W.C. Clark - Lover's Plea (1998)

Long a fixture on the Austin, Texas music scene, W.C. Clark has been both mentor and band mate to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Marcia Ball and Lou Ann Barton. With an all-star Austin cast of Double Trouble's Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon, Sarah Brown, Derek O'Brien and Mark Kazanoff, Clark spreads his musical palette wide on this disc. Equal parts Texas blues and the kind of soul/R&B music as exemplified by O.V. Wright, Al Green and Sam Cooke, Clark's vocals here are nothing short of eloquent while his guitar stings and stabs with the best of them. W.C.'s ode to his deceased girlfriend ("Are You Here, Are You There?") is one of the numerous highlights aboard along with "Pretty Little Mama," "Changing My Life With Your Love" and the closer, "That's a Good Idea." With tight playing, great songs and solid arrangements, this is Clark's most realized album to date.