Dec 13 2004
Townes Van Zandt on Whole Wheat Radio
A couple weeks ago I wrote an email to Townes Van Zandt’s widow, telling her all about Whole Wheat Radio — asking her if she’d like to send some of Townes’s CDs to Whole Wheat Radio. Well, guess what? It worked. You can now request a whole slew of Townes’s songs on Whole Wheat Radio. I’ve written similar emails to Christine Fellows, and most recently to Danny Schmidt, and, as result, both can now be requested on WWR. But I have to tell you, getting Townes Van Zandt on Whole Wheat Radio — this is huge.
I realize that most people reading this, and probably most of the Whole Wheat Radio listeners, have no idea who the hell this Townes Van Zandt guy is. He’s one of those artists nobody’s heard of — but every grassroots, singer-songwriter has. If you’re into Guy Clark, Greg Brown, Lucinda Williams, Gillian Welch, Danny Schmidt, or Peter Mulvey, you should appreciate Townes Van Zandt. Townes has made an indelible imprint on all of them. His songwriting transforms and transcends the country and folk tradition his music grew out of. Just check out my previous post about Townes to find out more (use the search function for this site and type in ‘Townes’).
There are something like 6 Townes Van Zandt CDs in the Whole Wheat Radio library now, more than enough to get a good taste of his music. (Note to Jim and Esther — if your cabin is getting too cluttered up with all these CDs I’ve gotten these artists to send you, I’ll be happy to take them off your hands. You can be sure I’d give them a good home.) As glad as I am to see his music on Whole Wheat Radio, the best way to let his music sink in is to put on one of his albums. I recommend most of the albums that happen to be included in the Texas Troubadour box set.
To get things started, though, I’ve recorded a 32-minute mudcast [removed] dedicated totally to Townes’s music. I recorded this quick and fast off-the-floor with little preparation. Had I prepared, I would have given more specific information of Townes’s music, his influence, his life — all that stuff. But I wanted to get this post up as soon as possible, so I just winged it. It would have been better with Jenny by my side, but it’s still not a bad way to sample some of Townes’s music and get an idea of what all the fuss is about. I hope you like it.
Update (Jan. 7/06): This recording has been removed. Sorry.
Did you know there was a documentary made about about Van Zandt this year?
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0423853/
(Yes, yes it is a slow day at work. What made you ask? :)
Yeah, I’m waiting for it come out on DVD. I saw Townes in Heartworn Highways, which was hard to watch at times because it was so drunk. I hope the documentary focuses more on his music than his alcholism.
good music, good soundquality, your voice is ok, Patrick from Holland
In the last month I have finally discovered Townes…
For at least 30 years I’ve listened to people like The Band, Tom Waits, Hank Williams and I thought I had heard everything. I had heard nothing till I heard this man. I always loved Poncho and Lefty, I did not know who had written it. Well, this month through a Sundance Channel, on January 14th I watched “Be Here To Love Me”. This man touches me like none other since Tom Waits and Tom Waits actually changed my life. Townes has changed my life too. How I became such a great fan of Mickey Newbury without hearing of Townes is beyond me….. I’ll never be the same Thank you my brother… you fill me to the brim.