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Townes Van Zandt

John Townes Van Zandt[1] (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.[2] He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "For the Sake of the Song", "If I Needed You", "Snake Mountain Blues", "Our Mother the Mountain", "Waitin' Round to Die", and "To Live Is to Fly". His musical style has often been described as melancholic and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability.

Townes Van Zandt
Van Zandt in Heartworn Highways (1975)
Background information
Birth nameJohn Townes Van Zandt
Born(1944-03-07)March 7, 1944
Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1, 1997(1997-01-01) (aged 52)
Smyrna, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)
  • Guitar
  • vocals
Years active1965–1996
Labels
Websitetownesvanzandt.com

Much of Van Zandt's life was spent touring various bars, music clubs, colleges, and folk venues and festivals, often lodging in motel rooms or the homes of friends. He suffered from drug addiction and alcoholism, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. When he was young, the now-discredited insulin shock therapy erased much of his long-term memory.[3]

In 1983, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered and popularized Van Zandt's song "Pancho and Lefty", reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart.[4] Van Zandt's influence has been cited by countless artists across multiple genres and his music has been recorded or performed by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Merle Haggard, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Counting Crows, Steve Earle, Whitey Morgan, Rodney Crowell, Robert Earl Keen Jr., Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Wade Bowen, Gillian Welch, Richard Buckner, Pat Green, Colter Wall, Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Jason Isbell, Calvin Russell, Natalie Maines, Jason Molina, Kevin Morby, Stephen Duffy, Doc Watson, The Cowboy Junkies, Frank Turner, Rowland S. Howard, Tindersticks, Cave In, Amenra, Charley Crockett, Tyler Childers and Marissa Nadler.

Van Zandt died on New Year's Day 1997 from cardiac arrythmia caused by health problems stemming from years of substance abuse. A revival of interest in Van Zandt blossomed in the 2000s. During the decade, two books, a documentary film (Be Here to Love Me), and numerous magazine articles were written about him.

Biography edit

Early life edit

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, into a wealthy family, Van Zandt was a great-great-great-grandson of Isaac Van Zandt (a prominent leader of the Republic of Texas) and a great-great-grandnephew of Khleber Miller Van Zandt (a major in the Confederate army and one of the founders of Fort Worth).[3]

Townes' parents were Harris Williams Van Zandt and Dorothy Townes.[5] He had two siblings, Bill (1949–2009) and Donna (1941–2011). Harris was a corporate lawyer and his career required the family to move several times during the 1950s and 1960s.[6] In 1952, the family relocated from Fort Worth to Midland, Texas for six months before moving to Billings, Montana.[citation needed]

At Christmas in 1956, Townes's father gave him a guitar, which he practiced while wandering the countryside.[7] He later told an interviewer that "seeing Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show was the starting point for me becoming a guitar player... I just thought that Elvis had all the money in the world, all the Cadillacs and all the girls, and all he did was play the guitar and sing. That made a big impression on me."[1] In 1958, the family moved to Boulder, Colorado. Van Zandt remembered his time in Colorado fondly and often visited it as an adult. He later referred to Colorado in "My Proud Mountains", "Colorado Girl", and "Snowin' on Raton". Townes was a good student and active in team sports.[8] In grade school, he was found to have a high IQ, and his parents began grooming him to become a lawyer or senator.[9] Fearing that his family would move again, he willingly decided to attend the Shattuck School in Faribault, Minnesota.[10] He received a score of 1170 when he took the SAT in January 1962.[11] His family soon moved to Houston, Texas.

In 1962, he enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder, wrote poetry, and listened to records by Lightnin' Hopkins and Hank Williams. In the spring of his second year, his parents flew to Boulder to bring Townes back to Houston, worried about his binge drinking and episodes of depression.[9] They admitted him to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was diagnosed with manic depression. He received three months of insulin shock therapy, which erased much of his long-term memory.[3][9] Afterwards, his mother said that her "biggest regret in life was that she had allowed that treatment to occur".[12] In 1965, he was accepted into the University of Houston's pre-law program. Soon after, he attempted to join the Air Force, but was rejected because of a doctor's diagnosis that labelled him "an acute manic-depressive who has made minimal adjustments to life".[9] After Townes's father died in January 1966 at age 52, he quit school and went on the road for the first time having been inspired by his singer-songwriter heroes to pursue a career in playing music.[9]

Early musical career edit

In 1965, Van Zandt began playing regular shows at the Jester Lounge in Houston for $10 per night.[13] After the Jester closed, he began to regularly perform (and occasionally live) at Sand Mountain Coffee House.[6] In these Houston clubs, he met fellow musicians Lightnin' Hopkins, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Doc Watson. His repertoire consisted mostly of covers of songs written by Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and others, as well as original novelty songs like "Fraternity Blues."[14] In 1966, Harris Van Zandt had encouraged his son to stop playing covers and write his own songs.[15]

At one point around 1968, Van Zandt was roommates with 13th Floor Elevators singer Roky Erickson. Erickson suggested that he audition as the Elevators' new bassist, even though he was a guitarist who had never played bass before. When Tommy Hall found out he never played bass , he kicked him out of the audition.

In 1968, Van Zandt met songwriter Mickey Newbury in a Houston coffee shop. Newbury persuaded Van Zandt to go to Nashville, Tennessee, where he was introduced by Newbury to the man who became his longtime producer, "Cowboy" Jack Clement.

Van Zandt cited Lightnin' Hopkins, Bob Dylan, and Hank Williams and such varied artists as Muddy Waters, The Rolling Stones, Blind Willie McTell, Tchaikovsky, and Jefferson Airplane as having had a major impact on his music.[1]

1970s edit

The years between 1968 and 1973 proved to be his most prolific era.[4] Van Zandt released six albums during the time period: For the Sake of the Song, Our Mother the Mountain, Townes Van Zandt, Delta Momma Blues, High, Low and In Between, and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Among the tracks written for these albums were "To Live Is to Fly", "Pancho and Lefty", and "If I Needed You". These songs eventually raised Van Zandt to near-legend status in American and European songwriting circles.[4]

In 1972, he recorded tracks for an album with a working title of Seven Come Eleven, which remained unreleased for many years due to a dispute between his manager Kevin Eggers and producer Jack Clement. Eggers either could not or refused to pay for the studio sessions, so Clement erased the master tapes. However, before they were deleted, Eggers sneaked into the studio and recorded rough mixes of the songs on to a cassette tape. Tracks from the aborted Seven Come Eleven debacle later surfaced on The Nashville Sessions.[citation needed]

In 1975, Van Zandt was featured prominently in the documentary film Heartworn Highways with Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Steve Young, Gamble Rogers, Charlie Daniels and David Allan Coe. His segment of the film was shot at his run-down trailer home in Austin, Texas, where Van Zandt is shown drinking straight whiskey during the middle of the day, shooting and playing with guns, and performing the songs "Waitin' Around to Die" and "Pancho and Lefty."[16] His soon-to-be second wife Cindy and dog Geraldine (a large, "keenly intelligent" half-wolf, half-husky) are featured in the film.[17]

In 1977, Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas was released. The album showcased Van Zandt solo at a 1973 concert before a small audience, and less elaborately produced than many of his early records.[18] The album received positive reviews,[19] and is considered by many to be among the best albums that the songwriter ever released.[19][20][21]

In the mid-1970s, Van Zandt split from his longtime manager, Kevin Eggers.[4] He found a new manager, John Lomax III (grandson of the famed folk music historian John Lomax), who set up a fan club for Van Zandt.[22] Though the club was only advertised through small ads in the back of music magazines, Lomax immediately began to receive hundreds of impassioned letters from around the world written by people who felt touched by Van Zandt. Some of the letters described how his material often served as a crutch for those who were dealing with depression.[22] In 1978, the singer fired Lomax and re-hired Eggers. He soon signed with Eggers' new label, Tomato Records.[4] The following year, he recorded Flyin' Shoes; he did not release another album until 1987's At My Window. Despite critical acclaim, he remained a cult figure. He normally played small venues (often to crowds of fewer than fifty people) but began to move towards playing larger venues (and even made a handful of television appearances) during the 1990s. For much of the 1970s, he lived a reclusive life outside of Nashville in a tin-roofed, bare-boards shack with no heat, plumbing or telephone, occasionally appearing in town to play shows.[17]

