Cold Dog Soup
If this front-porchy set disappoints, it's only because, as dean of singer-songwriters, Guy Clark has established such imposing standards. Rather than offering the exacting, patient craftsmanship we've come to expect, many of these new tunes feel like playful ephemera, the result of a friendly all-night song swap--though it hardly hurts if your friends includeEmmylou Harris, Verlon Thompson, and Darrell Scott. Closer inspection, however, reveals a more serious purpose. Starting withSteve Earle's "Fort Worth Blues," through "Water Under the Bridge" (in which all things pass away), on to Richard Dobson's "Forever, for Always, for Certain," a recognition of the tricks that time can play,Cold Dog Soupis suffused with visions of mortality. The album ends with three exquisite hymns to life in the face of death. In "Red River," Clark celebrates his family history; in "Die Tryin'" life is defined as risk; and in "Be Gone Forever," penned byAnna McGarrigleand Keith Sykes, Clark finds consolation in memory and music. Even if much ofCold Dog Soupisn't up to Clark's best, this closing autumnal suite, played with devil-may-care élan and joy, certainly is.--Roy Kasten