Townes Van Zandt-Racin' In The Streets from Austin Pickers

[Joeyland]

there arent to many covers by him but i think there all great

[theberlindoctor]

Sax is awful. I'm glad that went out of style.

[what1111000]

Let me say, I LOVE townes van zandt. I mean I love him, maybe the biggest Townes fan in New Jersey and I've turned him on to dozens of people. This is also absolutely my favorite Springsteen song.

So I hate to be in the least negative, but.... I'm not saying it's terrible, but I was a bit disappointed. Not into the sax, and it's a little too fast. Townes is one of the most emotional singers and this is one of the most emotional songs.... could have been better. But thanks for posting!

[dannyknapp]

did Springsteen ever record a Townes song ?

[yomnachin]

Townes' voice really sounds beautiful, but come on ... a saxophone ... This alone ruins this cover.

Thanks for the upload though !

[rosseland84]

Townes van zandt is a huge star and a magnificent musician no doubt about that. but for me springsteen is huge. townes's version of racing in the streets has no soul. it's suppose to be sung with a sort of sadness in your voice because it's a sad song. it's a great song and it deserves a better interpretation his just rushing to finish it and that's a pity. it's not good enough.listen to jackson browne and springsteens version of it. that's the way to do it. it's just exquisid

[navelofswitzerland]

great as always, but this saxophone is really killing the sound

[gizzflow1]

He's just so incredibly humble, God always takes his best first...

when we all get to Heaven, imagine the shows, Townes, Gram, Hank, Jimmie Rodgers, just a noodlin' away, simply amazing!

[everysinglenamesgone]

Also, these videos are AMAZING! THank you so much for posting them!!!

[everysinglenamesgone]

Is that a Martin D-28 he's got in this video?? Was that his? For some reason I thought he had a D-35.

[HiddenFormula]

It makes me happy that townes admires dylan's music. Those two artists plus Phil Ochs make up the holy-trinity of music in my life...these artists are beyond important to me, they are a means to surviving! not just pretty songs or clever lyrics, this sorta stuff is hardcore honest emotion being released through beautiful melodies/ words.

[FlashHarbor]

FUCK ME !!! awesome!!

[seaweedsalghe]

I didn't know Van Zandt. I discovered his music just two days ago and I definitely fell in love with it. And him.

Your four videos of him are extraordinary, intimate, sweet, and for what I know, the best around. On Youtube, at least.

Thank you.

[Lahi53]

I like both his version and the Boss', but I'm partial to Townes' singing over almost anyone. Just me though...

[cosutton]

Fuck! he just nails this song.

[Turboflute]

Damm, the man was living! Look close at his eye's as he's sining Bruces song. I been there! Stay cool people.

[KidSheIeen]

Townes mentioned Doc Watson. Doc and son Merle were really great!! Love his version of Tom Dooley

[TheUnrepentant1]

Damn, what an awesome cover.

Townes voice is much missed to these ears, hearing him cover Bruce is a little piece of discovered nirvana to me.

"See you when I get there, Maestro" ~Steve Earle

[parafleet]

hey. y'all know what?! FUCK Y'ALL!!! 3 times, y'all jackass fuckerz! ya ever spent 1 day in another's shoes?! while y'all r jackin' off to b-spears's bad decisions n' tellin' everyone how to live right.. Townes, you're an angel. godbless ya soul more than you can stand, brother. i love you. (guy, get to me. we'll write a few songs n' party more than that. godbless you too.)

[1234saul]

This is a sweet and touching cover... I'm sure Bruce is quite flattered that the Late Great Townes Van Zandt did one of Bruce's tunes.

[parafleet]

hmm, i think i was off-it there. anyways, tvz was like hendrix. every cover he did he made his own..much better than the 1st. the dude just gets me excited. haha..godbless. (b.d. did "all along.." the jimi way after he heard it. man, those shooting stars, they burn out so fast and they show all the rest of us a miracle.)

[barflew]

To an old man that grew up street racing in Dallas, hearing this song done by Townes make it seem more relevant.

[kevinbag192]

just the best - poor townes - dont trust a singer who sings with his eyes open - all the greats keep em closed.

[bobwaits]

well said

[bjl000]

Great point Kevin, can I use that line?

[ruby192]

use it for what? sure - as long as its not the motto for a new hamburger joint or such likes -

[ryan06105]

All the heartbreak and sadness of Springsteen's original is removed. This is a lifeless cover.

[Arjanajanath]

I don't like it but I have to agree. I think The late great master is the best songwriter who has ever been, but I can't understand why he did covers when he had so many amazing songs written by himself!

[austinitesince1979]

When someone who by this point in his music career has so many original songs that all he performs are his own songs, when you see him do a cover, you can see that the person whose song they are singing is one of his influences. The most important part of this video is the story about his father.

[birdstuckinchimney]

This is the only song by The Boss that I've ever liked, wheras I love heaps of TVZ's songs. So it's ironic that, just like ryan, I think TVZ murders this song

[cassandre1558]

He's absolutely breathtaking. Just to think that I've lived so many years alongside such an extraordinary songwriter and never knew he existed ... till this evening. It's too late now. Thank you so much for conserving his memory -- for ignorants like me.

[ToterAlterMann]

What gift being born in times that brought forth such men and what even greater gift being allowed to hear their songs

[austinitesince1979]

I think the first two minutes of this video are an insight that shouldn't have been left out of the recent documentary. Learned to play harmonica and guitar at the same time and sang Blowin' in the Wind at his first concert, the homecoming dance, and his dad said, "That's pretty good Townes, but you ought to write your own songs." 'cluck!' Every time Townes clucks his tongue, there is a lightbulb going on, maybe lightning strikes the earth. These are the lessons to remember and pass on.

[logomachon]

Yeah. The same thing happened to me when I was 10. I actually felt a CLICK (I am not a musician). I think it has worked out for me, but I still don't know whether it happens only when it is supposed to. Too many people wake up at forty and reale they've been busting their butts to live their mother's or father's plans for them, or worse, their parent's frustrated dreams for themselves.

[logomachon]

"..forty and realize they've been.."

[austinitesince1979]

Ouch! Well it's never too late to help out the next generation. Teach Your Children. You know that Graham Nash song? "...and feed them on your dreams, the one they picked, the one you'll know by..." I think certain music is mind-blowing and life-altering and frees you to choose your own destiny, like the Bob Dylan that Townes talks about in this video. My granparents played and sang, but my parents don't, so it's up to me to recover the tradition of the past.

[probinson1337]

@austinitesince1979 he clucks like that, and makes a teethsucking noise obviously, on both fraternity blues and talkin' thunderbird blues on Live at The Old Quarter. Always found it endearing and indicative of Townes' lack of pretense.

[Aghastus]

It makes me happy when great songwriters acknowledge fellow greats -- and the result is not a Hank Williams tune. That said, I could do without the Clarence Clemmons sax.

[dezratb1]

Another great story and song. Awww we miss u Townes!

[sugaree53]

No deeper blue...