Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt

[ghongvanna]

for my dad who raised me me on the real deal love you dad>>

[JTho658351]

and I fucking love him too....and yes Johnny and Townes ....shit that would have rocked worlds..

[JTho658351]

Townes original premise is why he died



[maltzlovincreampies]

i love johnny but he cant pick like townes could

[HColette]

Somebody asked what he said at 2:04.  He said, "I figure there's heaven, purgatory, hell, and the blues. And I'm trying to climb up from the blues, man." Addiction may sound romantic, but was a hell for him.

[z5hmg]

I love Townes's music, and I surely would have enjoyed a drink with him, but I think that's bullshit with sacrificing - I do think you're probably going to write more and "better" if you're unhappy, but the idea you even have to sacrifice is a bit too close to catholic ideas to be taken seriously...

And that story of the girl ripping her blouse off is pretty crass. But it wont be the first dodgy trailer for a (hopefully) good film (havent seen it yet)

[patriciacluck]

Townes = Damn Genius ... he sacrificed it all, and I mean all , for his passion .  This is one incredible film ... I highly recommend it . Run don't walk to see this . Kudos to the Director Margaret Brown . We still have the music , thank heavens .

[gymhourfee]

How can you compare johnny cash and townes van vandt?

Like comparing black...and white...

[sirlordcomic]

@gymhourfee Flyin shoes for example.

[kurtcrowbain]

Townes was a pampered rich boy. Mommy and Daddy paid for his apartment and everything. Makes it easy to work on songwriting when you don't have to go to a mind-numbing job. I still respect his songwriting, but he's definitely gone down a few notches after watching this documentary.

[mkmega]

@kurtcrowbain A pampered rich boy who was given insulin shock treatment, and lived in a trailer with no hot water...

[lukeydev]

@kurtcrowbain shut up dicklips

[aknowneemus]

just finished watching this,it hit me hard on an emotional level.At the end it said townes died on new years day.strange coincidence that today is new years day.

i have no idea what drew me to watch townes on the anniversary of his death.

[Rnewmanguy]

steve earle later retracted that quote about dylan just out of interest

[coolanddark]

Great movie! seen it many times watching this makes me want to watch it again!

[hela99]

he looks really cute at 1:02 

[dalet63]

what was he saying @ 2:04

[clean3]

There is an enormous amount of polarisation going on at the moment, I’d imagine largely due to the fact that there is a great deal of social and economic strife taking place at the moment. The world would be a slightly less contentious place to live in if we looked for the similarities rather than the differences in our thoughts and beliefs. TVZ's songs, like all good songs, spoke about humanity rather than ideology.

[brianclarkmiller]

What is the last song on this clip? It starts at 1:44. . . .

[shockm31]

@brianclarkmiller 'Where I Lead Me', off of Delta Momma Blues

[ame624]

Whats the name of that first song?

[vrv1020]

@ame624 "Rake" from Delta Momma Blues.

[NickeyWhitfield]

"Brandnew Companion" is such a perfect song! That's the kind of thing I like America for.

[Leutchik]

I'm just wondering, if you're a Christian ... how do you find things to admire about people so completely adrift like Townes Van Zandt who revel in and sing of hopelessness, depression and misery? It almost seems like you have to put religion completely aside to understand somebody like Townes, who was presumably unreachable on a spiritual level. It seems a little bizarre; like people who would find it fascinating to watch people who enjoy cutting themselves as they recite beautiful poetry.

[steele917]

@Leutchik No we are lost, disconnected, all of us are "mongrels" disfunctional-I'd like to think somehow in the end we become as we were meant to be. Fire away....it's only me ya know...

[Leutchik]

@steele917

So if some guy is dying under a bridge at 31 years old in Denver in January, dead drunk and all messed up on drugs, having walked out on his wife and three kids, it's not his fault; he was just meant to be that way? Am I reading you correctly, Steele917?

Or is it "society's fault"? Do we need massive government programs to save all these lost, self-destructive derelicts?

Actually, I think Obama would want to dry them out, clean them up, and send them all to college. :-)

[steele917]

@Leutchik Our own conciences will be our judge. As some one once said...have you not been told from the start...My people had a saying..never judge a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins. People F**K up, maybe for their whole life...still till the end they have the ability to show kindness, mercy and sacrificial love. If you are of a christian upbringing ST Paul was responsible for rounding up Christians to their death before his conversion. I KNOW I"M NOT BEING POLITICALY CORRECT

[clean3]

@Leutchik Everyone deserves help at least once in their lives....I suppose you'd gas them.

