Townes Van Zandt fans?

[JAlexander]

Some of y'all are bound to be, so I wanted to pass along the info that Be Here to Love Me, the documentary about Townes, is being released today on DVD.  I saw it last year at SXSW and recommend it unreservedly.  Even if you're not familiar with Townes' work, I still recommend the movie, but I have to warn y'all that it is not a happy film.
Me, I like it enough that I'm breaking one of my cardinal rules and venturing into Austin during the week of SXSW to attend the DVD release 'do.  Free beer and barbecue and a chance to get a signed-by-the-director copy of the DVD is a big draw, though, so I guess I'll sacrifice my principles.

James

[SADShooter]

Excellent! I didn't even know the film existed. My wife and I are Americana/Texas singer-songwriter fans, and Townes is a legend among legends. Admittedly though, his life story and music are not exactly, shall we say, uplifting? The man understood pain, and could communicate it.

[Art Eatman]

Townes was cool.  I used to run into him at the old 11th Door, where Symphony Square at 11th and Red River is now.  He was running with Caddo Parish Studdard III in those days.  Forty years back.  He and Caddo would play mind games with anybody who seemed vulnerable.  One night the big deal was to take a rubber-ducky raft trip from Austin to the Gulf.  W4e all agreed it was a wonderful idea.  Caddo allowed as how he had a raft; they'd set off from I-35 on Town Lake.  Sure enough, when Caddo couldn't find Townes the next morning, Townes was still asleep under the I-35 bridge...

Willie's recording of Pancho & Lefty brought in enough royalties for Townes to buy a house in south Austin.  Finally had a decent place to live...

I didn't see Townes much, those last years.  I guess the last time was after a Kerrville folk festival.  A bunch of us were all wadded up, getting drunker'n rats at a local motel.  Townes won all his side-man's money, shooting pool.

Great guy.  Sad loss...

Art

[JAlexander]

Townes was cool.  I used to run into him at the old 11th Door, where Symphony Square at 11th and Red River is now.  
Art

Hah.  I just won a bet with myself.  I knew if anyone around here would have known Townes, it would be you, Art.  I've known a few people who ran with Townes or drank with him years ago, and every one of them has said that he was a charming guy.

My darling wife and I navigated the hipsters and scenesters in downtown Austin in order to get a copy of Be Here to Love Me, but by the time we got there the barbecue was pretty much all gone.  I swear, you mention free food to music industry goofballs and it'll be gone in minutes.  Still, we did get the DVD and a signed copy of the movie poster, so it wasn't all bad.

James

[SADShooter]

Art, as someone who was only exposed to Townes' work after he was gone, I can't tell you how amazing that is. You've led an inspiring life, and it's always fascinating to read your stories.

[bg]

Boy ! Wonder how many times I've heard White Freightliner at different
truck shops I've worked at...Course when it comes to feeling blue and
sharing a bottle of Old Crow with that blue, nothing fits more so than
Tecumseh Valley.

[Art Eatman]

After booming around the world for a dozen years or so, I moved back to Austin in 1963.  The sports car crowd and the folk music crowd had a lot of overlap.  I always called the whole deal a "tumbling wad of puppies", 'cause you never new what would happen next, who'd do what to whom.

So I was around during that whole deal in the 1960s and 1970s.  Damron and I and another guy bought the Chequered Flag from Rod Kennedy when Rod moved to Kerrville to start the folk festival there.  Then the original Saxon Pub at E. 38th & I-35 became the hangout.  Martin Wigginton had a couple of folk/hippie joints, and later a folk club up by 30th & Guadalupe, which later on became Antone's.  A bunch of us Old Farts built "Snaveley's" on E. 6th St. during 1981/1982.  (Named after Snaveley, The One Armed Snake; taken from a Fromholz song.  I can tell you that Buckwheat Stevenson's version of My Maria makes Brooks & Dun sound like dog-doo--well, my memory has it that way.

(Ever see the video of B&D's "My Maria"?  I got my two seconds of fame as the old-man desk clerk.  Look fast!  Don't blink! )

Fun days...

Art

[Ron]

I'm partial to "If I needed you", "Dollar Bill Blues" and "To live is to fly".

I ordered "Rain a conga drum" from his families websight and they sent a free cassete with the disk. It was almost the same line up of songs except it wasn't live and was really well produced with string arrangements. At first I thought it wasn't right, his music should be kinda raw and stripped down, but it is actually really good. I leave it in my car because my cassete deck hasn't been hooked up for years.

The sadness in his life comes through in his music.

[Sylvilagus Aquaticus]

BTW, how's AW doing, Art? For some reason, 'Come to the Bower' has been playing in my head all month.

Last I heard anything was when Johnny G. was out there giving you a spell.  Is he doing any better?

Regards,
Rabbit.

[Art Eatman]

Allen died August 13th.  He never really recovered from brain tumor surgery in December of 2004.  Allen being Allen, he did offer the comment that, "Well, folks have always told me I have a hole in my head."

http://www.austin360.com/news/content/music/statesman/2005/16damron.html

Poor David's Pub might have some of his tapes and CDs.  On his last CD, he finally recorded "Bleached Blondes and Broncos"; it includes Gringo Pistolero, IIRC.

Last time I talked to Marie, she had some guy in Dallas remastering all his songs, from the earliest recordings onward.  Probably have a bunch of it in Kerrville at the Festival.

I'm losing too many friends.  Damron and I were runnin' buddies for 41 years...

Art

[Ron]

Rear View Mirror is the tape they sent me for free.

It says "previously unreleased" and "unique instrumentation"

There is a bit more difference in the song list than I indicated, all the songs you would expect in a live set are on it though.

It's a '93 release, cannot believe how time flies.