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Townes Van Zandt

Townes Van Zandt

17 articles

Audio interviews

Townes Van Zandt (1986)

Interview by Holger Petersen, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 January 1986

The Texas troubadour talks about his rootless youth; getting his songs covered by stars; the dangers of the road; bluesmen in general and Lightnin' Hopkins in particular; songwriting, "sky" songs and 'Pancho and Lefty'; and sharing a house with Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell!

File format: mp3; file size: 36.7mb, interview length: 40' 06" sound quality: *****

Townes Van Zandt (1987)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, 16 October 1987

The cult Texan troubadour talks about the difference between the pro-active Butch Hancock and his own laid-back self; making live albums and playing solo versus having a band; his sometime roommate Roky Erickson; seeing Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show and obtaining his first guitar; his oft-covered 'Pancho and Lefty'; the UK hurricane of 1987; his pals Steve Earle, Jerry Jeff Walker and Guy Clark, and the death of "Skinny Dennis" Sanchez; plus Lyle Lovett, Chips Moman... and Scotty Moore's guitar.

File format: mp3; file size: 55.6mb, interview length: 57' 57" sound quality: ****

List of articles in the library

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Townes Van Zandt: Bitter End, New York NY; Dave Van Ronk: Gaslight Café, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 30 May 1970

Two Folk Singers Show Varied Styles At Village Clubs ...

Townes Van Zandt: The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (Poppy)

Review by Jeff Walker, Phonograph Record, May 1973

TOWNES VAN ZANDT is so much more than just another singer/songwriter. He's a storyteller; a mood-maker. ...

Townes Van Zandt

Interview by Richard Wootton, Omaha Rainbow, December 1977

TOWNES VAN ZANDT is no longer such a well kept secret, known only to a handful of dedicated fans. Thanks to his new manager and ...

Townes Van Zandt (1986) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Holger Petersen, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 4 January 1986

This is a transcript of Holger's audio interview with Townes. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Townes Van Zandt: Union Chapel, London

Live Review by Paul Sexton, The Times, 26 April 1994

Return of a rambler ...

Keeping Quiet For The Sake Of A Song: Townes Van Zandt 1944-1997

Obituary by Adam Sweeting, The Guardian, January 1997

OTHER MUSICIANS revered Texan song writer Townes Van Zandt who has died of a heart attack aged 52, but he made real efforts, helped by ...

Townes Van Zandt 1944-1997

Obituary by Robert Gordon, MOJO, March 1997

AT TOWNES VAN ZANDT’S FUNERAL, HIS longtime friend and fellow songwriter Guy Clark stepped to the microphone and, adjusting a guitar around his neck, said, ...

A Gentleman and a Shaman: The Last Days and Sad Death of Townes Van Zandt

Retrospective by Matt Hanks, No Depression, January 1999

IF YOU CAN see through the hangover haze and black-eyed pea tradition that ties one First Day to another, January 1st can serve as a ...

Townes Van Zandt: A Far Cry From Dead

Review by Matt Hanks, No Depression, July 1999

LIKE DOCK BOGGS, Townes Van Zandt was obsessed with death. Both men were shadowed by their own mortality, obsessing over it and collapsing under ...

Townes Van Zandt: A Far Cry From Dead

Review by Chris Smith, Performing Songwriter, 15 July 1999

STEVE EARLE ONCE gushed, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world, and I'd stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my boots ...

Townes Van Zandt: Wanderin' Star

Retrospective by Sylvie Simmons, MOJO, April 2003

What do you do when you're really down? Listen to Townes Van Zandt Sylvie Simmons charts the artistic triumphs and personal disasters of sadness's most ...

Van Zandt's New "Love"

Report by Jason Cohen, Rolling Stone, 23 September 2004

IF YOU KNOW your Texas music, it's a famous story: in 1970 a young Joe Ely picked up a hitchhiker on his way to Houston. ...

Steve Earle: Townes (New West)

Review by Roy Trakin, SonicBoomers.com, 29 May 2009

IF YOU'RE LOOKING for a dark-horse Grammy Album of the Year contender, you couldn't find a better one than this effort, which boasts the requisite ...

Townes Van Zandt: The Nashville Sessions

Review by Andrew Mueller, Uncut, May 2015

IT COULD HAVE been the record that made him; maybe, even the record that saved him. ...

The Story of Guy and Susanna Clark Unfolds in New Documentary Without Getting Killed or Caught

Report and Interview by Geoffrey Himes, American Songwriter, 15 March 2021

The documentary movie, Without Getting Killed or Caught, is as much about Susanna Clark as it is about her husband Guy. Which makes sense, because ...

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