[Leutchik]

@clean3

Actually I would not gas them. I'd open some of the hundreds of closed down military bases and use those as treatment centers.

Of course there are those who feel that a person with a $200/day heroin habit should be left alone to fund his addiction by whatever means presents itself and to destroy the lives of those around him, as so frequently happens.

I think we cop a different attitude for the hugely talented with this problem, as compared to an average pathetic junkie in an alley.

[CaptGolightly]

The fact is...if you set aside your belief in fairy-tales..for the unfortunate the World is a real hard place..Townes documents the struggle which some are forced to undertake just to get by and who by merely surviving stand triumphant...without the aid of an imaginary friend. If you let go of Daddies imaginary hand and take a walk in the real World you may find true spiritual strength and some basic human truths in what Townes has to say.

[guitardavid79]

This documentary is playing over on HULU right now.

[magnusholmen]

The song in the beginning is Rake.

[SIXXX1POUNDER]

whats that song at the beginning ?

[darlincommitme]

@SIXXX1POUNDER

The Rake

[randomguy1774]

fucking love townes, great great singer-songwriter who sums up EXACTLY how I feel everyday

[gymhourfee]

best summary I have heard!

[steele917]

@randomguy1774 right there with ya son..."RIGHT-THERE-everyday and on to the next.

[steele917]

@randomguy1774 amen thankfull to be among a few more of us that most times feel they don't belong. however when I'm listening to Townes...I'm right there!!!

[thedug]

@randomguy1774 depressed? Most great songwriters are. I guess that could be a positive outlook for someone suffering from depression.

[rosesredvioletsblue]

thank you.

[sirlordcomic]

I wish Johnny Cash had made a record of Townes Van Zandt songs. Would have been a thing of beauty. But still we got Townes.

[gymhourfee]

@sirlordcomic How can you compare johnny cash and townes van vandt?

Like comparing black...and white...

[sirlordcomic]

@gymhourfee Wasn't aware I'd compared them. Just wish Johnny had recorded some of Townes songs. Would have been been a marriage made in heaven. Seems some people agree with me there. I heard Kris Kristofferson say the same thing.

[Anna1755]

Gawd Bless Townes Van Zandt. And Blaze Foley.

[jphuron]

If people only slowed down to realize the terrible beauty that was Townes.

[patriciacluck]

@jphuron exactly 

[bmrti]

This man is a pure pure genius! Kicks many show bizz famous asses

[AshtrayPolitics]

Cash was overrated.

[CashPresley32]

Johnny Cash was not overrated, because he did cross all musical boundaries, and did it successfully. When he first started out in Sun records, he wanted to sing Gospel, but Sam Phillips did not want that, because he said that it would not sell, so Johnny Cash sang and his band played Rock N Roll. When he signed to Columbia he was finnally able to sing Gospel, so he recorded albums of it, but he also sang Folk, Country and more Rock N Roll. He was not in the least overrated.

[AshtrayPolitics]

yeah i watched walk the line, too

[CashPresley32]

Yeah, but that movie was not completely accurate.

[ezekielwahwah]

I always thought that Townes is the best AFTER Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash is Johnny Cash.

[rolandgladden]

Great songwriters-all.

[CashPresley32]

Here are my top ten favorite songwriters of all time: 1. Willie Nelson 2. Kris Kristofferson 3. Carl Perkins 4. Hank Williams 5. Roy Orbison 6. Johnny Cash 7. Tom T. Hall 8. Bob Dylan 9. Woody Guthrie 10. Bill Monroe

[schellter]

I was just wondering what any of the above wrote that is better than Poncho and Lefty? And why isn't Fred Rose on that list?

[CashPresley32]

Willie Nelson = Crazy Kris Kristofferson = Me And Bobby McGee Carl Perkins = Blue Suede Shoes Hank Williams = Hey Good Looking Roy Orbison = Oh Pretty Woman Johnny Cash = Folsom Prison Blues Tom T. Hall = The Day That Clayton Delany Died Bob Dylan = Blowing In The Wind Woody Guthrie = This Land Is Your Land Bill Monroe = Blue Moon Of Kentucky These songs to me are better than Poncho And Lefty. Even though a couple of my favorite singers Merle and Willie sang it.