1980s–1990s edit

Several of Van Zandt's compositions were recorded by other artists, such as Emmylou Harris who, with Don Williams, had a No. 3 country hit in 1981 with "If I Needed You," and Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, the pair taking "Pancho and Lefty" to No. 1 on the country charts in 1983. Van Zandt had a small cameo appearance in the video for the song. In his later years, he recorded less frequently, his voice and singing style altered in part because of his drug addiction and alcoholism. However, he continued writing songs, such as "Marie" and "The Hole".[citation needed]

According to Susanna Clark, Van Zandt turned down repeated invitations to write with Bob Dylan.[23] Dylan was reportedly a "big fan" of Townes and claimed to have all of his records; Van Zandt admired Dylan's songs, but didn't care for his celebrity.[23] The two first met during a chance encounter outside a costume shop in the South Congress district of Austin, on June 21, 1986.[23] According to Johnny Guess, Dylan later arranged another meeting with the songwriter. The Drag in Austin was shut down due to Dylan being in town; Van Zandt drove his motorhome to the cordoned-off area, after which Dylan boarded the vehicle and requested to hear him play several songs.[24] In May and June 1990, he opened for the Cowboy Junkies during a two-month-long tour of the United States and Canada, which exposed him to a younger generation of fans.[1] As a result, he wrote the song "Cowboy Junkies Lament" for the group, with a verse about each member of the band.[25]

Personal life edit

Relationships edit

Van Zandt married Fran Peterson on August 26, 1965; a son, John Townes "J.T." Van Zandt II, was born to them on April 11, 1969, in Houston. The couple divorced on January 16, 1970.[1] He began dating Cindy Morgan in 1974 and they married in 1978. Van Zandt and Cindy became estranged for much of the early 1980s, and were divorced on February 10, 1983, in Travis County, Texas. They had no children.[1]

Van Zandt's third marriage was to Jeanene Munsell. They met on December 9, 1980, at a memorial for John Lennon. When the terminally-ill Dorothy Van Zandt learned that her son had impregnated Munsell, she told him, "You're going to do the right thing and honor that baby."[26] He divorced his estranged second wife and married Munsell on March 14, 1983. Their first child, William Vincent, was born 10 days later. Another child, Katie Belle, was born February 14, 1992. Van Zandt and Munsell divorced on May 2, 1994. However, the two remained close, and Jeanene was an executor of his estate.[1]

Around the time of their April 1993 separation,[27] Jeanene coaxed the musician into signing over the publishing rights of his back catalog and recording royalties to her and their children.[28] Van Zandt's only source of income after making that change was money received from concert engagements[29] and, even then, Van Zandt frequently visited his ex-wife and gave her the money in his pockets.[30] Following their divorce in 1994, his only possessions were a 1989 GMC Truck with camper shell, a 1984 Honda Shadow motorcycle and a 1983 Starwind 22-foot boat named Dorothy. He also retained sole ownership of his family inheritance of ownership in oil lease and mineral rights.[31]

At the time of his death, he had begun a long-distance relationship with a woman named Claudia Winterer from Darmstadt, Germany.[32] The two met in November 1995 during a concert of his in Hanau, Germany. Van Zandt told friends, he planned on marrying Winterer,[33] but the two never became engaged.

Addiction edit

Van Zandt was addicted to heroin and alcohol throughout his adult life. At times, he became drunk on stage and forgot the lyrics to his songs. At one point, his heroin habit was so intense that he offered Kevin Eggers the publishing rights to all of the songs on each of his first four albums for $20.[34] At various points, his friends saw him shoot up not just heroin, but also cocaine, vodka, as well as a mixture of rum and Coke.[35] On at least one occasion, he shot up heroin in the presence of his son J.T., who was only eight years old at the time.[17]

As a result of Van Zandt's constant drinking, Harold Eggers, Kevin's brother, was hired as his tour manager and 24-hour caretaker in 1976, a partnership that lasted for the rest of the singer's life. Although the musician was years older than he was, Eggers later said that Van Zandt was his "first child."[34] His battles with addiction led him into rehab nearly a dozen times throughout the 1970s and 1980s.[36] Medical records from his recovery centers indicate that he believed his drinking had become a problem around 1973, and that by 1982 he was drinking at least a pint of vodka daily.[36] Doctors' notes reported: "He admits to hearing voices, mostly musical voices", and "Affect is blunted and mood is sad. Judgment and insight is impaired."[36] At various times he was prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft and the mood stabilizer lithium.[27][37] The longest and final period of sobriety during his adult life was about a year in 1989 and 1990.[25]

Death edit

 
Townes Van Zandt at Kult, Niederstetten (1995)

Van Zandt continued writing and performing through the 1990s, though his output slowed noticeably. He had enjoyed some sobriety during the early 1990s, but actively abused alcohol during his final years. In 1994, he was admitted to the hospital to detox, when a doctor told Jeanene Van Zandt that trying to detox Townes again could potentially kill him.[38] He grew increasingly frail during the mid-1990s, with friends noting that he seemed to have "withered."[39]

In early 1996, he was contacted by Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley, who informed Van Zandt that he was interested in recording and releasing an album for him on the band's Ecstatic Peace label, funded by Geffen.[40] Van Zandt agreed, and sessions were scheduled to begin in Memphis during late December of that year. On December 19 or 20, Van Zandt fell down the concrete stairs outside his home, badly injuring his hip.[38][41] After lying outside for an hour, he dragged himself inside and called his ex-wife Jeanene, who sent friends Royann and Jim Calvin to check on him. He told the couple that he had sustained the injury while getting out of bed, and refused medical treatment. They took him back to their home, and he spent Christmas week on their couch, unable to get up even to use the bathroom.[41]

Determined to finish the album that he had scheduled to record with Shelley and Two Dollar Guitar, Van Zandt arrived at the Memphis studio being pushed in a wheelchair by road manager Harold Eggers. Shelley canceled the sessions due to the songwriter's erratic behavior and drunkenness. Van Zandt finally agreed to hospitalization, but not before returning to Nashville. By the time he consented to receive medical care, eight days had passed since the injury.[38] On December 31, X-rays revealed that Van Zandt had an impacted left femoral neck fracture in his hip, and several corrective surgeries were performed.[42] Jeanene informed the surgeon that one of Townes's previous rehab doctors had told her detoxing could kill him.[38] The medical staff tried to explain to her that detoxing a "late-term alcoholic" at home would be ill-advised, and he would have a better chance at recovering under hospital supervision.[42] She did not heed the warnings, and checked Townes out of the hospital.[43] Understanding that he would most likely drink immediately after leaving the hospital, the physicians refused to prescribe him any painkillers.[44]

By the time Van Zandt was checked out of the hospital early the next morning, he had begun to show signs of delirium tremens.[38] Jeanene rushed him to her car, where she gave him a flask of vodka to ward off the withdrawal delirium. She later reported that after getting him back home to Smyrna, Tennessee, and giving him alcohol, he became "lucid, in a real good mood, calling his friends on the phone."[38] Jim Calvin shared a marijuana joint with him,[43] and he was also given about four Tylenol PM tablets.[44]

While Jeanene was on the phone with Susanna Clark, their son Will noticed that Townes had stopped breathing and "looked dead", and alerted his mother, who attempted to perform CPR, "screaming his name between breaths".[38] Townes Van Zandt died in the early morning hours of January 1, 1997, at the age of 52. His official cause of death was "natural" cardiac arrhythmia.[45]

Two services were held for Van Zandt: one in Texas for family, and another in a large Nashville church, attended by friends, acquaintances, and fans.[9] Some of his ashes were placed underneath a headstone in the Van Zandt family plot at the Dido Cemetery in Dido, Texas, near Fort Worth.[9][46]

Legacy edit

Legal issues over his work edit

In the years immediately following Van Zandt's death, his former manager and label owner Kevin Eggers issued 14 albums of both new and previously unreleased material by the singer, all without consent of his estate (represented by Jeanene Van Zandt and his three children).[47] Eggers claimed a 50% interest in eighty of Van Zandt's songs. After nearly ten years of legal battles, the court sided with the estate, issuing "injunctive relief against Eggers, restraining him from reproducing or distributing any of Van Zandt's songs."[47]

It was revealed through these proceedings that Van Zandt's annual income in the years before his death had climbed to over $100,000, thanks in large part to the royalties accrued from his songs being covered by Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Merle Haggard, Cowboy Junkies, and other major music stars.[34] After Van Zandt's death his road manager, Harold Eggers, released video and audio recordings from the songwriter's concerts.[47] An out-of-court settlement in 2006 granted the Van Zandts conditional control of Harold Eggers' mastered recordings with Eggers retaining a 50% ownership of seven albums and some royalties for the remaining recordings.[47]

On October 21, 2008, a number of Van Zandt's personal possessions were auctioned off at The Northside in Akron, Ohio at a benefit for Rex "Wrecks" Bell. Bell was a close friend and bandmate, and the inspiration for the song "Rex's Blues". Bell was also part owner of the bar Old Quarter in Houston, where Van Zandt performed the songs that would comprise the album Live at the Old Quarter.

