The Late Great Townes Van Zandt Quiz

Answer: Nanci Griffith

Nanci Griffith has covered songs by Townes Van Zandt. Norah Jones, meanwhile, said of him: "Townes Van Zandt is one of the most poetic songwriters I can think of...and his songs sing themselves."
But of course, the most famous of all testimonies was that of Steve Earle who said: "Townes Van Zandt 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."
Van Zandt's reaction was: "I've met Bob Dylan's bodyguards and if Steve Earle thinks he can stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table, he's sadly mistaken."

Answer: Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

"Livin' on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
And your breath's as hard as kerosene"

"Pancho and Lefty" - note the correct spelling of the first of those names - topped the country charts for Nelson and Haggard in 1983. Others to cover Van Zandt songs included Norah Jones, Hoyt Axton, Doc Watson, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Arlo Guthrie and Don Williams.

Answer: John Townes Van Zandt

John Townes Van Zandt was born on March 7 1944 in Fort Worth, Texas. He was a fourth generation Texan. The family arrived in America from Holland and settled in Pennsylvania shortly before the Revolution. Succeeding generations made huge contributions to the history of the state. Isaac Van Zandt was charge d'affaire to the USA when Texas was still a Republic. Van Zandt County was named after the family.

Answer: Manic depression

After a nervous breakdown at university, Townes Van Zandt was diagnosed as a manic depressive with schizophrenic tendencies. He received electric and insulin shock "treatment". This left him with memory losses. "I had a nice childhood...I don't remember it, but that's what I've been told," he later said.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Townes Van Zandt was, at a young age, fond of singers like Williams, Hank Snow, Lefty Frizzell and Ray Acuff. He recalled though: "It definitely started with Elvis. That just flipped me out."

Answer: Wrestling

Townes Van Zandt was something of a misfit, and although never openly disrespectful, he had his quirks, never shining shoes and wearing his hat at a rakish angle, for example. He was a good athlete, playing football and baseball, but excelling in wrestling.

His intoxicating effect on the females of the species dated from this time - and so did his drinking. (Another famous graduate of the academy was Marlon Brando.)

Answer: Robert Frost

In the authorized biography 'To Live's To Fly: The Ballad Of The Late Great Townes Van Zandt', John Kruth noted "Discovering Frost's 'My December Girl' was one of the most significant experiences Van Zandt gleaned from his time at Shattruck Academy. That influence can be seen in songs such as 'She Came And She Touched Me'" Van Zandt was later to remark: "Robert Frost once said ' worry about the phonetics and the meaning will take care of itself'"

Van Zandt's lyrics:

"She came and she touched me
With hands made of heaven
Reflections sent spinnin'
Through a face laced in mist
Now I stand where she left me
Buried deep 'neath her shadow
And the mirror pleads sadly
Has it all come to this?
And I wonder: will she call my name?

Where the wind careens madly
Through wide windows paneless
Fragrances mingle
In a room full of shade
The peons pick partners
And waltz 'cross the ceilings
But the violins whisper
That I've been betrayed
Tryin' not to look ashamed

Well the drunkards drink deeply
From cups full of nothingness
Ghost lovers laugh
At the games that they play
While the moments do somersaults
Into eternity
Cling to their coattails
And beg them to stay
Saying I got nothing to hide..."

Answer: Economics

Van Zandt's father had been employed in the oil industry as vice-president of a corporation. The family probably hoped that Townes was putting his wild youth behind him and would become 'normal'.

Answer: Barefoot Charlie's

Initially Van Zandt sang traditional folk tunes and covers of Dylan songs.
Incidentally, my comment in the introduction that Van Zandt left behind "a legacy ranging from the beautifully heartbreaking, to the darkest of places" is acknowledged as a precis from the authorised biography.

Answer: Jerry Jeff Walker

At that time, Jerry Jeff had written more songs than Van Zandt. Their first concert was in January 1966. Van Zandt wrote 'Close Your Eyes, I'll Be Here In The Morning' for that concert - a delicate love ballad much in contrast to some of his darker, bleaker songs.

Incidentally, if Van Zandt was to become a hard-drinking, substance abusing hellraiser, Walker was not far behind - until he cleaned himself up.