[Arjanajanath]

1.Townes

2.Woody

3.Steve Ignorant

4.Cash

5.Cohen

6.C.Vreeswijk

7.Hank

8.Jello Biafra

9.d.Parton

10.Dylan

[CashPresley32]

Great list. What do you think about mine?

[Anna1755]

It needs L. Cohen. Otherwise, great.

[CashPresley32]

What did he write?

[Anna1755]

What did Leonard Cohen write? You are pulling my chain, right? Um. Suzanne. Hallelujah. Bird on a Wire. Closing Time. If It Be Your Will. So Long Marianne, and about, I dunno, 600 others, give or take. He's quite well known.

[CashPresley32]

The only song that I know out of that list is called Bird On A Wire, because Johnny Cash sang it, and believe me I love that song. That is why my favorite songwriters were: 1. Willie Nelson 2. Kris Kristofferson 3. Carl Perkins 4. Hank Williams 5. Roy Orbison 6. Johnny Cash 7. Tom T. Hall 8. Bob Dylan 9. Woody Guthrie 10. Bill Monroe I could tell you a lot of songs that they have written, and most of them were in the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.

[OrangeLazzarus35]

For anyone who has seen the film: Does anyone know the name of the song that Townes' daughter is singing along to. I can't seem to find that one...

[chumley4152]

It's off the cd "In the Beginning."

[chumley4152]

"Big Country Blues" is the song off "In the Beginning" - the one his daughter is singing along with in the film.

[ncooke24]

album is Delta Momma Blues

[ncooke24]

anyone know the song at 1:44 into it? like do any of you have it? it is called where i lead me.. finding it is the hardest part

[mccrabapple]

October 21st at 8:00 at Northside in Akron we will be having a Townes Van Zandt Night to help his friend, bass player, and Hurricane Ike survivior Wrecks (Rex's Blues) Bell. For details type in the usual MySpace URL and add townesnight for details.

[feender]

What are the names of the first two songs in the background?

[bowtrout22]

The first song is 'Rake' and the second song is 'Brand New Companion'.

[zeynoon1]

He's a genius. Plain and simple. One of the best songwriters ever.

[rc1965]

I must get this dvd!!!

[Arjanajanath]

Send me a message and I will send you a copy! Got it on my birthday this year and it is the most moving, beautiful thing I have ever seen, and Im glad to spend some money to share it with you!

[patriciacluck]

@Arjanajanath I have sent you a message just now ...

[dangheathen]

When I was at my very worst, the songs were there for me, and I learned a few of them so they wouldn't ever leave.

[paradoxanne]

what a great documentary, gosh this man 's songs really got to me.

[pandorasun6]

i wish someone would post it. I can't afford anything. I love townes van zandt.

[BratSimpson]

i must have this.

[happygerry65]

to "bluepianocat" : I know what you mean. My late friend saw shortly before his untimely death (he highly recommended it to me) and so I went to a small cinema some months later -although I dislike folk music- and I was just blown away. I cried during the film (I am 41). The man and his music are legendary and I became a believer. Spread the news: watch the film. Listen the music. RIP, Townes, you did your share.

[bluepianocat]

I saw it and though it's a documentary it really made me cry - and my husband too ;-)

(Wasn't easy to buy it here in Germany...)

[dooodoward]

Hey...Do you,or any one else know if this van Zant guy is NATIVE AMERICAN???

from Wayne.

Canada.

[cmckenzieu2ub]

I experienced Townes for the first time when I was 41 years old I was at home looking after my new baby, my sick mom, my sick dad, my beautiful husband and was completely hypnotized. I got to see this movie and will never forget it. What a talent, what a legend!

[bjl000]

Bought it at Books a Million... This is the only DVD i have ever bought. And the only movie except for Godfather and Apocalypse now I watch over and over.

[BSQX4]

Go to Townes Van Zandt Central and you can order the movie. That's where I found it!

[morgantm]

Is this film available? I want to see it!

[Jadedgibb]

damn right, best ever, always.

[battlefarter]

he is the best singer/songwriter in the world

[crazyoutlaw]

im from mexico and i havent seen this movie, god i want it!