Townes Van Zandt

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Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt (March 7 1944 – January 1 1997) was a folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet.

Life and music

Born in Fort Worth, Texas to an oil-wealthy, aristocratic family, he traveled during his youth around Texas and Colorado. He was the third-great-grandson of Isaac Van Zandt, a prominent leader of the Republic of Texas. Van Zandt County in east Texas was named after his family in 1848.

Van Zandt was being groomed for Texas governorship, but he dropped out of college in the 1960s after being inspired by singer-songwriters and deciding to pursue a singing career.

Van Zandt was of MENSA intelligence and was diagnosed manic-depressive in his early twenties. He was treated with insulin shock therapy, which erased much of his long-term memory. His lack of memory and his mental condition contributed to both the passion and sense of isolation evident in his songs.

For much of the 1970s, he lived a reclusive life in a cabin in Tennessee, with no indoor plumbing or phone, appearing only occasionally to play shows.

Influential in the sub-genre referred to as Alternative Country, his Texas-grounded impact stretched farther than country. One of his major influences was Texas blues man Lightnin' Hopkins, whose songs were a constant part of his repertoire.

Van Zandt was master of the small, intimate show, where he would weave song and story into an unforgettable evening. Though they never wrote songs together and only occasionally played concerts together, Van Zandt's best friend was fellow Texas songwriting legend Guy Clark. Generally shy and reserved, Van Zandt struggled with alcoholism throughout his adult life. At times he would become drunk on stage and forget the lyrics to his songs. Some critics believe his alcoholism inhibited his performances, whereas others believe it made his lyrical expression more genuine. His performances featured a dry humor — an integral part of his songwriting. Early in his career, he wrote many light-hearted and humorous songs. Later, Van Zandt harnessed his talent for dark and bittersweet love songs and ballads such as 'For the Sake of the Song' and 'Tecumseh Valley'.

For the most part he performed for small but appreciative audiences in Texas bars. Tomato Records released a 2-disc live album from the Old Quarter in Houston, Texas that captured him in such a performance. It includes his most popular and definitive songs such as 'Lungs', 'For the Sake of the Song', 'Tecumseh Valley', 'To Live Is To Fly', 'If I Needed You', and his most famous (thanks to numerous covers, most notably the 1983 No. 1 hit cover by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard), 'Pancho and Lefty'.

He continued writing and performing at his own pace through the 1990s until his death on New Years Day of 1997, most likely due to a massive pulmonary embolus (blood clot in the lungs) following hip surgery. He died with a flask of vodka in his hand and his daughter Katie Belle by his side. When he died his daughter told his wife, "Momma, daddy's fightin' with his heart," pretty much summing up his life.

Van Zandt is remembered as a great songwriter who left a legacy of great songs and inspired musicians. He has been cited as a source of inspiration by such artists as Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, Bright Eyes, Nanci Griffith, Cowboy Junkies, and Meat Puppets. Steve Earle paid his own homage to Van Zandt, describing him as the greatest songwriter who ever lived, and writing "Fort Worth Blues" as a memorial to the night of his death. [1]

A live version of Van Zandt's cover of The Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" was used during the final scene of the Coen Brothers' 1998 film, The Big Lebowski. The song was also included on the movie's soundtrack.

In 2004, the film Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt chronicling the artist's life and legacy was released in the United States.

Discography

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Van Zandt in the early 1990s

• For The Sake Of The Song - 1968
• Our Mother The Mountain - 1969
• Townes Van Zandt - 1970
• Delta Momma Blues - 1971
• High, Low And In Between - 1972
• The Late Great Townes Van Zandt - 1972
• Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas - 1977 [recorded July 1973]
• Flyin' Shoes - 1978
• Live And Obscure - 1987 [recorded Nashville, April 1985]
• At My Window - 1987
• Rain On A Conga Drum: Live In Berlin - 1991 [recorded October 1990]
• Roadsongs - 1993
• The Nashville Sessions - 1993 [1974 studio recordings]
• Rear View Mirror - 1993 [recorded live Oklahoma, 1979]
• No Deeper Blue - 1994
• Abnormal - 1996, reissued in 1998 with 3 tracks replaced
• The Highway Kind - 1997
• Documentary - 1997 [issued, re-edit, in US as 'Last Rights']
• In Pain - 1999 [recorded live, 1994/1996]
• A Far Cry From Dead - 1999
• Together At The Bluebird Café w/ Guy Clark and Steve Earle - 2001 [recorded live, Sept. 1995]
• Texas Rain: The Texas Hill Country Recordings - 2001 with (among others) Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Doug Sahm, and Freddy Fender
• Live At McCabe's - 2001 [recorded Feb. 1995]
• A Gentle Evening With Townes Van Zandt - 2002 [recorded live New York, Nov. 1969]
• Absolutely Nothing - 2002 [recorded live, 1994/1996]
• Acoustic Blue - 2003 [recorded live, 1994/1996]
• In the Beginning - 2003 [recorded approx. 1967]
• Live At The Jester Lounge, Houston, Texas, 1966 - 2004
• Rear View Mirror, Volume 2 - 2004 [recorded live, 1978/79]
• Houston 1988: A Private Concert, DVD and CD - DVD 2004, CD 2005
• Live At Union Chapel, London, England - 2005 [recorded April 1994]

Quotes about Van Zandt

"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." - Steve Earle.

"I think of Townes as the greatest folk song writer that my native state of Texas ever gave birth to. Some of us song writers are just lyricists, but he was definitely a poet." - Nanci Griffith

Quotes from Van Zandt

• "I've met Bob Dylan and his bodyguards, and I don't think Steve [Earle] could get anywhere near his coffee table." - Townes Van Zandt.
• "I don't envision a very long life for myself." (There's a meaningful pause.) "I've kind of designed it that way." In: Be Here To Love Me (Palm Pictures).
• "Well, many of the songs, they aren't sad, they're hopeless." — Townes Van Zandt, after being asked why he only wrote sad songs.
• "There are only two kinds of songs; there's the blues, and there's zip-a-dee-doo-dah."
• "Here's a song I wrote during an economics class - one of my very last economics classes (audience laughter). My momma used to tell me, 'just sing, Townes. Don't talk, just sing and play". - From the intro to "Snake Mountain Blues", off the "Live and Obscure" compilation.

References

• Lomax, John III. (1998). "Townes Van Zandt." In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Ed. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 562.

External links

• Townes Van Zandt: The Self-Destructive Hobo Saint by John Kruth, originally appeared in Sing Out! V48#2 (summer 2004).
• Townes Van Zandt Central
• Townes Van Zandt Blue Sky Homepage
• All Music Guide entry for Townes Van Zandt
• Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt
• Be Here to Love Me on imdb
• Townes Van Zandt discography at MusicBrainz