Artists:Townes Van Zandt
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Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997) was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of an oil executive, who 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 known 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 1997 death. Van Zandt is remembered as a great songwriter who left a legacy of great songs and inspired musicians.
He wrote some of the most stunningly introspective songs of our time. His songs evoke imagery and visions of otherworldly places and beauty. His songs reach a place in your soul few writers ever enter. The characters in Townes songs are usually the downtrodden, derelicts, drifters, whores and those less fortunate than most of us, though we can all identify with their "humanity" through Townes' words. He's gone to those dark places, so we don't have to.
Townes used to say, "Man, I could have been a Poet but this stupid music keeps coming with it." Townes was a funny guy.
External links
| Townes Van Zandt on MySpace |
| Townes Van Zandt on Wikipedia |
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Request a show of songs by Townes Van Zandt
| Song | Album | Length | Played | Overall | You | Tags | Single Request |
| Rex's Blues | Rear View Mirror | 2:23 | 12 |  7 votes |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Big Country Blues | In The Beginning | 3:26 | 14 | 15 votes |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Country / Folk / Acoustic guitar / Minor key / Solo vocalist / Acoustic | Loretta | Live And Obscure | 3:31 | 10 | 7 votes |
You have to login to give your opinion about songs. | Live / Acoustic / Solo vocalist / Country / Guy with guitar / Saxophone |
| Total Time | 9:20 |
The current music queue contains 1 songs that will take 4 mins, 9 secs to play.
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Artist name is|Townes Van Zandt Last played| more than 1 week ago ---------------------------------------- Show name| Songs by Townes Van Zandt Length| 15 minutes Order by| random Limit| 3 songs ----------------------------------------
Stats
- Spotlighted: Never
- Songs on WWR: 70
- Total plays: 1113
- Total requests: 724
- Total listens: 31409
- CDBaby referrals: 0
- CDBaby sales:
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