Songwriters

Guy Clark’s 1983 Austin City Limits Songwriters Special Performance Of “LA Freeway” Is Damn Close To Perfection

Marissa M. Conner July 9, 2022 2 min read

Last week, I dove deep into playing the Austin City Limits Classic ACL YouTube playlist.

Growing up with a father in the music industry, he’s always talked about how iconic old Austin City Limits episodes are. Watching the recordings in his youth was an important part of his musical discovery experience.

I thought it was about time I took matters into my own hands to educate myself and see how iconic they are. The verdict is… drum roll please… my old man was right. I know I’m late to jump on this bandwagon, but here I am.

This archive quickly became my new comfort videos, especially Guy Clark’s “LA Freeway” from the 1983 Songwriters Special.

“LA Freeway” was written in 1970 and depicts his thoughts as he moved from California to Nashville, Tennessee. Jerry Jeff Walker originally recorded the song in 1972 on his self-titled album, then Clark released it on his debut album, Old No. 1, in 1975.

Clark is accompanied on stage by John Prine, Billy Joe Shaver, Rodney Crowell, Bill Caswell and Keith Sykes. What I would pay to go back in time and be in this room full of big names.

The video is simple, the singing is effortless, and the room is quiet as Clark sings the song’s powerful lyrics. The simplicity of the other artists helping to scratch allows Clark to focus on the words he wrote 13 years prior.

I can go on and on about this performance, but might as well see it for yourself.