In music edit

Van Zandt has been referred to as a cult musician and "a songwriter's songwriter."[48][49] Musician Steve Earle, who met him in 1978 and considered Van Zandt a mentor, once called Van Zandt "the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."[48][50] The quote was printed on a sticker featured on the packing of At My Window, much to Van Zandt's displeasure.[51] In the years following, the quote was often cited by the press, much to Van Zandt and Earle's embarrassment;[52] in 2009, Earle told the New York Times "Did I ever believe that Townes was better than Bob Dylan? No."[52] But he concluded at the end of the same article that, "As a songwriter, you won't find anybody better." Earle has championed the songwriter on a number of occasions: his eldest son, Justin Townes Earle, also a musician, was named after Van Zandt. Earle wrote the song "Fort Worth Blues" as a tribute to the singer in the late 1990s, and in 2009 released an album titled Townes, which featured all covers of Van Zandt songs.[52]

His Texas-grounded impact stretched farther than country. He has been cited as a source of inspiration by such notable artists as Bob Dylan,[23] Neil Young,[53] Willie Nelson,[54] Guthrie Thomas, John Prine,[54] Lyle Lovett,[55] Chelsea Wolfe,[56] Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers,[57] Emmylou Harris,[54] Nanci Griffith,[54] Cowboy Junkies,[58] Vetiver,[59] Guy Clark,[54] Devendra Banhart,[60] Norah Jones,[61] Robert Plant & Alison Krauss,[62] The Be Good Tanyas and Jolie Holland,[63] Rowland S. Howard, Michael Weston King, Hayes Carll, Josh Ritter,[64] Gillian Welch,[65] Garth Brooks,[66] Simon Joyner,[67] Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes,[68] Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon,[69] Marissa Nadler,[70] Laura Marling, and Frank Turner,[71] Folk musician Shakey Graves has credited his fast-paced, rhythmic style of finger picked guitar playing partially to Van Zandt's influence.[72]

In 1994, Israeli singer David Broza performed with Van Zandt during a Writers in the Round concert in Houston. When Van Zandt died, he left a shoe box full of unreleased poems and lyrics with a request that Broza set them to music. The resulting album was Night Dawn: The Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt.[73]

In 2012, Van Zandt was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame.[74]

In July 2012, Neurot Recordings released a three-way split album in tribute to Van Zandt, featuring Neurosis singer/guitarists Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till and doom/stoner metal legend Scott "Wino" Weinrich.[75] Two years later another similar album was released featuring John Baizley, Mike Scheidt and Nate Hall, frontmen of the bands Baroness, YOB and U.S. Christmas respectively.[76]

On June 18, 2015, Van Zandt was inducted into the second year's ceremony of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, along with Asleep at the Wheel, Loretta Lynn, Guy Clark and Flaco Jimenez.[77] Gillian Welch inducted Van Zandt by telling stories about how he had come to her early gigs in Nashville and how he had bolstered her confidence in writing sad songs.[78]

In an interview with The Guardian in 2016, he was citied as being an influence to the American avant-garde metal group Neurosis.[79]

In film and television edit

Van Zandt's Roadsongs album version of The Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers" was used during the final scene of the Coen Brothers' 1998 film The Big Lebowski. The song was included on the movie's soundtrack.[80] Since his death, Van Zandt's recordings have been licensed by his family for use in a number of films and television programs, including Stepmom, Ozark, Six Feet Under, In Bruges, Calvary, Crazy Heart, Leaves of Grass, Seven Psychopaths, Deadwood, Breaking Bad, Billions, The Patriot, True Detective, Euphoria (American TV Series), and Hell or High Water (Dollar Bill Blues).[81] His "Buckskin Stallion Blues" was featured in the 2017 American film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri both as his original recording and a cover by Amy Annelle.[82]

In the film Country Strong, the Austin Statesman describes the character of Beau Hutton as "the next Townes Van Zandt".[citation needed] The 2012 documentary film Low & Clear, which revolves around Van Zandt's son JT fly fishing for steelhead in British Columbia with his old fishing buddy Xenie, features Van Zandt's songs.[83]

Films and book edit

In 2004, the film Be Here to Love Me,[84] chronicling the artist's life and musical career, was released in the United States. It was very well received, earning a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[85] Georgia Christgau of the Village Voice called the documentary "sympathetic but frank."[86] Eddie Cockrell of Variety called the film "a dignified and wistful look at the unusual life, difficult career and lasting influence" of Van Zandt.[87]

A biography, titled To Live's to Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt[88] by John Kruth, was released in 2007. It received mixed reviews, with Publishers Weekly lamenting that Kruth's "efforts are diminished by oddly alternating first- and third-person narratives, awkward transitions and text cluttered with excessive quotes... more insight into why – rather than countless tales of how – would have made this bio a more worthwhile read."[89]

In April 2008, the University of North Texas Press published Robert Earl Hardy's biography on the songwriter, titled A Deeper Blue: The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt,[90] which took more than eight years of research, including interviews with Mickey Newbury, Jack Clement, Guy and Susanna Clark, Mickey White, Rex Bell, Dan Rowland, Richard Dobson, John Lomax III, Van Zandt's brother and sister, cousins, his three ex-wives, and many others. The book has been described by Kirkus Reviews as a "poignant, clear and vivid portrait."[91]

I'll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt by Brian T. Atkinson was released on New Year's Day 2012 by Texas A&M University Press, coinciding with the 15th anniversary of Van Zandt's death. The book contains interviews with longtime Van Zandt friends Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Russell and Peter Rowan as well as younger disciples such as Scott Avett (the Avett Brothers), Jim James (My Morning Jacket), Kasey Chambers, Josh Ritter, and Grace Potter.

Van Zandt was portrayed by Charlie Sexton in the 2018 film Blaze, a biographical drama about the life of Blaze Foley.

More books and movies about Townes Van Zandt were released, e.g. Harold Eggers' My Years with Townes Van Zandt and Mickey White's Another Mickey. Ruminations of a Texas Guitar Slinger (books[92]) or Without Getting Killed or Caught (movie,[93] director: Tamara Saviano).

Discography edit

Studio albums edit

Posthumous albums edit

Singles edit

  • "Waiting Around to Die" / "Talking Karate Blues" (1968)
  • "Second Lovers Song" / "Tecumseh Valley" (1969)
  • "Come Tomorrow" / "Delta Mama Blues" (1971)
  • "Greensboro Woman" / "Standin'" (1972)
  • "If I Needed You" / "Sunshine Boy" (1972)
  • "Honky Tonkin'" / "Snow Don't Fall" (1972)
  • "Fraulein" / "Don't Let the Sunshine Fool Ya" (1972)
  • "Pancho and Lefty" / "Heavenly Houseboat Blues" (1972)
  • "Pancho and Lefty" / "If I Needed You" (1973)
  • "Who Do You Love" / "Dollar Bill Blues" (1978)
  • "When She Don't Need Me" / "No Place to Fall" (1978)
  • "Dead Flowers" / "Fraulein" / "Racing in the Street" (1993) – German CD single
  • "Riding the Range" / "Dirty Old Town" (1996)
  • "Ain't Leavin' Your Love" (1999) – US CD single
  • "Snowin' on Raton" (2001) – US CD single; from Texas Rain: The Texas Hill Country Recordings
  • "Highway Kind" (2002) – CD single

