Townes Van Zandt
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
Townes Van Zandt (March 7 1944 – January 1 1997) was a folk music singer-songwriter and performer.
Contents |
Life and music
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of an oil executive, he traveled in his youth around Texas and Colorado. He was the third-great-grandson of Isaac Van Zandt, a prominent leader of the Republic of Texas.
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 for those lucky enough to witness. He regularly performed with his great friend and contemporary, Guy Clark. Generally shy and reserved, Van Zandt's 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 by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard), 'Pancho and Lefty'.
He continued writing and performing at his own pace through the 1990s until his untimely 1997 death from a heart attack. Van Zandt is remembered as a great songwriter who left a legacy of great songs and inspired musicians. In fact, fellow alt country musician Josh Ritter paid homage to Van Zandt in his track ‘Me & Jiggs’ (taken from his first full-length album ‘Golden Age of Radio') with the line “Sitting on the porch playing Townes Van Zandt play guitar to burn off the hours”.
Discography
- 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 - 1973
- Live At The Old Quarter - 1977
- Flyin' Shoes - 1978
- Live And Obscure - 1987
- At My Window - 1987
- Rain On A Conga Drum - 1991
- Roadsongs - 1992
- The Nashville Sessions - 1993
- Rear View Mirror - 1993
- No Deeper Blue - 1994
- The Highway Kind - 1997
- Abnormal - 1998
- In Pain - 1999
- A Far Cry From Dead - 1999
- Together At The Bluebird w/ Guy Clark and Steve Earle - 2001
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
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
{{Persondata |NAME=Van Zandt, Townes |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= |SHORT DESCRIPTION=American songwriter |DATE OF BIRTH=1944-03-07 |PLACE OF BIRTH=Fort Worth, Texas |DATE OF DEATH=1997-01-01 |PLACE OF DEATH=Smyrna, Tennessee }}de:Townes Van Zandt es:Townes Van Zandt fi:Townes van Zandt