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Gavin B. · 11-03-2009, 01:15 PM

Song of the Day

Townes Van Zandt at home in rural Texas

Nothin'- Townes Van Zandt

I was glad to see a couple mentions of the music of Townes Van Zandt over on the Modern Country music thread. His musical gifts were certainly underappreciated when he was alive and the resurgence of interest in his life and music is long overdue.

I've never thought of Townes as a traditional country artist and he doesn't fit into any neat musical category. AMG places him in the folk genre but he was marketed for most of the 70s as a singer songerwriter in the mode of James Taylor or Jackson Browne. Van Zandt's country music associations began after Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Emmylou Harris began covering his songs in the the late 70s. Townes was a gifted interpreter of Hank Williams who frequently included one or two songs writen by Hank in his set list.

Oddly enough Townes identified himself as a blues singer, more than anything else. Townes was noted for saying, "There's two kinds of music in the world, there's the blues and then there's everything else." Townes was making a joke but he really did have the heart of an country music outlaw that shared the same body with the soul of a rambling bluesman.

Much of what Townes Van Zandt wrote and sang had a direct lineage back to the indigenous Texas blues music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mance Liscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins. In fact Townes was a close friend of Lightnin' Hopkins who was also his early instructor on guitar playing. Townes frequently used the imagery and language of the blues musician in his music. Townes rarely let a live show pass without doing one of the few dozen by Lightnin' Hopkins songs he had mastered over the years. He also performed songs by Bo Diddley, Mississsippi Fred McDowell, and a rousing rendition of the old folk blues standard Cocaine played in the manner of blues guitarist Rev. Gary Davis.

My favorite album by Townes is the first album of his I ever purchased: Delta Mama Blues (1971) on Tomato Records. Some of my best record purchases have been mistakes and my purchase of Delta Mama Blues was a mistake. At the time I was studying blues guitar under the persistent glare of accoustic guitar master Eric Schoenberg and living in Cambridge MA. One of Eric's instructions to me was to listen to a lot of delta blues music in order to refine my own individual style of playing. So one afternoon I'm browsing through albums at the Harvard Coop and the words in the title "delta mama blues" jumped out at me. I thought I was purchasing a delta blues album but I really got something a lot better. I still wonder what Townes was thinking about when he picked the picture for the album cover. It's such an odd photograph.

It took about a month for the music on the album to really get under my skin. I remember laying in bed in the dark listening Townes sing the heartbreaking songs in his plaintive voice and getting a bit overwhelmed with emotion. I was going through a big time romantic breakup and I took comfort in discovering a guy that was even more pathetically heartbroken than I was.

This version of Nothin' isn't the studio version but pretty close to it. This was filmed in 1988 at private concert at a Holiday Inn in Houston. It sounds like only one person was at the concert and Townes agreed to have the concert filmed. It was probably a rich Texas oilman with $10,000 to blow on a private concert.

I think Nothin' is the finest song Townes ever wrote and it really does sound like a blues song to me.

Nothin’
Words and Music by Townes Van Zandt

Hey mama, when you leave
Don't leave a thing behind
I don't want nothin'
I can't use nothin'

Take care into the hall
And if you see my friends
Tell them I'm fine
Not using nothin'

Almost burned out my eyes
Threw my ears down to the floor
I didn't see nothin'
I didn't hear nothin'

I stood there like a block of stone
Knowin' all I had to know
And nothin' more
Man, that's nothin'

As brothers our troubles are
Locked in each others arms
And you better pray
They never find you

Your back ain't strong enough
For burdens doublefold
They'd crush you down
Down into nothin'

Being born is going blind
And buying down a thousand times
To echoes strung
On pure temptation

Sorrow and solitude
These are the precious things
And the only words
That are worth rememberin'

11-03-2009, 01:15 PM	#130 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	Song of the Day Townes Van Zandt at home in rural Texas Nothin'- Townes Van Zandt I was glad to see a couple mentions of the music of Townes Van Zandt over on the Modern Country music thread. His musical gifts were certainly underappreciated when he was alive and the resurgence of interest in his life and music is long overdue. I've never thought of Townes as a traditional country artist and he doesn't fit into any neat musical category. AMG places him in the folk genre but he was marketed for most of the 70s as a singer songerwriter in the mode of James Taylor or Jackson Browne. Van Zandt's country music associations began after Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Emmylou Harris began covering his songs in the the late 70s. Townes was a gifted interpreter of Hank Williams who frequently included one or two songs writen by Hank in his set list. Oddly enough Townes identified himself as a blues singer, more than anything else. Townes was noted for saying, "There's two kinds of music in the world, there's the blues and then there's everything else." Townes was making a joke but he really did have the heart of an country music outlaw that shared the same body with the soul of a rambling bluesman. Much of what Townes Van Zandt wrote and sang had a direct lineage back to the indigenous Texas blues music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Mance Liscomb and Lightnin' Hopkins. In fact Townes was a close friend of Lightnin' Hopkins who was also his early instructor on guitar playing. Townes frequently used the imagery and language of the blues musician in his music. Townes rarely let a live show pass without doing one of the few dozen by Lightnin' Hopkins songs he had mastered over the years. He also performed songs by Bo Diddley, Mississsippi Fred McDowell, and a rousing rendition of the old folk blues standard Cocaine played in the manner of blues guitarist Rev. Gary Davis. My favorite album by Townes is the first album of his I ever purchased: Delta Mama Blues (1971) on Tomato Records. Some of my best record purchases have been mistakes and my purchase of Delta Mama Blues was a mistake. At the time I was studying blues guitar under the persistent glare of accoustic guitar master Eric Schoenberg and living in Cambridge MA. One of Eric's instructions to me was to listen to a lot of delta blues music in order to refine my own individual style of playing. So one afternoon I'm browsing through albums at the Harvard Coop and the words in the title "delta mama blues" jumped out at me. I thought I was purchasing a delta blues album but I really got something a lot better. I still wonder what Townes was thinking about when he picked the picture for the album cover. It's such an odd photograph. It took about a month for the music on the album to really get under my skin. I remember laying in bed in the dark listening Townes sing the heartbreaking songs in his plaintive voice and getting a bit overwhelmed with emotion. I was going through a big time romantic breakup and I took comfort in discovering a guy that was even more pathetically heartbroken than I was. This version of Nothin' isn't the studio version but pretty close to it. This was filmed in 1988 at private concert at a Holiday Inn in Houston. It sounds like only one person was at the concert and Townes agreed to have the concert filmed. It was probably a rich Texas oilman with $10,000 to blow on a private concert. I think Nothin' is the finest song Townes ever wrote and it really does sound like a blues song to me. Nothin’ Words and Music by Townes Van Zandt Hey mama, when you leave Don't leave a thing behind I don't want nothin' I can't use nothin' Take care into the hall And if you see my friends Tell them I'm fine Not using nothin' Almost burned out my eyes Threw my ears down to the floor I didn't see nothin' I didn't hear nothin' I stood there like a block of stone Knowin' all I had to know And nothin' more Man, that's nothin' As brothers our troubles are Locked in each others arms And you better pray They never find you Your back ain't strong enough For burdens doublefold They'd crush you down Down into nothin' Being born is going blind And buying down a thousand times To echoes strung On pure temptation Sorrow and solitude These are the precious things And the only words That are worth rememberin' Last edited by Gavin B.; 11-04-2009 at 08:56 PM.