Live albums edit

  • Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas (1977) – recorded July 1973
  • Live and Obscure (1987) – recorded 1985
  • Down Home & Abroad (2018) – recorded 1985/1993
  • Rain on a Conga Drum: Live in Berlin (1991) – recorded October 1990
  • Rear View Mirror (1993) – recorded in Oklahoma, 1978
  • Roadsongs (1993) – all cover songs, recorded late 1970s & early 1980s
  • Abnormal (1996) – reissued in 1998 with 3 tracks replaced
  • The Highway Kind (1997)
  • Documentary (1997)
  • Last Rights (1997) – alternate version of Documentary
  • Together at the Bluebird Café (2001) – with Guy Clark and Steve Earle; recorded September 1995
  • In Pain (1999) – recorded 1994/1996
  • Live at McCabe's (2001) – recorded February 1995
  • A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt (2002) – recorded November 1969
  • Absolutely Nothing (2002) – recorded 1991–1996
  • Acoustic Blue (2003) – recorded 1994/1996
  • Live at the Jester Lounge, Houston, Texas, 1966 (2004)
  • Rear View Mirror, Volume 2 (2004) – recorded 1977–80; album credits erroneously state 1976–79
  • Live at Union Chapel, London, England (2005) – recorded April 1994
  • Houston 1988: A Private Concert (2005)

Videos edit

Compilations edit

Title Album details
Last Rights: The Life & Times of Townes Van Zandt
  • Release date: June 10, 1997
  • Label: Gregor Records
Masters
Anthology: 1968–1979
The Best of Townes Van Zandt
  • Release date: July 1, 1999
  • Label: Charly Records
Drama Falls Like Teardrops
  • Release date: January 1, 2002
  • Label: Snapper Records
The Very Best of Townes Van Zandt: The Texan Troubadour
Singer Songwriter
  • Release date: October 1, 2002
  • Label: MI Plus
Texas Troubadour
  • Release date: November 5, 2002
  • Label: Snapper Records
The Great Tomato Singer/Songwriter Collection
  • Release date: February 25, 2003
  • Label: Tomato Music
Legend
  • Release date: October 14, 2003
  • Label: Snapper Records
Buckskin Stallion
  • Release date: May 23, 2006
  • Label: ATOM Records
Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Townes Van Zandt - Frequently Asked Questions". Oregon IPM Center. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  2. ^ "Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt: Review". Avclub.com. Accessed July 1, 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Manion, Jim (July 16, 1999). . Totally Adult Review. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2011. (archived at TownesVanZandt.com)
  4. ^ a b c d e "Townes Van Zandt: Biography". AllMusic.com. Accessed July 1, 2015.
  5. ^ "Townes Van Zandt – Frequently Asked Questions". Pnwpest.org. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Hardy 2008, pp. 14–16
  7. ^ A Deeper Kind of Blue December 23, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (review). Billboard charts.
  8. ^ Hardy 2008, p. 17
  9. ^ a b c d e f g . Texas Monthly. March 1, 1998. Archived from the original on August 28, 2008.
  10. ^ Hardy 2008, p. 25
  11. ^ Hardy 2008, p. 27
  12. ^ "J.T. Van Zandt" on YouTube (video).
  13. ^ "Townes Van Zandt – interview in Oslo (NRK Lydverket)" on YouTube (video).
  14. ^ Hardy 2008, p. 60
  15. ^ Hardy 2008, p. 212
  16. ^ Heartworn Highways profile, imdb.com; accessed July 1, 2015.
  17. ^ a b c "The Way of the Gun – Living up to his famous father is a tall order for J.T. Van Zandt", dallasobserver.com, October 24, 2002.
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Bibliography
  • Kruth, John (2007). To Live's to Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81553-9.
  • Hardy, Robert Earl (2008). A Deeper Blue: The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt. North Texas Lives of Musician Series. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-247-5.
  • Atkinson, Brian T. (2012). I'll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-1-60344-527-6.
  • Eggers, Harold F. (2018). My Years with Townes Van Zandt: Music, Genius, and Rage. Backbeat. ISBN 978-1-61713-708-2.
  • Lomax, John III (1998). "Townes Van Zandt". In Kingsbury, Paul (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 562. ISBN 978-0-19-511671-7.

External links edit

  • Official website  
  • Townes Van Zandt at Curlie
  • Townes Van Zandt at AllMusic
  • Townes Van Zandt at IMDb
  • Townes Van Zandt: The Self-Destructive Hobo Saint by John Kruth, originally appeared in Sing Out! V48#2
  • Townes Van Zandt at Find a Grave
Awards
Preceded by AMA presidents Award
2007
Succeeded by

