddy Arnold in 1968. He also wrote songs that were recorded by Stonewall Jackson, Dolly Parton, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kitty Wells, Dave Dudley, Faron Young, Dottie West, Connie Smith, Ray Stevens, Cal Smith, Jim Ed Brown, Marie Osmond, Roy Clark , Grandpa Jones, Billy Walker, David Houston and more in the 1960s and 1970s.

But Tubert never considered himself to be a strictly “country” creator. He wrote songs for Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs (“Ring Dang Doo”). The Letterman (“Our Winter Love”), Lou Rawls (“My Ancestors”), Bobby Vinton (“Satin Pillow”), Chuck Jackson & Maxine Brown (“Please Don’t Hurt Me”), Steve Alaimo, Taj Mahal, Sandy Posey, Jimmy Cliff, Perry Como, Anita Bryant, Jackie Wilson, Ketty Lester, Ann-Margret and other pop and R&B stars.

Pictured: Demetriss Tapp, Bob Tubert at the BMI R&B Awards in 1972. Photo: BMI Archive

Tubert also became a Music Row publishing executive. In the 1960s, he ran Earl Barton Music, Regent Music and Vintage Music. Between 1970 and 1983, he was the professional manager for Excellorec. Headquartered at Woodland Sound in East Nashville, this company controlled the copyrights of the blues and gospel music created for such imprints as Excello, Nashboro and Ernie’s Record Mart.

At some point, Tubert was also a newsman for United Press International (UPI). He wrote liner notes for albums by Jerry Reed, Chet Atkins, The Anita Kerr Singers, Charlie Rich and others. He was a founding member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), and helped to establish Belmont University’s music business program.

As a record producer, he guided the sounds of his discovery Lana Chapel, as well as Davey Buhl, Russ Russell and Dale Turner. He also wrote and produced major-label records for his pop-singer wife, Demetriss Tapp.

In the 1980s, he discovered Shelby Lynne. He got her on TNN’s Nashville Now and sent her tapes to producer Billy Sherrill, who signed her to Epic Records. She later won a Grammy Award.

Pictured: Neil Anderson, Bob Tubert, Jack Grady in 1968. Photo: BMI Archive

In later years, Tubert returned to show scripting and television work. He wrote benefit shows for NARAS and the CMA and produced cable-TV specials about the music of Merle Haggard, Porter Wagoner and others. He also wrote material for the annual CMA Awards telecasts.

In 2012, he published his autobiography, Echoes and Reflections: My Life With the Stars. The book was an expose of the back stabbing, dishonesty, and shady deals that Tubert perceived in the music business. In the book, he also gave positive credit where credit was due.

He is survived by his wife, Demetriss Tapp Tubert, children Devin and Shara and three grandchildren.

Visitation will be from noon to 1 p.m. on April 23 with a celebration of life to follow. Hendersonville Funeral Home is at 353 E. Main Street in Hendersonville.

Brien Fisher

Country record producer Brien Fisher has died at age 82.

Among his best-known productions is “Heaven’s Just a Sin Away” by The Kendalls. It was named the CMA Single of the Year in 1978 and earned the father-daughter duo a Grammy Award.

The producer was born Frank O’Brien Fisher in 1933 in Kyles Ford, Tennessee. He was a Marine Corps veteran who served in Southeast Asia. Fisher was awarded a National Defense Service medal, a Korea Service medal, a China Service medal and the United Nations Medal. He received Sharpshooter Sniper status.

He was also a guitarist and a singer. After his discharge, Brien Fisher gained record label and producing experience in Ohio and Illinois, before heading to Music City.

In 1976, he was made the head of the country division of the Illinois-based independent label Ovation Records. The Kendalls’ debut LP for the company came out in 1977.

A disc jockey in Paducah, Kentucky, began playing “Heaven’s Just a Sin Away” as an album track and called to say he was getting tremendous audience response to it. Fisher put it out as a single, and Ovation record promoter Joe Sun turned it into a chart-topping hit.

In 1978, Fisher produced promo man Sun singing “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You.” It also became a hit on Ovation. Further Fisher productions for The Kendalls in 1978-80 included “It Don’t Feel Like Sinnin’ to Me,” “Pittsburgh Stealers,” “Sweet Desire,” “You’d Make an Angel Want to Cheat,” “I’m Already Blue” and “Put It Off Until Tomorrow.”

Vern Gosdin signed with Ovation in 1981. Fisher produced such Gosdin hits as “Dream of Me” and “Too Long Gone” for the company. Other Ovation artists produced by Fisher included Max D. Barnes (“Cowboys Are Common as Sin”), The Cates (“Make Love to Me”), Jim Rushing (“I’ve Loved Enough to Know”) and Sheila Andrews (“Too Fast for Rapid City”).

