Texas Musicians: Townes Van Zandt

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Another great day in late July? I’ll take it! Before I head off to a nice outside walk (hopefully as good as yesterday’s) I’ll give you another Texas born-and-bred musician. With a hearty “Linda? NO!!”, here’s today’s poet/singer. Townes Van Zandt Another favorite of @TheHorse ‘s and mine (and no, this countdown isn’t sponsored by him ), Townes Van Zandt is a case study in what could have been, and what was. This guy was a stinking genius with lyrics. Listen to a song like “Tecumseh Valley” and you’ll see the cinematic quality of his songwriting. Sadly, Van Zandt had a number of problems. He had bipolar disorder, and that was made worse by addictions to alcohol and heroin. Maybe he desired to be Gram Parsons 2.0 (they had a lot in common: great songwriting, wealthy parents [Parsons’ grandfather has a hefty financial interest in orchards in Florida], and the demon of heroin ), but he lasted a lot longer than Gram did. Van Zandt wrote a number of songs that are still covered today. The two most significant are “If I Needed You,” which was a hit for Don Williams and Emmylou Harris; and, what’s most likely his “signature” song, “Pancho and Lefty.” Recorded by Harris, and later a #1 hit for Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, the song has been covered countless times (including by our own Horse, which you can find on his YouTube channel). A sad post-script: Steve Earle named his son after Van Zandt, Justin Townes Earle. Justin caught the heroin bug and died too young, too. Would Townes have been the songwriter he was without it? I don’t know, but I wish he was still around for us to find out. Townes Van Zandt Born John Townes Van Zandt March 7, 1944, Fort Worth Died January 1, 1997, Smyrna, Tennessee (alcohol-related cardiac arrhythmia) (age 52) HALLS OF FAME: Austin City Limits; Texas Heritage Songwriters The classic “Pancho and Lefty,” as only Townes could do it: