Remembering Townes Van Zandt in Eight Songs

On what would have been his 80th birthday, a look back at one of the greatest songwriters the Lone Star state ever produced.

Townes Van Zandt would’ve been 80 years old today. I don’t think anyone could have imagined him as an octogenarian, least of all Townes himself. A singular artist with deep Texas roots; Fort Worth was founded by his great-great-granduncle K.M. Van Zandt (whose father, Isaac, was a congressman in the Republic of Texas and the namesake of Van Zandt County). He relocated to Nashville and along with Guy Clark, spearheaded a new style of songwriting that leaned on confessional storytelling over folk and blues chord progressions, helping to launch the Progressive Country movement that indirectly influenced what later became Outlaw Country.

I first became enamored with Townes in the early 1980s, when Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered “Pancho and Lefty” and made it the title track of their 1983 collaboration. By the 1990s, I was deep diving into his back catalog and scarfing up his then-current work for Durham, NC-based roots label, Sugar Hill. I had planned to catch him at the Cat’s Cradle in late 1996 but couldn’t make it, figuring I’d “catch him next time.” A couple of months later, on New Year’s Day of 1997, he was dead.

There are many well-written tributes to Townes Van Zandt around the web today (like this one from Michael Corcoran), so I’ll defer to them to tell the story. (I did write a feature about the posthumous release of his Sky Blue album in 2019 when I spoke with Jeanene Van Zandt for No Depression. You can find that piece here.) Instead, I’m sharing eight of my favorite Townes moments below. Feel free to list your favorites in the comments.

Waitin’ ‘Round to Die

This powerful performance from the invaluable documentary Heartworn Highways is where you direct the uninitiated. If they can make it through this, they can handle a deeper dive.

Rex’s Blues

There have been many wonderful versions of this song (James McMurtry’s is a personal fave), but nothing tops this performance at the club owned by the song’s namesake, Rex “Wrecks” Bell.

Tecumseh Valley

Townes could sing a heartbreaker like no one else, but this one hits me the hardest. Steve Earle also nailed it on Train A-Comin’.

Marie

Speaking of sad songs…

There are a few good live versions of this devastating tale floating around, but for my money, nothing comes close to his aching, broken delivery on the excellent No Deeper Blue.

Blaze’s Blue

I could have filled this list with just songs I love from No Deeper Blue, but I’m keeping it at three. Propelled by Philip Donnelly’s dirty slide guitar, Van Zandt howls and yelps like a madman at the end of his rope under a full moon. Primal.

Pancho and Lefty

Well, of course, I had to include it.

The Hole

Again, there are live versions out there, but I can’t resist the Daniel Lanois-like production of this harrowing take. Again, from No Deeper Blue.

Dead Flowers

Yes, I know it’s a Jagger/Richards classic, but when I first got Townes’s excellent Road Songs album, this was the one that stood out the most. The lyrics are perfectly suited to Townes’s tired-and-worn delivery.

Imagine my surprise when the Coen brothers used it a few years later at the end of The Big Lebowski. It’s always validating when you discover artists you admire sharing a love of something you thought only you and a very select few knew about. It’s too bad Townes didn’t live to experience that moment. I think he’d have dug The Dude.

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