is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." - Steve Earle

On the off chance that there are any other TVZ fans out there.

12/29/2006 10:39:23 AM

i like him

12/29/2006 10:42:43 AM

Its good to know I'm not alone, too few people know of him or even that he wrote "Pancho and Lefty"; which, in his words, he"wrote this about two Mexican cowboys I saw on TV, two weeks, after I wrote the song."

12/29/2006 10:48:14 AM

That Van Zandt guy who plays football for Oklahoma St is deaf, and still a badass football player.

That is amazing to me.

12/29/2006 10:49:20 AM

2/16/2007 5:24:51 PM

Quote :

"It must be easy, look around you All around you But you see the motion, youre not movin You dont know how to hold on Just keep it loose Dont get excited, itll pass before long"

3/15/2007 8:29:22 AM

"I've met Bob Dylan and his bodyguards, and I don't think Steve could get anywhere near his coffee table." - Townes Van Zandt

3/15/2007 8:40:09 AM

^ I'm impressed

3/15/2007 8:48:33 AM

Kris Kristofferson and Dale Watson and Glenn Danzig and many others beat him.

3/15/2007 8:56:01 AM

ok, i disagree, but feel free to prove me wrong

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 9:15 AM. Reason : .]

3/15/2007 9:14:38 AM

tell me what songs of his are better than Sunday Morning Coming Down or Me And Bobby McGee and tons more.

Also Glenn Danzig has written all Misfits, Samhain and Danzig songs as well as songs for Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison.

And Dale Watson has about 15 albums of amazing songs.

...waiting for his only big hit...

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 9:21 AM. Reason : ]

3/15/2007 9:19:24 AM

i will agree that I like Kris Kristofferson pretty much more than anybody....except Robert Earl Keen....

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 9:23 AM. Reason : asdfsd]

3/15/2007 9:22:38 AM

Rake for one. Actually, pretty much every song on Our Mother The Mountain is good. I know that Kris Kristofferson does not consider himself a better songwriter than Townes. I personally love Sunday Morning Coming down but it doesn't compare to most of Townes' stuff IMO. I'm not familiary enough with Dale Watson or Danzig and I don't consider public success to be a measure of quality songwriting.

3/15/2007 9:24:48 AM

Either do I, because Dale Watson isnt really known outside of the singer songwriter community or Austin.

However, Every Song I Write For You, is so amazing, the album makes my soul weep.

3/15/2007 9:27:59 AM

How much of Townes have you heard? Other than say Pancho & Lefty and If I Needed You

3/15/2007 9:28:58 AM

^^^neither do I...if I did I would say that Hank Williams Jr. is the best songwriter ever

but I like KK in the same way that I like REK.....I love all "the hits" but I REALLY love all the obscure stuff most people have never heard...

listen to the albums Silver Tongued Devil or Jesus was a Capricorn....or anything he did with Rita Coolidge....and I'll bet you like it almost as much if not more than TVZ....

but good music is just that....good music


[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 9:31 AM. Reason : sdfd]

3/15/2007 9:29:39 AM

Quite a bit, and Im not very impressed. He was good, but not nearly the best.

3/15/2007 9:30:11 AM

^^ When I get out of the army we'll hang out at my place and all night listening to the Texas greats

^ meh, its a matter of taste, depending on what you've heard I might have better suggestions.

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 9:33 AM. Reason : .]

3/15/2007 9:31:09 AM

i don't

3/15/2007 9:31:48 AM

right right, well you can drink

3/15/2007 9:32:42 AM

Seeing Dale in Austin and San Antone this summer is one of my highlights for last year.

3/15/2007 9:33:42 AM

TVZ is better than dylan IMO. dylan's good, but a bit overrated I think.

in fact I think Steve Earle is better than dylan too.

[Edited on March 15, 2007 at 11:17 AM. Reason : s]

3/15/2007 11:15:25 AM

I agree with that wholeheartedly. Dylan put out a bunch of great stuff, but part of his aura comes from his affiliation with the 60's counterculture movement. His stuff is good, but can be rambling and somewhat sloppy at times. Townes' stuff is pretty tightly woven.

Imma listen to some of the above recommendations tonight and this weekend but I've found little that compares to Towns as far as I'm concerned.

3/15/2007 11:55:34 AM

Marie is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard

3/15/2007 12:01:49 PM

according to Guy Clark he wrote that in a hotel one day and went out and performed it for the first time that night.

3/15/2007 12:16:31 PM

this whole thread is like a big list of some of the most underappreciated musicians

-Kris Kristofferson
-Robert Earl Keen, Jr
-Steve Earle

the latter two are especially two of my favorites.

3/15/2007 2:10:29 PM

yup, I just a) didn't want to start it as such and get a list of obscure Emo bands and b) really think TVZ is the shit.

3/15/2007 2:58:38 PM

goddamned Nashville establishment and country radio

3/15/2007 2:59:44 PM

I love that TVZ song "Dead Flowers" I think is the title, that shit is awesome. I think it was on the big lebowski too.

3/15/2007 3:04:08 PM

that's a Rolling Stones song, and their version is better.

New Riders Of the Purple Sage have a good version of it, too.

Actually, Steve Earle's live recording of it is probably the best of all.

3/15/2007 3:16:51 PM

I especially like Robert Earls cover of Snowin on Raton

He did that song with the Greencards and his whole band unplugged at the Tennessee Theatre as an encore - its still one of my favorite concerts ever.

3/15/2007 4:06:24 PM

REK also did a cover of Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold on the Poet: a Tribute to Townes Van Zandt album.

3/15/2007 4:07:45 PM

Pat Green also has a good version of Snowing On Raton.

3/15/2007 4:21:44 PM

I have a great live cover of Dead Flowers somewhere done by Dale Watson, Hank III and some others.

3/15/2007 5:23:12 PM

Quote :

"That Van Zandt guy who plays football for Oklahoma St is deaf, and still a badass football player. That is amazing to me."

the panthers have a qb who is the only non-deaf member of his family

3/19/2007 2:26:44 AM

^^ I got one of Hank III, Ryan Adams, and Willie


speaking of songwriters, you cant leave Willie out....

3/19/2007 3:14:07 AM

good call

3/19/2007 3:20:35 AM

^^ i've got that one, too. i don't like it as much, though.

1. Steve Earle
2. New Riders Of the Purple Sage
3. Rolling Stones
4. Guns 'N Roses

the above 4 are all a close race, though. the last two are also about a tie, and nowhere near as good as 1-4.

5. Townes Van Zandt
6. Willie/Ryan Adams/Hank III

[Edited on March 19, 2007 at 12:41 PM. Reason : asdfasd]

[Edited on March 19, 2007 at 12:42 PM. Reason : asaasdfasd]

3/19/2007 12:37:10 PM

anyone have the original TVZ version of Pancho and Lefty?

4/9/2007 10:06:06 AM

yup, several versions by him, both studio and live.

4/10/2007 11:14:51 AM

4/10/2007 12:17:35 PM

4/29/2007 6:35:51 PM

He's getting play on Sirius, but they're showing the artist name as 'Van Zant'

5/25/2007 9:45:08 AM

5/25/2007 11:41:28 AM

I was home for just a few when I posted that, and didn't do the googling I've done since...I assumed sirius fucked up

5/25/2007 11:57:11 AM

6/26/2007 6:42:48 PM

ttt

7/3/2007 9:51:27 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPMxJROHInM

7/4/2007 4:28:41 PM

9/13/2007 8:15:19 PM

set em up

9/13/2007 8:19:26 PM