Music From Texas
 

Some music recommendations from a very diverse, yet cultured, part of the United States.

Townes Van Zandt

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Townes Van Zandt (born John Townes Van Zandt, 1944 – died 1997) was a folk, country, and blues singer-songwriter from Fort Worth (he also lived in Austin and Houston). For years during the 1960s and 70s, he traveled the country with nothing but his guitar and a backpack full of records. Releasing on the small, independent label Tomato, his albums were underground successes and popular amoung other songwriters of the blues and outlaw country movement. His modest living and his transient lifestyle have shrouded him in legend.

By the late 70s and into the 80s, Townes was becoming more and more recognized as famous acts covered his music. His breakout song Pancho & Lefty was famously covered by Willy Nelson and Merle Haggard, as well as Emmylou Harris. Many of Townes' songs are now considered standards in their respective genres.

He was known by his friends for his dry sense of humour, somewhat withdrawn personality, and charm. He is also infamous for his addictions and occasionally eratic behaviour. Once while in his teens, he fell backwards off of a four story apartment building to experience the sensation of falling. His lifestyle of partying worried his parents, so they sent him a mental hospital in Galveston. Due to the innacurate medical advice at the time, he was ordered to under go insulin shock treatments - which erased his long term memory. When he came to, he didn't even recognize his own mother.

He continued to drink and feed his addictions throughout his life, and destroyed his chance at stardom several times. He eventually died of heart-failure in 1997, at the age of 51.

Music Sampler

Waitin 'Round to Die



Pancho and Lefty



St. John The Gambler



Where to Start

Live music is a very important part of Townes' catalog. Just as Johnny Cash sounded his best playing in front of inmates at Folsom, Townes music is best captured in the smokey dive bars he played his entire career.

Studio Albums to start:

Our Mother the Mountain
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt

Live Albums to start:

Live at the Old Quarter
Rear View Mirror

Films:

Be Here to Love Me - a documentary about his life.
Heartworn Highways - a documentary about the outlaw country movement which features a performance by him.

when it comes to texas music, townes is a great place to start
i cant wait to see where you take this

One of my favourite muscians there.

This is a fabulous idea for a journal, and off to a great start. I'll definitely be keeping up with this one.

Lightnin' Hopkins

You know why I don't care for B.B. King? He always had a backing band. It was this big, loud spectacle, and no matter how great he was, all that spectacle was distracting. Not so with Lightnin' Hopkins. Just a man and his guitar, singing the blues and pickin those lonesome tunes.

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A major influence of last week's artist, Townes Van Zandt, Lightnin' Hopkins was a natural choice for this journal. Not only was he a very influential Texas blues musician, he also happens to be one of my personal favorite artists.

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Lightnin' (born Sam Hopkins in 1912, died in 1982) is from Centerville, Texas. Although he had been born around the blues, the first revelation of his life as a bluesman came when he met Blind Lemon Jefferson, the "Father of Texas Blues", at age 8. He was the only person Jefferson ever aloud to play with him, and soon Lightnin' even became his guide.

He's also worked with his legendary cousin, Texas Alexander. I personally speculate that Lightnin' Hopkins' song Bring Me my Shotgun was inspired by Alexander, who murdered his wife in 1939. After spending some time in Houston County's Prison Farm, Lightnin' and Texas began playing in Houston's 3rd Ward, where he was discovered and signed to Aladdin Records. After a brief career, he was hung out to dry when more popular band-backed blues music took the spotlight away from the lone-bluesman image.

He was rediscovered in the 1960s, however - and this is the point he was recognized as a legend. The dusty, mournful blues of an old man who'd seen it all happen. The pre-war style that survived the Rock n Roll craze and the notorious overproduction of the 1950s. He was a living legend. By the late 1970s, he was the last of the great bluesmen.

His life was claimed by cancer at age 69.

Music Sampler

Hurricane Beulah and Baby, Scratch My Back


Bring Me my Shotgun (also known as Shotgun Blues)


Lonesome Road


Where to Start

Lightnin' has release many albums over the span of his career, sometimes as many as two a year.

Studio Albums to start:

Blues in my Bottle
Mojo Hand

Films:

The Blues Accordin' to Lightnin' Hopkins (1967)

hey man,....just so you know, blind lemon jefferson is buried in wortham on the edge of freestone county. They used to have a blues fest there every year that was pretty decent, though i think thats gone by the way side,....

anyway the plot is ill kept, and very interesting at the end of a dirt road,....you should go see it

that does sound interesting. I'd love to go and see that one of these days.

As usual you've got the knowledge. Apparently a lot of great musicians are buried there (in the 'Negro section').

I had no idea but find this quite exciting.

Below is the opening segment of a 1967 documentary called The Blues According To Lightnin' Hopkins. You can watch the documentary in it's entirety on YouTube but it's posted in 15 minute segments because of of bandwidth limits. It's one of my favorite music documentaries. The entire movie was filmed in Centerville and most of the interviews are filmed at Sam's old house there.

Crossing fingers to see something on Black Joe Lewis, and This Will Destroy You.