Be Here to Love Me
There's an interesting new movie out, but in order to see it I'll probably have to brave the Angelika and sit with a bunch of spoiled white liberals ("There's starvation in Africa... and there's too much foam on my soy vanilla latte!!")
Small price to pay, though, because Townes van Zandt is (was) one of my favorite songwriters, and I'm gratified that someone would choose to make a film of his life, even if it isn't big-budget box office like Ray or Walk the Line.
Like Charles, Cash and countless others, Townes was a musical genius who struggled with self-destructive impulses -- except that Townes usually lost. He died of alcohol-related "issues" in 1997, at the age of 52. He pushed the envelope quite a bit farther than many of his peers. He once jumped from a four-story building to "see what it felt like," and survived three rounds of Russian roulette with Steve Earle. He started early, too. As a youth, he once fell asleep while huffing glue. He awoke with his teeth all glued up and had to knock them out with a hammer. The term "troubled" doesn't quite seem to cut it somehow.
Most of you have probably never heard his name or even heard him sing (he couldn't), but chances are you've heard a song of his at some point. They have been covered by Bob Dylan, the Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones and virtually every country artist I have any respect for at all.
When I tried to decide which TVZ song I would choose to play for a newbie by way of introduction, there were just too many to choose from. I finally picked this one more or less at random. It's Townes singing "No Lonesome Tune."
If you're curious about his music but you find his voice puts you off, might I recommend this tribute CD. It's a great sampling of TVZ tunes sung by other people.
