I was listening to some music yesterday and, coming across some stuff from the late Townes Van Zandt that I hadn’t heard in a bit was reminded of a documentary that my nephew, Jeremy, passed on to me a few years back. It’s called Heartworn Highways and is from around 1975, chronicling some of the singer-songwriters who came to be known as alt-country.
It’s pretty gritty. These guys are shown completely unvarnished and it is the antidote to the packaged, slickly produced music that pervades the airwaves today. There is the first recorded version of Mercenary Song from a very young and greasy looking Steve Earle and good versions of L.A. Freeway and Desperados Waiting For a Train from Guy Clark but the parts that stand out for me are those with Townes Van Zandt.
This is Waitin’ Around to Die and has an interesting intro that really sets up the tune well. It’s a pretty powerful song. Enjoy…
Redtree Times 