townes, zandt, this, dutch, name, surname, zandt, zandt, john, march, 1944, january, 1997, american, singer, songwriter, wrote, numerous, songs, such, pancho, lefty, sake, song, needed, snake, mountain, blues, mother, mountain, waitin, round, live, musical, st. In this Dutch name the surname is Van Zandt not Zandt John Townes Van Zandt 1 March 7 1944 January 1 1997 was an American singer songwriter 2 He wrote numerous songs such as Pancho and Lefty For the Sake of the Song If I Needed You Snake Mountain Blues Our Mother the Mountain Waitin Round to Die and To Live Is to Fly His musical style has often been described as melancholic and features rich poetic lyrics During his early years Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability Townes Van ZandtVan Zandt in Heartworn Highways 1975 Background informationBirth nameJohn Townes Van ZandtBorn 1944 03 07 March 7 1944Fort Worth Texas U S DiedJanuary 1 1997 1997 01 01 aged 52 Smyrna Tennessee U S GenresCountryfolkbluescountry bluesOccupation s Singer songwriterInstrument s GuitarvocalsYears active1965 1996LabelsPoppyTomatoSugar HillTVZFat PossumWebsitetownesvanzandt wbr com Much of Van Zandt s life was spent touring various bars music clubs colleges and folk venues and festivals often lodging in motel rooms or the homes of friends He suffered from drug addiction and alcoholism and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder When he was young the now discredited insulin shock therapy erased much of his long term memory 3 In 1983 Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered and popularized Van Zandt s song Pancho and Lefty reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart 4 Van Zandt s influence has been cited by countless artists across multiple genres and his music has been recorded or performed by Bob Dylan Willie Nelson Lyle Lovett Merle Haggard Norah Jones Emmylou Harris Counting Crows Steve Earle Whitey Morgan Rodney Crowell Robert Earl Keen Jr Nanci Griffith Guy Clark Wade Bowen Gillian Welch Richard Buckner Pat Green Colter Wall Billy Strings Molly Tuttle Jason Isbell Calvin Russell Natalie Maines Jason Molina Kevin Morby Stephen Duffy Doc Watson The Cowboy Junkies Frank Turner Rowland S Howard Tindersticks Cave In Amenra Charley Crockett Tyler Childers and Marissa Nadler Van Zandt died on New Year s Day 1997 from cardiac arrythmia caused by health problems stemming from years of substance abuse A revival of interest in Van Zandt blossomed in the 2000s During the decade two books a documentary film Be Here to Love Me and numerous magazine articles were written about him Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early life 1 2 Early musical career 1 3 1970s 1 4 1980s 1990s 2 Personal life 2 1 Relationships 2 2 Addiction 2 3 Death 3 Legacy 3 1 Legal issues over his work 3 2 In music 3 3 In film and television 3 4 Films and book 4 Discography 4 1 Studio albums 4 2 Posthumous albums 4 3 Singles 4 4 Live albums 4 5 Videos 4 6 Compilations 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksBiography editEarly life edit Born in Fort Worth Texas into a wealthy family Van Zandt was a great great great grandson of Isaac Van Zandt a prominent leader of the Republic of Texas and a great great grandnephew of Khleber Miller Van Zandt a major in the Confederate army and one of the founders of Fort Worth 3 Townes parents were Harris Williams Van Zandt and Dorothy Townes 5 He had two siblings Bill 1949 2009 and Donna 1941 2011 Harris was a corporate lawyer and his career required the family to move several times during the 1950s and 1960s 6 In 1952 the family relocated from Fort Worth to Midland Texas for six months before moving to Billings Montana citation needed At Christmas in 1956 Townes s father gave him a guitar which he practiced while wandering the countryside 7 He later told an interviewer that seeing Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show was the starting point for me becoming a guitar player I just thought that Elvis had all the money in the world all the Cadillacs and all the girls and all he did was play the guitar and sing That made a big impression on me 1 In 1958 the family moved to Boulder Colorado Van Zandt remembered his time in Colorado fondly and often visited it as an adult He later referred to Colorado in My Proud Mountains Colorado Girl and Snowin on Raton Townes was a good student and active in team sports 8 In grade school he was found to have a high IQ and his parents began grooming him to become a lawyer or senator 9 Fearing that his family would move again he willingly decided to attend the Shattuck School in Faribault Minnesota 10 He received a score of 1170 when he took the SAT in January 1962 11 His family soon moved to Houston Texas In 1962 he enrolled at the University of Colorado Boulder wrote poetry and listened to records by Lightnin Hopkins and Hank Williams In the spring of his second year his parents flew to Boulder to bring Townes back to Houston worried about his binge drinking and episodes of depression 9 They admitted him to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston where he was diagnosed with manic depression He received three months of insulin shock therapy which erased much of his long term memory 3 9 Afterwards his mother said that her biggest regret in life was that she had allowed that treatment to occur 12 In 1965 he was accepted into the University of Houston s pre law program Soon after he attempted to join the Air Force but was rejected because of a doctor s diagnosis that labelled him an acute manic depressive who has made minimal adjustments to life 9 After Townes s father died in January 1966 at age 52 he quit school and went on the road for the first time having been inspired by his singer songwriter heroes to pursue a career in playing music 9 Early musical career edit In 1965 Van Zandt began playing regular shows at the Jester Lounge in Houston for 10 per night 13 After the Jester closed he began to regularly perform and occasionally live at Sand Mountain Coffee House 6 In these Houston clubs he met fellow musicians Lightnin Hopkins Guy Clark Jerry Jeff Walker and Doc Watson His repertoire consisted mostly of covers of songs written by Hopkins Bob Dylan and others as well as original novelty songs like Fraternity Blues 14 In 1966 Harris Van Zandt had encouraged his son to stop playing covers and write his own songs 15 At one point around 1968 Van Zandt was roommates with 13th Floor Elevators singer Roky Erickson Erickson suggested that he audition as the Elevators new bassist even though he was a guitarist who had never played bass before When Tommy Hall found out he never played bass he kicked him out of the audition In 1968 Van Zandt met songwriter Mickey Newbury in a Houston coffee shop Newbury persuaded Van Zandt to go to Nashville Tennessee where he was introduced by Newbury to the man who became his longtime producer Cowboy Jack Clement Van Zandt cited Lightnin Hopkins Bob Dylan and Hank Williams and such varied artists as Muddy Waters The Rolling Stones Blind Willie McTell Tchaikovsky and Jefferson Airplane as having had a major impact on his music 1 1970s edit The years between 1968 and 1973 proved to be his most prolific era 4 Van Zandt released six albums during the time period For the Sake of the Song Our Mother the Mountain Townes Van Zandt Delta Momma Blues High Low and In Between and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt Among the tracks written for these albums were To Live Is to Fly Pancho and Lefty and If I Needed You These songs eventually raised Van Zandt to near legend status in American and European songwriting circles 4 In 1972 he recorded tracks for an album with a working title of Seven Come Eleven which remained unreleased for many years due to a dispute between his manager Kevin Eggers and producer Jack Clement Eggers either could not or refused to pay for the studio sessions so Clement erased the master tapes However before they were deleted Eggers sneaked into the studio and recorded rough mixes of the songs on to a cassette tape Tracks from the aborted Seven Come Eleven debacle later surfaced on The Nashville Sessions citation needed In 1975 Van Zandt was featured prominently in the documentary film Heartworn Highways with Guy Clark Steve Earle Steve Young Gamble Rogers Charlie Daniels and David Allan Coe His segment of the film was shot at his run down trailer home in Austin Texas where Van Zandt is shown drinking straight whiskey during the middle of the day shooting and playing with guns and performing the songs Waitin Around to Die and Pancho and Lefty 16 His soon to be second wife Cindy and dog Geraldine a large keenly intelligent half wolf half husky are featured in the film 17 In 1977 Live at the Old Quarter Houston Texas was released The album showcased Van Zandt solo at a 1973 concert before a small audience and less elaborately produced than many of his early records 18 The album received positive reviews 19 and is considered by many to be among the best albums that the songwriter ever released 19 20 21 In the mid 1970s Van Zandt split from his longtime manager Kevin Eggers 4 He found a new manager John Lomax III grandson of the famed folk music historian John Lomax who set up a fan club for Van Zandt 22 Though the club was only advertised through small ads in the back of music magazines Lomax immediately began to receive hundreds of impassioned letters from around the world written by people who felt touched by Van Zandt Some of the letters described how his material often served as a crutch for those who were dealing with depression 22 In 1978 the singer fired Lomax and re hired Eggers He soon signed with Eggers new label