Clint Black Knows When There’s a Song In There (Part 1 of 2)

Clint Black is a country superstar. Though he spent nearly a decade toiling as a songwriter and performer before landing a record deal in 1987, his career took off like a shot from there. Black has since won a Grammy, an American Music Award, three TNN Music Awards, five Academy of Country Music Awards and four CMA Awards. To date he has placed more than 30 singles on Billboard’s Country chart. He’s made successful forays into film and television as well, but Black’s primary focus remains songwriting and making music. Ahead of a tour that celebrates the 35^th anniversary of his smash debut album, Black spoke with me about his early days and the enduring appeal of his music.

Some artists are musicians, and once they get technical proficiency under their belt, they start writing songs. Other people start out as songwriters and learn an instrument so that they can communicate their songs. Which are you?

I learned three chords and then as many songs as I could play with those. And soon after that, I started writing songs. And one of the first songs I wrote – I think I was 18 – was “Loving Blind.” But it stayed in the satchel until the second album [1990’s Put Yourself in My Shoes], when it was a number one hit for me. I wrote “State of Mind” [from 1993’s No Time to Kill] back when I was 18, too.

You were playing music from a young age. Was there a moment when you realized, “I want this to be my life; I want to do this for a living”?

Well, I was playing harmonica first. And I picked up the guitar a couple years later when I was 15 and started playing that around the neighborhood. My friends really thought I was good, and they encouraged me.

But I really had grown up dreaming of being an astronaut. I decided I was either going to join the Air Force in an attempt to make my way into the space program, or I was going to pursue music. I think I was 17 or 18 when I made that call. Fortunately, [with my grades] the Air Force wouldn’t have let me in either way.

You certainly paid your dues in the early and mid ‘80s, but once you got signed, success with “A Better Man” and Killin’ Time came quickly. At the time, were you surprised at how rapidly you shot to the top?

It seemed like a long time. When I got my break, it was two years before “A Better Man,” the first single, was released. And that felt like an eternity, which was what led to the idea for Killin’ Time. Hayden [Nicholas, co-writer] and I were talking about how long it was taking and I said, “I hope it gets started soon, because this killing time is killing me.” And we looked at each other and knew: “Oh, there’s a song in there, right?”

So once the first single came out, we were hitting it really hard. I was doing everything I could possibly do to promote it; I’d go out and sing everywhere. I just kept my head down and kept going. I knew I had a lot of muscle behind me to get the word out and promote the song, but it took five and a half months before it reached number one.

To me, that seemed like a long time, but I didn’t know anything. And I also didn’t know that just doesn’t happen very often. So once I learned that, when I realized how unlikely that was, I never took it for granted. I never looked at it like, “Yes, this should happen.” It was more like, “I can’t believe that happened!” It became a marvel to me.

During your major label years, did you come up against people in the business trying to tell you how to sound or what kind of songs to write?

Well, my songwriting was a huge point of contention. I think by the time the second album came out, the first album was Double Platinum [2 million copies sold]. And the second album went Platinum, too. By the time the third album [1992’s The Hard Way] came out, it did well, but not as well as Killin’ Time. Then the label came at me and wanted me to record outside songs, but I had three albums’ worth of songs written; all would go on to be on my subsequent albums. And I just felt like, “Well, you know, I wrote these other hits, and I should get to write the next set of hits.”

They didn’t push too hard, but they continued to come at me and insist that my hit songs were hits, but they weren’t selling enough records. And I thought, “Well, I think Platinum’s pretty good. If that’s all I ever do again, you know, then I think that’s okay. And I just want to do my work.” It finally came to a head with the extra songs. I gave them new songs for the Greatest Hits [released 1996]. I just had to once and for all establish that, “I write my songs, and if I run out of them, I understand we have to go find some others.”

They didn’t want me when my contract was up, and I didn’t want them anymore. And every major label I talked to after I left RCA had seen all that, and rumors were leaked about our points of contention. The other labels didn’t want the songwriter, they wanted the singer. And I wouldn’t do it. So I never went back to the major label system after that. And I’m still writing my own songs.

I feel like I’m just lucky to be able to make records and tour the way I want. I tour and play over 80 cities a year; I love my audience. I would have probably sold more records if I had let them go and find songs, but that’s not why I’m here.

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