Townes Van Zandt - Lungs

[sbrennan970]

I had a few hours free this weekend so I got down to covering one of my favourite folk songs; Lungs by Townes Van Zandt.

I think like many folk songs, the resonator is an excellent platform for this and adds alot of soul, even without the slide.

The original plan was to record this on resonator guitar only, but I got carried away and ended up adding in some mandolin, Baritone guitar and cajon.

I've had the Michael Messer Lightning (MM#29) for a few months now, it's become my go to instrument for covers, open mics, parties, the works. Can't put it down!



Hope you all enjoy the tune!
Cheers,
Stephen

[Michael Messer]

Sounding really good, Stephen.

Townes was such a great writer and performer. While I have never covered one of his songs myself, over the years I have played a few of his songs with other people - Waiting Around To Die, Snake Song, White Freight Liner, Talking Thunderbird Blues and one or two others. I never met Townes, but over the years I have met, played with and been around many of his friends.

Shine On
Michael

[mitchfit]

good job with your cover of "lungs".

as per usual, there's a lot more going on in his lyrics than is readily apparent:





back to your remark of the folk-like qualities of Townes' songs- the cover that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard did has a very Mexican folk song flavor to it. they even had the integrity to include many Van Zandt cameo spots in their video:



mitchfit

[Michael Messer]

Jan 30, 2023 20:26:24 GMT mitchfit said:

good job with your cover of "lungs".

as per usual, there's a lot more going on in his lyrics than is readily apparent:





back to your remark of the folk-like qualities of Townes' songs- the cover that Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard did has a very Mexican folk song flavor to it. they even had the integrity to include many Van Zandt cameo spots in their video:



mitchfit

You beat me to it! I was going to post that film of Townes singing Pancho & Lefty. Heartworn Highways is such a great film.

The blues comes in many forms and Townes Van Zandt was as blues as it gets - talented, masterful and tragic.

For anyone that doesn't know about him, try this....

John Townes Van Zandt[1] (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.[2] He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "For the Sake of the Song", "If I Needed You", "Tecumseh Valley", "Tower Song", "Rex's Blues", and "To Live Is to Fly", that are widely considered masterpieces of American songwriting. His musical style has often been described as melancholy and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability.

In 1983 Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered and popularized Van Zandt's song "Pancho and Lefty", reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart.[3] Much of Van Zandt's life was spent touring various dive bars,[4] often living in cheap motel rooms and backwoods cabins. For much of the 1970s, he lived in a simple shack without electricity or a telephone.

Van Zandt's influence has been cited by countless artists across multiple genres and his music has been recorded or performed by Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Merle Haggard, Norah Jones, Emmylou Harris, Counting Crows, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, Robert Earl Keen Jr., Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Wade Bowen, Gillian Welch, Richard Buckner, Pat Green, Colter Wall, Jason Isbell, Calvin Russell, Natalie Maines, Jason Molina, Kevin Morby, Stephen Duffy, Doc Watson, The Cowboy Junkies, Frank Turner, Rowland S. Howard, Cave In, Amenra and Marissa Nadler.

He suffered from a series of drug addictions and alcoholism, and was given a psychiatric diagnosis of bipolar disorder. When he was young, the now-discredited insulin shock therapy erased much of his long-term memory.

Van Zandt died on New Year's Day 1997 from cardiac arrythmia caused by health problems stemming from years of substance abuse. A revival of interest in Townes Van Zandt blossomed in the 2000s. During the decade, two books, a documentary film (Be Here to Love Me), and numerous magazine articles were written about him.

Shine On
Michael

[disparatesoul]

A great cover of a great song.

I love Townes - i have the live album Rear View Mirror which is excellent. Some of his studio albums can be a bit hit and miss, the production is a bit odd - i prefer the simplicity of these live versions.

The biography A deeper blue is an excellent read.

one of those who should have been far more widely known than he was.  One of the greats of american songwriting