ON THIS DATE (18 YEARS AGO) January 1, 1997 – Singer, songwriter, poet Townes Van Zandt (b. March 7, 1944) dies at age 52. Van Zandt was a country-folk singer-songwriter and poet; throughout his career he was widely admired by fellow songwriters, particularly in the folk and country genres, but greater fame eluded him, in part because of his unconventional vocal style and because of his erratic personal behavior. Many of his songs, including Pancho and Lefty, If I Needed You, and To Lives to Fly, have been recorded by other notable performers and are considered standards of their genre. His songs have been covered by such notable and varied musicians as Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Hoyt Axton, Tindersticks, Devendra Banhart, Norah Jones, Lyle Lovett, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, The Be Good Tanyas, Gillian Welch, and the Dixie Chicks. The film Be Here to Love Me chronicling the artists life and legacy was released in the United States in 2006.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 17:00:00 +0000