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Article: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt.(Book review)
- Article from:
- Sing Out!
- Article date:
- June 22, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Sing Out Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt By John Kruth Da Capo Press (Cambridge MA), 2007), ISBN 0306815532, 326 pages + 16 page photo section, hbk. $26.
It couldn't have been easy being Townes Van Zandt. He was a difficult man who wrote some of the most brilliantly poetic songs ever and went through several hells on the way there and beyond.
He was prone to alcoholism, abuse of whatever substances he could get his hands on, and depression. His behavior could be infuriatingly erratic. He could make the sweetest gestures, and followed quickly with cruelest acts just to test you.
But his songs, the art he created, remain. Are they excuses? ...