The story of Townes Van Zandt.

[Swede]

This sounds good.

Nearly any version of any Van Zandt song will be good; such is the beauty and grace of his daunting body of songs. He was a craftsman, a poet, an observer of life and a confessor of truths. His songs revealed unselfconscious beauty in anguish and a startling grace in self-destruction. Each sad song - and Van Zandt's songs were generally alarmingly sad - was the product of a tortured, bedeviled soul who neither lost touch with humanity nor sought pity.

http://www.starexponent.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CSE/MGArticle/IMD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137834683653&path=!mgnetwork!diversions

[elshiva]

1. Heard about that on the radio. Should be great.

Straight to DVD, correct?

[Redstone]

2. He was one of the best songwriters EVER, but couldn't carry a tune

if it was in a basket with handles. Sorry, I respect his writing to no end (having been a songwriter myself), but the boy could NOT sing.

If you want to turn people on to his songs, please recommend that they listen to other people singing them (Like Emmylou Harris singing "Pancho and Lefty") rather than asking them to listen to TVZ singing his ownself.

They'll appreciate his songwriting ability all the more if you do. And he deserves to be remembered and appreciated.

Redstone

[elshiva]

6. His voice is an acquired taste, like Dylan's.

I like it, but can't defend why I like it.

[Redstone]

9. You don't HAVE to defend liking his voice. The fact that you like it

is NOT invalidated by the fact that I don't. Got it?

M'dear, you never have to be apologetic with me. You have every right to say that you like what you like without being defensive about anything. Your opinions are every bit as valid as mine or anyone else's.

Capisce?

Redstone

[elshiva]

11. Thanks, hon!

:hug: And just because I am fat does not mean that he can hit me! :hug:

[Redstone]

12. Nobody gets to hit you for any reason. You HAVE to listen to me:

Nobody can abuse you unless you ALLOW them to.

And you do NOT have to allow anyone to abuse you.

Just tell them no.

Redstone

[elshiva]

13. I know that is why no one has hit me in the last week!

I keep telling myself this!

[Redstone]

14. Good. Keep it up.

Redstone

[cemaphonic]

17. I like his voice (and his guitar playing)

Yes, on any sort of a technical level, his singing is terrible. But soul and character is just as important in most types of popular music, and his voice had that in spades.

Not that I ever mind listening to Emmylou, or course.

And his songwriting was top notch.

[Redstone]

3. Furthermore:

I'm going to kick this thread tomorrow morning. That movie sounds like something everyone (including me) should see, and I thank you for posting the infomation. He deserves to be remembered for the astonishingly good songwriter that he was.

I did meet TVZ once when I was living in Texas and playing country music for a living. Not that I remember much about it; there was considerable alcohol pretty much all the time for me back then. I think we might have called each other motherfucker, but I can't be sure this long after the fact.

Redstone

[rppper]

4. read my sig line....a bit of his work there

i'm a big cowboy junkies fan....rip tvz

[Redstone]

10. Mrs R and I like Cowboy Junkies, too. I have to be in the right mood,

but if I am (for example, if I'm halfway through a 300-mile drive at 3 AM), there's nothing like that girl's voice to sustain the flow.

Redstone

[peacefreak]

5. Alcohol & hard living did a number on his voice,

but nothing soothes me more than his Rear View Mirror. That is the one I have turned more than one person onto. If you want to hear other performers do his stuff, try Poet, a Tribute to TVZ.

[greendog]

16. I love "Rear View Mirror"...

~~~
Days up and down they come
Like rain on a conga drum
Forget most, remember some
But don't turn none away

Everything is not enough
Nothin' is to much to bear
Where you been is good and gone
All you keep is the gettin' there

To live is to fly
Low and high
So shake the dust off of your wings
And the sleep out of your eyes

[Cocoa]

7. my introduction to Van Zandt was fairly interesting

my laundromat normally played the smooth jazz station, but one day someone apparently put the "wrong" station on and got some "weird" station, maybe the Northwestern University station or some such.

I knew something was up about a minute into "Waiting around to die." I thought to myself, what's this? A song playing at the laundromat that someone might notice is playing, let alone want to listen to? Wtf is going on?

I made an educated guess as to the title of the song, then looked it up at the library next door and I've been a Townes Van Zandt fan ever since. :toast:

[TomInTib]

8. I knew Townes...

and have great stories that will last forever.

There is now the only full-show concert footage of him ever filmed available on DVD.

Shot in Amsterdam in 1991, it is available on TVZ.com. Or maybe it's TownesVanZandt.com. Or TVZRecords.com.

Titled "Live in Amsterdam".

2 1/2 hours of pure Townes.

If there is any downside to the show, it was made during his "sober" year.

[Skittles]

15. I met him a few times

I lived in Austin and a gal I worked with live with him and his wife; I babysat for his son.