Consumer Guide Album

Guy Clark: The South Coast of Texas [Warner Bros., 1981]
Clark is hardly the last surviving singer-songwriter, but so much of the competition has gotten into rock auteurism or pop demos that those who miss the old ways pay him more mind than they used to. This is his best since 1975's aptly titled Old No. 1. The "Rita Ballou" lets us know he's singing easier, and turns like "her breath's as sweet as chewing gum" and "the road to good intentions/Is paved with the fools that I've been" remind us of his vernacular knack. But only on "New Cut Road," real bluegrass canonfodder, does the music add meaning as well as tangibility. Which is why the competition is into rock auteurism and pop demos. B