Arizona Star, Guy Clark, Nashville, and Us Part III

What can I say about Nashville, Tennessee?  If it hadn't been for Nashville, Raf and I would never have met and married.  It was an absolutely great place to live in the 1970s.  There was music, entertainment, and church.  It was colleges, night clubs, stars, and the river.  There was history and nature.  It was all the best things we could have asked for.  I remember, as a Texan, thinking that it's lovely because all the wind is up in the trees rather than down here blowing you around like it does in Texas.

Texas law is based on Tennessee law.  Did you know that?

One of our favorite places to go was Elliston Place and the Gold Rush:

"We knew Nashville before there was ‘New Nashville’. Formerly the Ritz Café, The Gold Rush first opened its doors in 1974 and located on Elliston Place’s historic ‘Rock Block’, directly across the street from the world famous Exit/In. The Gold will always be a haven where musicians, visitors, and locals all have a place at the bar. One of Nashville’s first establishments allowed to pour liquor by the drink and legend has it that 90% of the stories you’ve heard are true. If it’s happened in Nashville, it’s happened at the Gold Rush."

We also loved the Elliston Place Soda Shop.  But our first date was at Mississippi Whiskers...of course, it's not there any more, but on that first date we saw and heard Lenny Breau.  Here's a clip of Lenny playing that night.

I don't think Nashville is at all like it was when we were there, but there are a few photos from now!

Arizona Star, Guy Clark, Nashville, and Us Part II

Guy Clark about 1974

Guy Clark was born in Monahans, Texas, on November 6, 1941, and died May 17, 2016.  The above photo is the way we will remember Guy.

Raf first met Guy when Raf and his brother John and their band Diamond Reo first arrived in Nashville in 1974.  They were looking for the Sunbury Dunbar (part of RCA) producer Dan Hoffman, and when they arrived in Dan's office Guy was there, and a bunch of folks were picking' together, so Diamond Reo sat down and joined them.

Raf in the Diamond Reo day

Raf and I followed Guy through our married life and through Guy's life, and we really feel he was/is part of our lives from the very beginning.  Guy's song, Desperados Waiting for a Train, always reminded me of my great-uncle Em (Amazhar) Routh.  Many of his other songs are extremely reminiscent of my childhood in Texas.

The last time we saw Guy was when he played in the park in my hometown of Stephenville, Texas, and although we seldom saw him, I miss him!