Tomato Records 4 The following year he recorded Flyin Shoes he did not release another album until 1987 s At My Window Despite critical acclaim he remained a cult figure He normally played small venues often to crowds of fewer than fifty people but began to move towards playing larger venues and even made a handful of television appearances during the 1990s For much of the 1970s he lived a reclusive life outside of Nashville in a tin roofed bare boards shack with no heat plumbing or telephone occasionally appearing in town to play shows 17 1980s 1990s edit Several of Van Zandt s compositions were recorded by other artists such as Emmylou Harris who with Don Williams had a No 3 country hit in 1981 with If I Needed You and Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard the pair taking Pancho and Lefty to No 1 on the country charts in 1983 Van Zandt had a small cameo appearance in the video for the song In his later years he recorded less frequently his voice and singing style altered in part because of his drug addiction and alcoholism However he continued writing songs such as Marie and The Hole citation needed According to Susanna Clark Van Zandt turned down repeated invitations to write with Bob Dylan 23 Dylan was reportedly a big fan of Townes and claimed to have all of his records Van Zandt admired Dylan s songs but didn t care for his celebrity 23 The two first met during a chance encounter outside a costume shop in the South Congress district of Austin on June 21 1986 23 According to Johnny Guess Dylan later arranged another meeting with the songwriter The Drag in Austin was shut down due to Dylan being in town Van Zandt drove his motorhome to the cordoned off area after which Dylan boarded the vehicle and requested to hear him play several songs 24 In May and June 1990 he opened for the Cowboy Junkies during a two month long tour of the United States and Canada which exposed him to a younger generation of fans 1 As a result he wrote the song Cowboy Junkies Lament for the group with a verse about each member of the band 25 Personal life editRelationships edit Van Zandt married Fran Peterson on August 26 1965 a son John Townes J T Van Zandt II was born to them on April 11 1969 in Houston The couple divorced on January 16 1970 1 He began dating Cindy Morgan in 1974 and they married in 1978 Van Zandt and Cindy became estranged for much of the early 1980s and were divorced on February 10 1983 in Travis County Texas They had no children 1 Van Zandt s third marriage was to Jeanene Munsell They met on December 9 1980 at a memorial for John Lennon When the terminally ill Dorothy Van Zandt learned that her son had impregnated Munsell she told him You re going to do the right thing and honor that baby 26 He divorced his estranged second wife and married Munsell on March 14 1983 Their first child William Vincent was born 10 days later Another child Katie Belle was born February 14 1992 Van Zandt and Munsell divorced on May 2 1994 However the two remained close and Jeanene was an executor of his estate 1 Around the time of their April 1993 separation 27 Jeanene coaxed the musician into signing over the publishing rights of his back catalog and recording royalties to her and their children 28 Van Zandt s only source of income after making that change was money received from concert engagements 29 and even then Van Zandt frequently visited his ex wife and gave her the money in his pockets 30 Following their divorce in 1994 his only possessions were a 1989 GMC Truck with camper shell a 1984 Honda Shadow motorcycle and a 1983 Starwind 22 foot boat named Dorothy He also retained sole ownership of his family inheritance of ownership in oil lease and mineral rights 31 At the time of his death he had begun a long distance relationship with a woman named Claudia Winterer from Darmstadt Germany 32 The two met in November 1995 during a concert of his in Hanau Germany Van Zandt told friends he planned on marrying Winterer 33 but the two never became engaged Addiction edit Van Zandt was addicted to heroin and alcohol throughout his adult life At times he became drunk on stage and forgot the lyrics to his songs At one point his heroin habit was so intense that he offered Kevin Eggers the publishing rights to all of the songs on each of his first four albums for 20 34 At various points his friends saw him shoot up not just heroin but also cocaine vodka as well as a mixture of rum and Coke 35 On at least one occasion he shot up heroin in the presence of his son J T who was only eight years old at the time 17 As a result of Van Zandt s constant drinking Harold Eggers Kevin s brother was hired as his tour manager and 24 hour caretaker in 1976 a partnership that lasted for the rest of the singer s life Although the musician was years older than he was Eggers later said that Van Zandt was his first child 34 His battles with addiction led him into rehab nearly a dozen times throughout the 1970s and 1980s 36 Medical records from his recovery centers indicate that he believed his drinking had become a problem around 1973 and that by 1982 he was drinking at least a pint of vodka daily 36 Doctors notes reported He admits to hearing voices mostly musical voices and Affect is blunted and mood is sad Judgment and insight is impaired 36 At various times he was prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft and the mood stabilizer lithium 27 37 The longest and final period of sobriety during his adult life was about a year in 1989 and 1990 25 Death edit nbsp Townes Van Zandt at Kult Niederstetten 1995 Van Zandt continued writing and performing through the 1990s though his output slowed noticeably He had enjoyed some sobriety during the early 1990s but actively abused alcohol during his final years In 1994 he was admitted to the hospital to detox when a doctor told Jeanene Van Zandt that trying to detox Townes again could potentially kill him 38 He grew increasingly frail during the mid 1990s with friends noting that he seemed to have withered 39 In early 1996 he was contacted by Sonic Youth s Steve Shelley who informed Van Zandt that he was interested in recording and releasing an album for him on the band s Ecstatic Peace label funded by Geffen 40 Van Zandt agreed and sessions were scheduled to begin in Memphis during late December of that year On December 19 or 20 Van Zandt fell down the concrete stairs outside his home badly injuring his hip 38 41 After lying outside for an hour he dragged himself inside and called his ex wife Jeanene who sent friends Royann and Jim Calvin to check on him He told the couple that he had sustained the injury while getting out of bed and refused medical treatment They took him back to their home and he spent Christmas week on their couch unable to get up even to use the bathroom 41 Determined to finish the album that he had scheduled to record with Shelley and Two Dollar Guitar Van Zandt arrived at the Memphis studio being pushed in a wheelchair by road manager Harold Eggers Shelley canceled the sessions due to the songwriter s erratic behavior and drunkenness Van Zandt finally agreed to hospitalization but not before returning to Nashville By the time he consented to receive medical care eight days had passed since the injury 38 On December 31 X rays revealed that Van Zandt had an impacted left femoral neck fracture in his hip and several corrective surgeries were performed 42 Jeanene informed the surgeon that one of Townes s previous rehab doctors had told her detoxing could kill him 38 The medical staff tried to explain to her that detoxing a late term alcoholic at home would be ill advised and he would have a better chance at recovering under hospital supervision 42 She did not heed the warnings and checked Townes out of the hospital 43 Understanding that he would most likely drink immediately after leaving the hospital the physicians refused to prescribe him any painkillers 44 By the time Van Zandt was checked out of the hospital early the next morning he had begun to show signs of delirium tremens 38 Jeanene rushed him to her car where she gave him a flask of vodka to ward off the withdrawal delirium She later reported that after getting him back home to Smyrna Tennessee and giving him alcohol he became lucid in a real good mood calling his friends on the phone 38 Jim Calvin shared a marijuana joint with him 43 and he was also given about four Tylenol PM tablets 44 While Jeanene was on the phone with Susanna Clark their son Will noticed that Townes had stopped breathing and looked dead and alerted his mother who attempted to perform CPR screaming his name between breaths 38 Townes Van Zandt died in the early morning hours of January 1 1997 at the age of 52 His official cause of death was natural cardiac arrhythmia 45 Two services were held for Van Zandt one in Texas for family and another in a large Nashville church attended by friends acquaintances and fans 9 Some of his ashes were placed underneath a headstone in the Van Zandt family plot at the Dido Cemetery in Dido Texas near Fort Worth 9 46 Legacy editLegal issues over his work edit In the years immediately following Van Zandt s death his former manager and label owner Kevin Eggers issued 14 albums of both new and previously unreleased material by the singer all without consent of his estate represented by Jeanene Van Zandt and his three children 47 Eggers claimed a 50 interest in eighty of Van Zandt s songs After nearly ten years of legal battles the court sided with the estate issuing injunctive relief against Eggers restraining him from reproducing or distributing any of Van Zandt s songs 47 It was revealed through these proceedings that Van Zandt s annual income in the years before