Randall Knives Lost A Friend

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Rick Bowles

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Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter Guy Clark, who wrote hits like "L.A. Freeway", "Desperados Waiting for a Train," and "The Randall Knife" passed away this week at the age of 74. I became acquainted with Guy when there was still a real Randall Knife Society. We gifted Guy Clark with a Randall #1-8" that was made in the year his Father died (1982 I think). Guy was genuinely grateful and helped support one of our military appreciation programs. For those that haven't heard it, here's a link to "The Randall Knife" by our late friend, Guy Clark. [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY5MOUO464Q[/ame]
Clark%20knife_zpsbtkqqveh.jpg
 
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If you are a country music fan and have never listened to the album Old No. 1, you are missing out on one of the greatest country albums ever made!

Here's a couple off the album.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBPOu5c5i6A[/ame]
 
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I have several Randalls. Gave each son one. That had to be a true story. Thinking of the knife my dad had. Wasn't a Randall. Damn... Got dust in my eye...
 
He also wrote "Homegrown Tomatoes." A song I think of every year when the tomatoes start to ripen.

"There's only two things that money can't buy. That's true love and homegrown tomatoes..."

Also "The Guitar" with Verlon Thompson. (I prefer Thompson's version.)
It's a spooky little ditty. I don't even play guitar and it still makes the
hair stand up on the back of my neck.

Clark said, in an interview, that he and Thompson wrote the lyrics to "The Guitar" in a songwriter's workshop and then forgot all about them. They didn't write a tune for it till someone got in touch saying he wanted to sing it. I'm glad that guy called.
 
Guy Clark wrote "The Randall Knife" in 1983 following the death of his Father in 1982. Bo Randall first learned of the song in January 1984. He took a cassette tape of Clark's album "Better Days" into his office and didn't come out until he had transcribed the lyrics. Below is Bo Randall's hand written lyrics of "The Randall Knife".
The original lyrics of "The Randall Knife", hand written by Guy Clark, now hang in the Nashville office of country music star Vince Gill. When Vince Gill's father passed in 1997 he asked Guy Clark to perform "The Randall Knife" at the service.
RandallKnifeSong_zpsajsjr0q2.jpg
 
That's a very cool photo of Guy holding a Randall Knife. I've been a fan of Guy's for a very long time. I only got to see him twice; in 1976 at an arena show where he opened for Waylon Jennings, and in about 2005 in a an old movie theater in Loveland, Colorado. For an uplifting song by Guy, cowritten with his wife Susanna, check out this beautiful song:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv1d160YJUI[/ame]

We all lost a musical treasure with Guy's passing this week. I feel like I've lost an Old Friend.

Back in the mid 1970s there was a hardware store in Dubois, Wyoming that sold Randall Knives in scabbards out of an open bin. There were dozens to choose from. One could buy one for a song compared to what they cost today. I've always regretted I didn't pick one up back then.
 
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