19A: Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt was born in 1944 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Question 1 – Can you find Fort Worth on a map?) He played a combination of folk and country. “Folk” is a type of music typified by poetic, story-like lyrics and simple instrumentation – usually an acoustic guitar. Many of Townes’s songs are considered masterpieces of American songwriting.

Townes was a very bright kid, made good grades, and was an athlete. But he was also troubled. He was manic-depressive, which means he bounced between being happy and sad.

Many people compared Townes to his hero, Hank Williams.

He never made it big. His voice was not a conventional singer’s voice. But other writers loved him. He’s one of the most influential songwriters of the last half century.

Here’s one of his best songs, “Pancho and Lefty.” Notice his finger-picking style. It sounds like two guitars are playing. And listen closely to the lyrics. Each phrase is like a tiny portrait. It begins: “Livin’ on the road my friend, is gonna keep you free and clean. Now you wear your skin like iron, and your breath is hard as kerosene.”  

Townes Van Zandt playing a medley of his hit. This is "Pancho & Lefty" played at Uncle Seymour's place. Taken from the DVD extras on "Heartworn Highways". If...

Like Woody Guthrie, Townes roamed from town to town, often by hopping on freight trains. Money and fame were not important to him. He lived to seek truth and adventure, and to write.

Here’s an interview with singer Emmylou Harris, talking about the first time she saw Townes. In the second half of the interview, she talks about one of his most beautiful songs, “If I Needed You.”

From The DVD Towns Van Zandt Be Here To Love Me from Special Features

You can hear “If I Needed You” played throughout this video, when Townes was inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. There are also interviews with some of his protégés. (Question 2 – What’s a protégé?)

The man who set the standard for Texas singer/songwriters is inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame. Watch Austin City Limits on PBS. For more vis...

Townes died in 1997 on New Year’s Day. (One of Townes’ idols, Hank Williams, died on New Year’s Day in 1953.) Be Here to Love Me is a film about Townes’ life. It talks about his talent and his troubles. Here’s a short trailer.

Buy or rent on Amazon http://amzn.to/fXFbCD. A film about Townes Van Sandt and begs to ask the question, "What would you sacrifice to follow your dream?" A F...

Townes was closely identified with his home state of Texas, which has a very strong tradition of songwriting. He was inducted into the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2012. Here’s his son and other songwriters talking about him.

Townes Van Zandt, 2012 Texas Heritage Songwriters' Association Hall of Fame Inductee

Answers:

1 — Fort Worth is in north Texas, just west of Dallas.

2 — A “protege” is someone who looks up to or tries to emulate another person. Townes Van Zandt had a lot of proteges.