his death had climbed to over 100 000 thanks in large part to the royalties accrued from his songs being covered by Willie Nelson Emmylou Harris Lyle Lovett Merle Haggard Cowboy Junkies and other major music stars 34 After Van Zandt s death his road manager Harold Eggers released video and audio recordings from the songwriter s concerts 47 An out of court settlement in 2006 granted the Van Zandts conditional control of Harold Eggers mastered recordings with Eggers retaining a 50 ownership of seven albums and some royalties for the remaining recordings 47 On October 21 2008 a number of Van Zandt s personal possessions were auctioned off at The Northside in Akron Ohio at a benefit for Rex Wrecks Bell Bell was a close friend and bandmate and the inspiration for the song Rex s Blues Bell was also part owner of the bar Old Quarter in Houston where Van Zandt performed the songs that would comprise the album Live at the Old Quarter In music edit Van Zandt has been referred to as a cult musician and a songwriter s songwriter 48 49 Musician Steve Earle who met him in 1978 and considered Van Zandt a mentor once called Van Zandt the best songwriter in the whole world and I ll stand on Bob Dylan s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that 48 50 The quote was printed on a sticker featured on the packing of At My Window much to Van Zandt s displeasure 51 In the years following the quote was often cited by the press much to Van Zandt and Earle s embarrassment 52 in 2009 Earle told the New York Times Did I ever believe that Townes was better than Bob Dylan No 52 But he concluded at the end of the same article that As a songwriter you won t find anybody better Earle has championed the songwriter on a number of occasions his eldest son Justin Townes Earle also a musician was named after Van Zandt Earle wrote the song Fort Worth Blues as a tribute to the singer in the late 1990s and in 2009 released an album titled Townes which featured all covers of Van Zandt songs 52 His Texas grounded impact stretched farther than country He has been cited as a source of inspiration by such notable artists as Bob Dylan 23 Neil Young 53 Willie Nelson 54 Guthrie Thomas John Prine 54 Lyle Lovett 55 Chelsea Wolfe 56 Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers 57 Emmylou Harris 54 Nanci Griffith 54 Cowboy Junkies 58 Vetiver 59 Guy Clark 54 Devendra Banhart 60 Norah Jones 61 Robert Plant amp Alison Krauss 62 The Be Good Tanyas and Jolie Holland 63 Rowland S Howard Michael Weston King Hayes Carll Josh Ritter 64 Gillian Welch 65 Garth Brooks 66 Simon Joyner 67 Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes 68 Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon 69 Marissa Nadler 70 Laura Marling and Frank Turner 71 Folk musician Shakey Graves has credited his fast paced rhythmic style of finger picked guitar playing partially to Van Zandt s influence 72 In 1994 Israeli singer David Broza performed with Van Zandt during a Writers in the Round concert in Houston When Van Zandt died he left a shoe box full of unreleased poems and lyrics with a request that Broza set them to music The resulting album was Night Dawn The Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt 73 In 2012 Van Zandt was inducted into the Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of Fame 74 In July 2012 Neurot Recordings released a three way split album in tribute to Van Zandt featuring Neurosis singer guitarists Scott Kelly Steve Von Till and doom stoner metal legend Scott Wino Weinrich 75 Two years later another similar album was released featuring John Baizley Mike Scheidt and Nate Hall frontmen of the bands Baroness YOB and U S Christmas respectively 76 On June 18 2015 Van Zandt was inducted into the second year s ceremony of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame along with Asleep at the Wheel Loretta Lynn Guy Clark and Flaco Jimenez 77 Gillian Welch inducted Van Zandt by telling stories about how he had come to her early gigs in Nashville and how he had bolstered her confidence in writing sad songs 78 In an interview with The Guardian in 2016 he was citied as being an influence to the American avant garde metal group Neurosis 79 In film and television edit Van Zandt s Roadsongs album version of The Rolling Stones Dead Flowers was used during the final scene of the Coen Brothers 1998 film The Big Lebowski The song was included on the movie s soundtrack 80 Since his death Van Zandt s recordings have been licensed by his family for use in a number of films and television programs including Stepmom Ozark Six Feet Under In Bruges Calvary Crazy Heart Leaves of Grass Seven Psychopaths Deadwood Breaking Bad Billions The Patriot True Detective Euphoria American TV Series and Hell or High Water Dollar Bill Blues 81 His Buckskin Stallion Blues was featured in the 2017 American film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri both as his original recording and a cover by Amy Annelle 82 In the film Country Strong the Austin Statesman describes the character of Beau Hutton as the next Townes Van Zandt citation needed The 2012 documentary film Low amp Clear which revolves around Van Zandt s son JT fly fishing for steelhead in British Columbia with his old fishing buddy Xenie features Van Zandt s songs 83 Films and book edit In 2004 the film Be Here to Love Me 84 chronicling the artist s life and musical career was released in the United States It was very well received earning a 94 rating on Rotten Tomatoes 85 Georgia Christgau of the Village Voice called the documentary sympathetic but frank 86 Eddie Cockrell of Variety called the film a dignified and wistful look at the unusual life difficult career and lasting influence of Van Zandt 87 A biography titled To Live s to Fly The Ballad of the Late Great Townes Van Zandt 88 by John Kruth was released in 2007 It received mixed reviews with Publishers Weekly lamenting that Kruth s efforts are diminished by oddly alternating first and third person narratives awkward transitions and text cluttered with excessive quotes more insight into why rather than countless tales of how would have made this bio a more worthwhile read 89 In April 2008 the University of North Texas Press published Robert Earl Hardy s biography on the songwriter titled A Deeper Blue The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt 90 which took more than eight years of research including interviews with Mickey Newbury Jack Clement Guy and Susanna Clark Mickey White Rex Bell Dan Rowland Richard Dobson John Lomax III Van Zandt s brother and sister cousins his three ex wives and many others The book has been described by Kirkus Reviews as a poignant clear and vivid portrait 91 I ll Be Here in the Morning The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt by Brian T Atkinson was released on New Year s Day 2012 by Texas A amp M University Press coinciding with the 15th anniversary of Van Zandt s death The book contains interviews with longtime Van Zandt friends Guy Clark Billy Joe Shaver Ray Wylie Hubbard Kris Kristofferson Tom Russell and Peter Rowan as well as younger disciples such as Scott Avett the Avett Brothers Jim James My Morning Jacket Kasey Chambers Josh Ritter and Grace Potter Van Zandt was portrayed by Charlie Sexton in the 2018 film Blaze a biographical drama about the life of Blaze Foley More books and movies about Townes Van Zandt were released e g Harold Eggers My Years with Townes Van Zandt and Mickey White s Another Mickey Ruminations of a Texas Guitar Slinger books 92 or Without Getting Killed or Caught movie 93 director Tamara Saviano Discography editStudio albums edit For the Sake of the Song 1968 Our Mother the Mountain 1969 Townes Van Zandt 1969 Delta Momma Blues 1971 High Low and In Between 1971 The Late Great Townes Van Zandt 1972 Flyin Shoes 1978 At My Window 1987 The Nashville Sessions 1993 No Deeper Blue 1994 Posthumous albums edit A Far Cry From Dead 1999 Texas Rain The Texas Hill Country Recordings 2001 In the Beginning 2003 Sunshine Boy The Unheard Studio Sessions amp Demos 1971 1972 2013 Sky Blue 2019 94 Somebody Had to Write It 2020 Singles edit Waiting Around to Die Talking Karate Blues 1968 Second Lovers Song Tecumseh Valley 1969 Come Tomorrow Delta Mama Blues 1971 Greensboro Woman Standin 1972 If I Needed You Sunshine Boy 1972 Honky Tonkin Snow Don t Fall 1972 Fraulein Don t Let the Sunshine Fool Ya 1972 Pancho and Lefty Heavenly Houseboat Blues 1972 Pancho and Lefty If I Needed You 1973 Who Do You Love Dollar Bill Blues 1978 When She Don t Need Me No Place to Fall 1978 Dead Flowers Fraulein Racing in the Street 1993 German CD single Riding the Range Dirty Old Town 1996 Ain t Leavin Your Love 1999 US CD single Snowin on Raton 2001 US CD single from Texas Rain The Texas Hill Country Recordings Highway Kind 2002 CD singleLive albums edit Live at the Old Quarter Houston Texas 1977 recorded July 1973 Live and Obscure 1987 recorded 1985 Down Home amp Abroad 2018 recorded 1985 1993 Rain on a Conga Drum Live in Berlin 1991 recorded October 1990 Rear View Mirror 1993 recorded in Oklahoma 1978 Roadsongs 1993 all cover songs recorded late 1970s amp early 1980s Abnormal 1996 reissued in 1998 with 3 tracks replaced The Highway Kind 1997 Documentary 1997 Last Rights 1997 alternate version of Documentary Together at the Bluebird Cafe 2001 with Guy Clark and Steve Earle recorded September 1995 In Pain 1999 recorded 1994 1996 Live at McCabe s 2001 recorded February 1995 A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt 2002 recorded November 1969 Absolutely Nothing 2002 recorded 1991 1996 Acoustic Blue 2003 recorded 1994 1996 Live at the Jester Lounge Houston Texas 1966 2004 Rear View Mirror Volume 2 2004 recorded 1977 