Fisher continued to produce both Gosdin and The Kendalls after they left Ovation for other labels. Among the records were Gosdin’s “Today My World Slipped Away” and The Kendalls’ “Two Heart Harmony.”

He formed Brien Fisher Productions in Hendersonville in 1983. Later artists produced by him included DeAnna Cox, Glen Bonham, Ben Wasson and Jeannie Kendall as a solo artist.

In 1998, he produced the album Old Dogs, starring Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare, Mel Tillis and Jerry Reed singing songs written by Shel Silverstein. The good-natured collection was well received by both fans and critics.

During his career, Fisher produced more than 20 Top 10 hit records. His productions resulted in some five million in sales. His works appeared on A.M.I.,Warner Bros., Mercury, Atlantic, Rustic and several other labels, in addition to Ovation.

In addition to record production, Fisher worked as the European TV music director for Johnny Cash, Hank Williams Jr., Ray Stevens, Emmylou Harris, B.J. Thomas, Jeannie C. Riley and Larry Gatlin.

The producer’s death was reported by The R.O.P.E. Reporter last week. Brien Fisher passed away on March 11, and his memorial service took place on March 19. Burial was in Nashville’s National Cemetery.

He is survived by his sons Kevin, Rufus and Dwayne Fisher, by brother Jack Fisher and by six grandchildren.

Steve Young. Photo: steveyoung.net.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Steve Young passed away in Nashville on Thursday, March 17, at the age of 73.

Often called a “songwriter’s songwriter,” Young wrote such classics as “Seven Bridges Road,” “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean,” “Long Way to Hollywood” and “Montgomery in the Rain.” He was a key figure in the progressive or “Outlaw” country movement of the 1970s.

Steve Young was born in Newnan, Georgia, on July 12, 1942. He was raised in Alabama and strongly identified with that state’s native son, Hank Williams. His family also lived in Texas during his boyhood.

He spent part of the 1960s in New York City, kicking around the edges of the folk-music scene in Greenwich Village. He relocated to California in 1964 and formed the band Stone Country.

On the West Coast, he performed and recorded with Gram Parsons, Gene Clark and Chris Hillman, all of whom were cornerstone artists in the emerging country-rock genre. Young’s debut LP, Rock Salt & Nails, was issued by A&M Records in 1968. Parsons, Clark and guitar ace James Burton all played on it.

Young tired of Hollywood and moved to Marin County. He ran the Amazing Grace guitar store there for several years before making his way to Music City.

Waylon Jennings recorded Young’s “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” as the title song of his 1973 album. This record was the first of the star’s self-produced Outlaw collections.

Young’s Nashville-recorded Seven Bridges Road appeared on Reprise Records in 1972. It has since been reissued three times by various other labels. Honky Tonk Man was issued in 1975 by the Mountain Railroad label. Steve Young appeared in the Outlaw music documentary Heartworn Highways in 1976, singing his song “Alabama Highway.” The film featured him alongside such figures as David Allan Coe, Charlie Daniels, Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle and Larry Jon Wilson.

RCA picked up his recording contract and issued his two most well known albums, the aptly named Renegade Picker (1976) and No Place to Fall (1978). Both were roots-music classics, with hints of blues and gospel in his Southern country sound. Labelmate Jennings took him on tour as his opening act.

Hank Williams Jr. issued his versions of Young’s “Montgomery in the Rain” and “Long Way to Hollywood” in 1977. Others who recorded his songs include Tracy Nelson, Joan Baez, Ian Matthews, Ricochet, Dolly Parton and Rita Coolidge. Travis Tritt revived “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” in 2003.

Rounder Records reissued Steve Young’s Seven Bridges Road (1981) and Honky Tonk Man (1984) and also put out the artist’s new sounds on To Satisfy You (1981). Also in 1981, The Eagles scored a pop and country hit with “Seven Bridges Road.”

During this part of his career, Young gave up drugs and alcohol. He’d long been Regarded as a “zen cowboy” and now began to explore spirituality in his music. Recorded in Sweden, his 1985 album Look Homeward Angel added synthesizers to his sound.

His intensity and conviction as a live performer made him a “cult” favorite artist, particularly in Europe. His 1990 collection Long Time Rider was recorded in the Netherlands. He issued his first concert recording Solo/Live in 1991 on Watermelon Records, which also issued 1993’s Switchblades of Love.

Later recordings include 2000’s Primal Young, 2006’s Songlines Revisited and 2007’s Stories Round the Horseshoe Bend.

Steve Young’s son, Jubal Lee Young, competed on NBC’s The Voice in 2015. His current CD is titled On a Dark Highway.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced. Steve Young believed in reincarnation.