Townes Van Zandt

You’d be hard pressed to find a more under appreciated songwriter than the late Townes Van Zandt; under appreciated by the media, and certainly under appreciated in terms of album sales. Though not completely under appreciated by the people who probably mattered most to him: his peers. Kris Kristofferson calls Townes a “songwriter’s songwriter.” That seems to be the ultimate compliment to anybody in any specific field; to be respected by one’s contemporaries is in many ways more important than to be so by those outside any particular profession. Just as a doctor would love to be considered a “doctor’s doctor” or a comedian a “comedian’s comedian,” so too would Van Zandt have loved to have heard that he was considered a “songwriter’s songwriter.”

Be Here to Love Me documents the life of one of America’s true gifts to music. Townes Van Zandt lived a simple life that at times seemed to be filled with good times and joy, though often was troubled and tragic. He developed a taste for drugs and alcohol early on, which may not seem different than the lifestyle of most musicians, unless you consider he was mainlining bourbon and coke… literally. Through the good times and the dark days, he managed to write numerous great songs, though perhaps only “Pancho &Lefty” will be recognized by the novice music lover (and only that because of the great Willie Nelson &Merle Haggard version).

Through great interviews with the man himself, and his friends and family, his story is told by the people who should be telling it, with many memorable quotes to be had throughout including some great live footage and home videos. From Townes describing the songwriting process (“it just kind of comes when it wants to”) to Steve Earle describing how Townes once played Russian Roulette and took not one or two pulls of the trigger with the gun to his head, but three, effectively surviving a fifty-fifty chance of dying. In the end it was heart failure that took his life at the age of 53, following hip surgery, though it seemed inevitable had it not been that, he would have died one way or another around the same time, considering his severe problem with alcoholism. Another legend gone too soon, let’s just be thankful such a great DVD has been released to honor his life and music. We can also be thankful that it (songwriting) came as often as it did for Townes Van Zandt, the music will live on forever.