80 album credits erroneously state 1976 79 Live at Union Chapel London England 2005 recorded April 1994 Houston 1988 A Private Concert 2005 Videos edit Heartworn Highways 1981 Be Here to Love Me 2004 Houston 1988 A Private Concert 2004 Townes Live in Amsterdam 2008 recorded November 2 1991Compilations edit Title Album detailsLast Rights The Life amp Times of Townes Van Zandt Release date June 10 1997 Label Gregor RecordsMasters Release date November 30 1997 Label Eagle Rock RecordsAnthology 1968 1979 Release date August 25 1998 Label Charly RecordsThe Best of Townes Van Zandt Release date July 1 1999 Label Charly RecordsDrama Falls Like Teardrops Release date January 1 2002 Label Snapper RecordsThe Very Best of Townes Van Zandt The Texan Troubadour Release date June 25 2002 Label Metro RecordsSinger Songwriter Release date October 1 2002 Label MI PlusTexas Troubadour Release date November 5 2002 Label Snapper RecordsThe Great Tomato Singer Songwriter Collection Release date February 25 2003 Label Tomato MusicLegend Release date October 14 2003 Label Snapper RecordsBuckskin Stallion Release date May 23 2006 Label ATOM RecordsSunshine Boy The Unheard Studio Sessions amp Demos Release date February 5 2013 Label Omnivore RecordingsSee also editList of people with bipolar disorderReferences edit a b c d e f g Townes Van Zandt Frequently Asked Questions Oregon IPM Center Retrieved September 21 2022 Be Here to Love Me A Film About Townes Van Zandt Review Avclub com Accessed July 1 2015 a b c Manion Jim July 16 1999 Townes Van Zandt A Far Cry From Dead Totally Adult Review Archived from the original on July 17 2011 Retrieved May 8 2011 archived at TownesVanZandt com a b c d e Townes Van Zandt Biography AllMusic com Accessed July 1 2015 Townes Van Zandt Frequently Asked Questions Pnwpest org Retrieved May 8 2011 a b Hardy 2008 pp 14 16 A Deeper Kind of Blue Archived December 23 2008 at the Wayback Machine review Billboard charts Hardy 2008 p 17 a b c d e f g The Great Late Townes Van Zandt Texas Monthly March 1 1998 Archived from the original on August 28 2008 Hardy 2008 p 25 Hardy 2008 p 27 J T Van Zandt on YouTube video Townes Van Zandt interview in Oslo NRK Lydverket on YouTube video Hardy 2008 p 60 Hardy 2008 p 212 Heartworn Highways profile imdb com accessed July 1 2015 a b c The Way of the Gun Living up to his famous father is a tall order for J T Van Zandt dallasobserver com October 24 2002 Townes Van Zandt Live at the Old Quarter BlurtOnline com October 20 2008 Archived from the original on January 8 2009 a b Townes Van Zandt Live At The Old Quarter Houston Texas RollingStone com Archived from the original on March 19 2007 Retrieved July 1 2015 Townes Van Zandt For the Sake of the Song PopMatters com Retrieved June 19 2015 Hardy 2008 p 130 a b Tinkham Chris Interview with Margaret Brown Under The Radar Archived from the original on May 22 2006 Retrieved April 7 2013 a b c d Hardy 2008 p 203 Be Here to Love Me DVD bonus feature Johnny Guess interview a b Hardy 2008 p 216 Hardy 2008 p 190 a b Hardy 2008 p 230 Hardy 2008 p 228 Hardy 2008 p 229 Hardy 2008 p 231 Hardy 2008 p 232 Hardy 2008 p 241 Hardy 2008 p 266 a b c Townes Without Pity The Battle for Townes Van Zandt s legacy Austin Chronicle accessed July 1 2015 Hardy 2008 pp 127 128 a b c Hardy 2008 p 195 Hedgepeth William May 1977 Townes Van Zandt messages from the outside Hittin the Note a b c d e f g KUT FM s Texas Music Matters Townes Van Zandt Special Archived September 11 2008 at the Wayback Machine townesvanzandt com accessed July 1 2015 Hardy 2008 p 247 Hardy 2008 p 245 a b Hardy 2008 p 255 a b Hardy 2008 p 260 a b Hardy 2008 p 261 a b Hardy 2008 p 262 Hardy 2008 p 264 Townes Van Zandt Frequently Asked Questions No 17 Pnwpest org Retrieved May 8 2011 a b c d For The Sake of the Song Austin Chronicle accessed July 1 2015 a b Roberts Jo July 22 2005 The songwriter theage com au Retrieved May 8 2011 Townes van Zandt He lived for the sake of the song Oakland Tribune Find Articles June 30 2007 Archived from the original on June 30 2007 Townes van Zandt profile MetaFilter Retrieved May 8 2011 dubious discuss Hardy 2008 p 205 a b c DeCurtis Anthony May 7 2009 Freeing a Mentor From His Mythology New York Times accessed July 1 2015 Hardy 2008 p 197 a b c d e Poet A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt AllMusic com accessed July 1 2015 Lyle Lovett Austin Chronicle accessed July 1 2015 Unknown Rooms A Collection of Acoustic Songs Pitchfork Media Scott Avett plays Townes Van Zandt Greensboro Woman Muzzleofbees com accessed July 1 2015 Townes Van Zandt Biography CMT com accessed July 1 2015 Thing of the Past AllMusic com accessed July 1 2015 Looting the Bins with Devendra Banhart Blurt Online June 19 2008 Archived from the original on February 7 2009 Norah Jones amp the Handsome Band Live in 2004 imdb com accessed July 1 2015 dubious discuss Raising Sand Credits AllMusic com accessed July 1 2015 Chinatown AllMusic com accessed July 1 2015 Wilcock Steven Josh Ritter interview Triste Magazine Triste co uk Retrieved May 8 2011 Gillian Welch The Revelator Collection Amazon com Bio The Early Years Garthbrooks com Archived from the original on February 12 2007 Simon Joyner on Nebraska and His Songs Hearnebraska org June 1 2012 Retrieved June 19 2015 Steve Earle interview for the album Townes The Daily Telegraph Goodman Frank May 2007 A Conversation with Nathan Followill of Kings of Leon PDF Puremusic com accessed July 1 2015 Cummings Bill October 26 2011 INTERVIEW Marissa Nadler God Is In The TV Retrieved April 22 2022 Townes Van Zandt The Greatest Musician You ve Never Heard Of By Frank Turner August 28 2015 Retrieved September 1 2015 Reddit AMA I am Alejandro Rose Garcia AKA Shakey Graves AMA Retrieved May 11 2017 Townes Van Zandt s bequest finds new life at Dawn Archived October 18 2015 at the Wayback Machine Reuters com February 2 2012 2012 Honoree Townes Van Zandt Texas Heritage Writers Archived from the original on March 28 2012 Retrieved April 8 2013 STEVE VON TILL SCOTT KELLY amp WINO Confirm Townes Van Zandt Tribute Album To See US Release Via Neurot in June Earsplitcompound com April 13 2012 Retrieved September 17 2012 Songs of Townes Van Zandt vol II by John Baizley Nate Hall Mike Scheidt Neurotrecordings bandcamp com Retrieved October 17 2021 ACL s New Season Launches with the Hall of Fame 2015 Special ACLTV com Gillian Welch Townes Van Zandt induction into ACL Hall of Fame Vimeo com September 11 2015 Deller Alex November 3 2016 Neurosis Crass were the mother of all bands The Guardian Kings Place London Archived from the original on November 29 2022 Retrieved June 27 2023 The Definitive Guide to the Music of The Big Lebowski LAWeekly com March 7 2013 Townes Van Zandt TV amp Film Sync Placements Tunefind Retrieved November 6 2019 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri 2017 IMDb December 2017 Retrieved November 6 2019 Hughen Tyler and Kahlil Hudson 2012 Low amp Clear a feature documentary Finback Films Retrieved October 3 2023 Townes Van Zandt Be Here to Love Me Full Film Snagfilms com November 24 2010 Retrieved May 8 2011 Be Here to Love Me A Film About Townes Van Zandt Movie Reviews Rotten Tomatoes September 13 2004 Retrieved May 8 2011 Christgau Georgia November 22 2005 Hard Living Folk Icon in a Sympathetic but Frank Doc Village Voice Retrieved May 8 2011 Cockrell Eddie September 29 2004 Be Here to Love Me A Film About Townes Van Zandt Variety com Retrieved May 8 2011 Kruth John 2008 To live s to fly the ballad of the late great Townes Van Zandt New York Da Capo Retrieved October 3 2023 Kruth John March 4 2008 To Live s to Fly The Ballad of the Late Great Townes Van Zandt Hachette Books ISBN 978 0 306 81604 8 Retrieved May 8 2011 Hardy Robert Earl 2008 A deeper blue the life and music of Townes Van Zandt Denton TX University of North Texas Press Retrieved October 3 2023 A Deeper Blue The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt 9781574412475 Robert Earl Hardy Books Amazon com Retrieved May 8 2011 Townes Van Zandt Book Recommendations A Haven for Songs August 8 2021 Retrieved September 13 2021 The Townes Van Zandt Movie Guide A Haven for Songs September 2 2021 Retrieved September 13 2021 Allen Jim February 28 2019 Townes Van Zandt s Sky Blue Offers Insight Into A Mercurial Mind At His Prime NPR Retrieved March 13 2019 BibliographyKruth John 2007 To Live s to Fly The Ballad of the Late Great Townes Van Zandt Da Capo Press ISBN 978 0 306 81553 9 Hardy Robert Earl 2008 A Deeper Blue The Life and Music of Townes Van Zandt North Texas Lives of Musician Series University of North Texas Press ISBN 978 1 57441 247 5 Atkinson Brian T 2012 I ll Be Here in the Morning The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt Texas A amp M University Press ISBN 978 1 60344 527 6 Eggers Harold F 2018 My Years with Townes Van Zandt Music Genius and Rage Backbeat ISBN 978 1 61713 708 2 Lomax John III 1998 Townes Van Zandt In Kingsbury Paul ed The Encyclopedia of Country Music New York Oxford University Press p 562 ISBN 978 0 19 511671 7 External links edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Townes Van Zandt Official website nbsp Townes Van Zandt at Curlie Townes Van Zandt at AllMusic Townes Van Zandt at IMDb Townes Van Zandt The Self Destructive Hobo Saint by John Kruth originally appeared in Sing Out V48 2 Travels with Townes Van Zandt by Steve Hawley July 2003 Townes Van Zandt at Find a GraveAwardsPreceded byMickey Newbury AMA presidents Award2007 Succeeded byJerry Garcia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Townes Van Zandt amp oldid 1216949032, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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