Answer: Mr Gold and Mr Mudd

This was a song that stunned many contemporary songwriters into silence, but inspired others to stretch the envelope of their ability. Van Zandt often maintained that he had no idea where his songs came from, he just wrote them down. He claimed to have written 'If I Needed You' in his sleep. The song was a big hit for Emmylou Harris and Don Williams, reaching number three in the country charts.
The first verse of 'Mr Gold and Mr Mudd' was:
"The wicked king of clubs awoke
it was to his queen turned
his lips were laughing as they spoke
his eyes like bullets burned
the sun's upon a gambling day
his queen smiled low and blissfully
let's make some wretched fool to play
plain it was she did agree"

Answer: For The Sake Of The Song

To say that Townes Van Zandt had few smash hit records would be an overstatement. During his life, none probably sold more than 20,000 copies. Some friends believe that Van Zandt was poorly managed, though he never openly criticized his management. Certainly, 'For The Sake Of the Song' was vastly overproduced and Van Zandt Later said "I wasn't too happy with what they did on the album". Overproduction, according to his friend Guy Clark, was to ruin many more Townes Van Zandt albums. To be fair, Van Zandt often gave the impression of not really caring about what happened at recording sessions.

He seemed to believe that all he had to do was to write and sing the songs.

Answer: A copy of his second album

That meeting took place when Ely gave Van Zandt a lift in his car in Lubbock, Texas, in 1971. At their destination, Van Zandt opened his backpack and gave Ely a copy of the record. The backpack contained about 25 copies of the record. Van Zandt was known for his generosity, frequently giving possessions and money away.

Answer: Carnegie Hall

In November 1969, Poppy Records put on a showcase of its three leading talents, Townes Van Zandt, Dick Gregory and Mandrake Memorial. In 2002, 'A Gentle Evening With Townes Van Zandt' was released featuring his nine-song set.

Answer: Heroin

There were few substances that Townes Van Zandt did not take. Codeine was a favourite - and he drank copious amounts of alcohol. His first wife, Fran, told John Kruth: "I knew that Townes was into something and that's when he overdosed on heroin and was pronounced dead on arrival at Bentaub Hospital in Houston...They had knocked his front teeth put to put the tubes down his throat.

It was a terrible mess. But the amazing thing was he came back without any brain cell loss. His constitution was amazing." The next Van Zandt album, the sixth, was ironically named 'The Late Great Townes Van Zandt'.

Answer: Gideons' Bibles

As John Kruth, the authorized biographer noted: "If the cover was odd or unusual in any way or a different color from the standard black, he'd snap it up for his collection. Townes would point out 'you're supposed to take them.'" Van Zandt's younger song, Will, remarked that although not especially religious, his father would often sit reading a Bible.

Answer: Van Gogh

Townes Van Zandt's second son, by his third wife Jeanene, was named Will Vincent. Van Zandt and Jeanene also had a daughter, Katie Belle. He had another son, J.T., with his first wife, Fran. With the royalties he received from Emmylou Harris's version of "If I Needed You", Van Zandt bought a sailboat that he named 'The Vincent'.

Answer: The Cactus, Houston, Texas

Between 1982 and his death in 1997, Van Zandt played The Cactus up to 100 times. The owner, Geoff Luneberg recalled Townes only ever missing one concert. Talking of the October 1996 show, he told John Kruth: "Townes was in bad shape. He was not healthy, just skin and bones. I knew in my heart of hearts that was the last time I'd see him" Van Zandt's final shows were on a tour of Europe.

Answer: Hank Williams

Williams had been a hero of Van Zandt's. He died on New Year's Day 1953.

Answer: He fell and cracked his hip

While on a tour of Europe late in 1996, Van Zandt fell in a bathtub and cracked his hip, but did not realise it at the time. He later fell out of bed and exacerbated the injury. He was taken to hospital and operated on, but discharged himself against medical advice on New Year's Day 1997. Later that day he died at the home of his third wife, Jeanine, after mistakenly taking tablets he thought were paracetamol, but were antihistamines that conflicted with prescribed medication he was given in hospital.
His early death at the age of 52 was one that Van Zandt had always predicted and many believed that his lifestyle made inevitable.
One of the main sources for this quiz was John Kruth's authorised biography "To Live's To Fly" The Ballad of the Late Great Townes Van Zandt". (Da Capo Press, 2007). See also "Be Here To Love Me", a Rakefilms DVD produced by Sam Brumbaugh and Margaret Brown and directed by Margaret Brown.