For the Sake of the Song

Book excerpt: After death, Townes Van Zandt found the success that he sabotaged during life. Diagnosed as bipolar, an alcoholic, and perennially unreliable, Van Zandt died of heart failure at the age of 52 on New Year’s Day 1997. He released sixteen albums during life, and since his death numerous albums both by and in honor of him have been released and many critical articles published, in addition to several books (including Robert Hardy’s A Deeper Blue by UNT Press). Van Zandt, once an underappreciated and self-destructive wandering troubadour, is now a critics’ and fan-favorite. His best-known songs are “Pancho and Lefty,” covered by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, and “If I Needed You.” Steve Earle’s 2009 Townes album of covers jumpstarted a slate of more recent tributes, including those by Robert Earl Keen, Lucinda Williams, and John Prine. For the Sake of the Song collects ten essays on Townes Van Zandt from a variety of approaches. For example, contributors examine his legacy; his use of the minor key; psychological interpretation of “High, Low and In Between”; his reception in the Austin music scene; and an exploration of his relationship with Richard Dobson, a so-called “outlaw songwriter” with whom he toured as part of the Hemmer Ridge Mountain Boys. An introduction by editors Ann Norton Holbrook and Dan Beller-McKenna provides an overview of Van Zandt’s literary excellence and philosophical wisdom, rare among even the best songwriters.