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John Townes Van Zandt, known as Townes Van Zandt, one of the best country-folk song writers that ever lived. Three of his outstanding songs are, “To Live is to Fly”, “If I Needed You”, and ”No Place to Fall”. The stories he sang were about wandering and yearning, and he was revered among his singer-song writer peers and his numerous fans all over the world.

Much more than a great songwriter: His poetic lyrics are amongst the finest you can find in music. Unfortunately...

John Townes Van Zandt, known as Townes Van Zandt, one of the best country-folk song writers that ever lived. Three of his outstanding songs are, “To Live is to Fly”, “If I Needed You”, and ”No Place to Fall”. The stories he sang were about wandering and yearning, and he was revered among his singer-song writer peers and his numerous fans all over the world.

Much more than a great songwriter: His poetic lyrics are amongst the finest you can find in music. Unfortunately, he never made it big. Although he had a devoted fan base, he typically performed to small audiences. Much of his lack of success may be attributed to his life style, a life style(drugs and alcohol) which tended to be destructive to his health and talents.

His songs were performed by such notables as Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, the Cowboy Junkies, Lyle Lovett , to name just a couple.. In 1983, Nelson and Haggard covered Van Zandt’s song, “Pancho and Lefty”, and scored a number one hit.

Van Zandt was born in Fort Worth, Texas in a wealthy family which had been able to benefit from the oil boom in Texas. And ehem...Dutch blood did run through his veins: His great great great great grandfather was Dutch Jacob Van Zandt.

Because of the many moves, his parents gave Townes the option to attend the Shattuck School, a private high school, in Faribault, Minnesota. He chose to attend the private school because it would give him some stability during his high school years. He graduated from the Faribault school in 1962, and was accepted by the University of Colorado, Boulder for the start of the 1962 semester. During his last year in high school he recorded a SAT test score of 1170. So as a result he had little problem to enter a good university.

He was diagnosed with manic depression, and underwent three months of insulin shock therapy. He apparently recovered to the point where he was able to be accepted by the University of Houston’s pre law program in 1965. But the therapy apparently did not cure him, and he quit college in 1967, and decided to pursue a career in music.

The period from 1968 to 1973 turned out to be his most prolific era as a song writer. He released five albums during that time period consisting of “Our Mother, the Mountain”, “Townes Van Zandt”, “Delta Momma Blues”, “High, Low and in Between”, and “The Late Great Townes Van Zandt”. All five worth buying !

With the encouragement of his song writing success and the fact that his early songs gave him worldwide recognition, he continued his output of songs and poetry for the remainder of his rather brief life. He also continued to perform, but his musical performances were never at a level to give him the status he achieved through his song writing. Due to his distructive lifestyle.

Not surprisingly, Van Zandt’s personal family life was quite rocky. While he was in the middle of his depression therapy, he married Fran Petters in August 1965. They had a son, John Townes Van Zandt II, born on April 11, 1969. Unfortunately, the couple divorced in January 1970.

Van Zandt’s second marriage was to Cindy Morgan in 1978, before that they lived together for four years. That marriage lasted only two years.

Van Zandt’s third and last marriage was to Jeanene Munsell in 1983, she gave birth to a son, William Vincent. Their second child, a daughter, Katie Belle, was born in 1992. Van Zandt’s third marriage unfortunately also did not last. The couple divorced in 1994, but the two remained close until the death of Van Zandt in 1997. Following his death, Jeanene Munsell became the executor of the Estate of Townes Van Zandt.

During the last two weeks of his life Townes van Zandt fell down the concrete stairs outside his home. He injured his back and neck and was only able to move about in a wheel chair. Surgery was done on December 31, 1996. He was taken home, against the advice of his physician on the same day. But the surgical shock and the medications he was taking, and the weak condition he was in, apparently all contributed to his death the next day, January 1, 1997.

Steve Earle about Townes : https://youtu.be/sy86AY5Nf7I