Stuff You Gotta Watch: Without Getting Killed or Caught
Guy Clark’s remarkable 1975 debut album Old No 1 was quickly recognized as a classic of what would later be described as “Americana.” With his best friend and fellow Texan Townes Van Zandt, the duo served as a Nashville renegade faction, inspiring Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, and many others. Guy and Townes were aided in no small part by Susanna Clark, Guy’s wife and an accomplished painter and songwriter. If Townes was Guy’s drinking and performing buddy, he was Susanna’s soul mate. When Townes died on January 1, 1997, she retired to bed, consumed by depression, never recovering. Meanwhile, Guy’s star rose ever brighter, garlanded with awards and acclaim.
This 95-minute documentary follows Guy, Susanna, and Townes as they rise from obscurity to reverence. Employing Susanna’s diaries (read by Sissy Spacek) and tape recordings she made, it is an extremely personal film that observes how creativity, alongside self-destructive behavior, and a seemingly unconsummated love triangle, animated a Nashville “salon.” Co-directed by Paul Whitfield and Tamara Saviano, Without Getting Killed or Caught illuminates both the late trio of artists and a fecund underground folk/country scene that remains extremely influential today.
Review by Garth Cartwright. Check out the full archive of the Stuff You Gotta Watch column.