Townes Van Zandt

Singer-songwriter Steve Earle once said about Townes Van Zandt:

Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan‘s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.

Earle later clarified his comment, but there is an element of truth to his praise. Like Bob Dylan, Van Zandt’s song are full of poetic imagery, literary allusions, and fictional folk heroes. But where Dylan channeled blues and gospel influences in his music, Van Zandt—a Texas native—kept his sound closely aligned to acoustic folk and country.

Van Zandt, born John Townes Van Zandt, was born in Fort Worth, Texas to a wealthy family. Townes was a descendant of Texas leader Isaac Van Zandt and Confederate Major Khleber Miller Van Zandt. His father, Harris Williams Van Zandt, was a corporate general. This caused the Townes-Van Zandt family to move frequently. They moved to Midland from Fort Worth for a few months before ultimately moving to Montana. The University of Colorado at Boulder accepted Van Zandt as a student in 1962. In the spring of his second year, his parents flew to Boulder to bring Townes back to Texas, worried about his binge drinking and episodes of depression. They admitted him to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was diagnosed with manic depression. After being diagnosed Townes' family allowed him treatment which damaged his psyche and long-term memory. He later attempted to join the Air Force, but was rejected due to a doctor’s diagnosis that labeled him “an acute manic-depressive who has made minimal adjustments to life”. With the past behind him, he finally decided to pursue his musical career.

Unfortunately, Van Zandt’s career never took off. He mostly toured dive bars and lived in cheap hotels. His musical influence and legacy, however, have had a lasting impact. Many artists have covered his songs. Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson’s cover of “Pancho and Lefty” reached number one on the Billboard country chart, and the aforementioned Steve Earle released an entire album of Van Zandt covers.