50 Years Ago: An Epic Round of Country Songwriters Ensues on Christmas
As a country music fan who loves to delve into the history of the music, you probably know about many of the epic moments that transpired over the years that went on to become part of country music lore. Of course, many of these moments happened well away from cameras or audio recordings.
If only to be a fly on the wall to witness Hank Williams take six encores at the Grand Ole Opry, or to see Billy Joe Shaver threaten to kick Waylon Jennings’ ass “in front of God and everybody” until Waylon promised to record Shaver’s songs.
But there was one such instance that has gone down in history, and despite involving an assemblage of individuals of meager means at the time, it happened to be fully captured in film for posterity.
It was Christmas Eve 1975—50 years ago today—and Guy Clark decided he wanted to host a party at his house in Nashville for all his singing, picking, and songwriting buddies. As an expatriate from Texas, this was Guy’s family. And after enjoying a meal together, they all sat around Guy Clark’s kitchen table, singing and picking songs until the wee hours of the morning—when Christmas Eve turned to Christmas Day. And miraculously, there was a camera and microphone there to capture it all.
Along with Guy Clark and his wife Susanna, Rodney Crowell, Steve Young, Richard Dobson, dobro player Jim McGuire, Billy Callery, and a very young but hungry Steve Earle all sat around the table, swapped songs and tales in various states of inebriation, and prior to any of them finding major stardom or legendary status as songwriters.
A few years ago while confessing he’d never seen the film in its entirety, Rodney Crowell said, “Guy and l ingested a boatload of powerful psychedelics prior to the filming and frankly l’ve never wanted to re-live the experience.” But it’s one of those moments where you feel like you’re living in them yourself as you watch.
Filmmaker James Szalapsky was there capturing it all as he’d set out to document country music’s burgeoning Outlaw movement of the time for the film Heartworn Highways. Szalapsky was rolling as Richard Dobson sang “Forever, for Always, for Certain,” Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell launched into a rousing version of “Stay A Little Longer,” and Steve Young led everyone in a rendition of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
Some of these performances and others would appear in the original version of Heartworn Highways that was filmed throughout 1975-1976. The documentary also included performances and profiles of David Allan Coe, Townes Van Zandt, Gamble Rogers, Charlie Daniels, and others. But it all concluded in one big epic songwriting round around Guy Clark’s kitchen table. And appropriate to the moment in time, they all sang “Silent Night” together, led by Rodney Crowell as the credits rolled.
Heartworn Highways wouldn’t be released until 1981. And even after that, few really paid any attention to the film. But as the legacies of all the individuals featured in the film continued to rise, so did the mystique of the film itself. Over time, moments and performances not included in the original film have been revealed, with much of it clipped up and appearing on YouTube.
Heartworn Highways is now considered one of the most important music films ever made. And 50 years on, you can guarantee that all across Nashville, Austin, and other music epicenters, groups of musicians away from their families for the holidays will be gathering around kitchen tables, singing into the wee hours of the morning, searching for the magic captured in Guy Clark’s kitchen, Christmas Eve, 1975.
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December 24, 2025 @ 12:58 pm
Of course, ive watched this movie a few times. I like the idea of it more than the actual product, if that makes sense. DAC’s appearance in it is hysterical, dude was… DAC doing what DAC does. Townes Van Zandt in the opening scene was literally bombed, falling down drunk and very much true to character. Charlie Daniels is always great.
The dining table scene is interesting. Hadn’t heard that Crowell and Clark were on psychedelics, I wouldn’t have guessed that, they held it together amazingly well. Earle was a scrawny fella at that point. I don’t think the performances in the film are particularly great, but the idea behind it is what makes it so compelling. I’m always trying to get music buddies over at my place to do a similar thing, where we sit around and take turns picking and singing songs. Nothing better, IMO.
Jim McGuire is the guy in my world. He’s one of the greatest photographers in all of Country Music. His work is incredibly inspiring, his black and white portraits are epic. There’s a new episode of Otis Gibbs interviewing Jim. Jim talks about all of this. Jims second Nashville studio became a regular gathering place for jams and it usually involved Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Emmy, Townes, Prine, Sam Bush, John Jorgenson and many others. He has all these tapes of some of these jams, many of them gypsy jazz jams and tributes to Django Rhinehart. As Jim explained it, his two passions were music and photography and he found a way to combine it. Do check out his website and look at his photography and do watch the Otis Gibbs interview with him.
December 25, 2025 @ 2:51 pm
ooh, cool stories, thanks for this.
December 24, 2025 @ 5:08 pm
Great film, filled with legends. Wasn’t Larry Jon Wilson in the film too? Love his song Ohoopie River Bottomland.
December 26, 2025 @ 3:47 am
Yes he was. And you can watch that clip on YouTube at:
https://youtu.be/v-3orYE9Bso
December 26, 2025 @ 6:06 am
Perfect! Thank you!
December 24, 2025 @ 5:43 pm
That would be absolute fly on the wall Christmas magic for me
December 24, 2025 @ 6:53 pm
I love Emmylou’s version, but Guy Clark being absolutely plastered on the backup vocals keeps me coming back to this movie’s version of Bluebird Wine.
December 24, 2025 @ 7:18 pm
I remember going to a screening of this movie when it first came out. I watched a pretty complete video of this on YouTube about a month ago. It’s kinda rough as a documentary but a wonderful time capsule from a time when so much musical history was being made.
December 25, 2025 @ 9:00 am
I must try and watch it. This story brings back memories. Many years ago, I saw DAC in concert. Bobby Bare was also on the tour. The concert hall was half full at best. DAC spent most of his time doing magic card tricks badly. He did a bit of singing but did not engage much with the audience. One of the weirdest shows I have seen. Around that time, I saw Townes Van Zandt and I am not sure he knew where he was, he was so drunk. I am not sure I have ever seen someone so drunk on stage but he still managed to perform at a reasonable level.
December 25, 2025 @ 8:19 pm
In 1980 or 1981 DAC called me at the office to tell me he was opening for Johnny Lee at the Palomino that night but couldn’t advertise it because he had legal issues. I was planning on going anyway because Johnny’s managers put me on the list and it turned out to be primo DAC at a great time in his career. I never did find out what his legal issues were.
December 25, 2025 @ 9:23 am
I’ve watched this several times and for some reason it always depresses the crap out of me.
December 25, 2025 @ 1:29 pm
There is something very melancholic about it for sure. It hits me that way too.
December 25, 2025 @ 8:12 pm
Probably because so many of the people in it have passed on. And Steve and Rodney look like babies here.
December 25, 2025 @ 2:11 pm
Steve Young was born in my hometown of Newnan GA. One of the original Outlaws he is probably most famous for his song Seven Bridges Road. The inspiration for it was moss covered road in Alabama. The Eagles rendition of it began as a backstage warm-up vocal exercise. But it became famous through their live album released in 1980.
December 25, 2025 @ 3:34 pm
And, of course, “Lonesome, On’ry and Mean” that Waylon Jennings turned into an anthem.
December 26, 2025 @ 5:21 pm
I wonder if anyone thought of tracking that table down for the CMHOF or another museum.
December 28, 2025 @ 11:49 pm
I really enjoyed seeing this. It was so nice to see everyone sitting around the kitchen table singing Silent Night. So peaceful.
I saw Heartworn Highways in the movies when it came out, mostly because I was a Guy Clark fan. I remember sitting there enjoying the movie. I miss Guy Clark. He was a favorite of mine and I had a couple of his albums. He was one awesome songwriter.