Old No. 1 was a large influence on my musical enjoyment and even help shape my cultural and political philosophy…. it helped introduced me to the song-writers… after buying Jerry Jeff Walkers self title LP in 1972 I found that several of my favorite songs were written by a guy name Clark….. so when I ran across old No. 1…. I scarfed it up and it because one of my all time favorite records. It was about the same time I discovered Kristofferson, Shaver, Prine and Cohen … and they all have greatly influenced my perspective on life and I can not exaggerate the amount of enjoyment I received from these singer-songwriters and others of a similar school of songwriting… Van Zandt, Hancock and Gilmer to name just a few.
I have seen Clark in concert numerous times but one of my all time favorites was the night in Lawrence Kansas back in the late eighties when he played at Liberty Hall. He announcd before the show started that he had the worst cold he had ever had and didn’t know how long he could perform but would do his best….. two and a half hours later the crowd was ecstatic and I had one of my all time musical highs.
