Added: 2 years ago
From: enterfailedment
Views: 164,748
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

All Comments (148)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • Powerful

  • perfect.  always.

  • Perfect.

  • I've been searching for a video of this tribute concert for years... can anyone steer me to a copy?

  • @jgnew52

    I am pretty sure it was never officially released. I have seen it for sale, but it really shouldn't be... there are some torrent sharing sites that have it. I will PM.

  • @jgnew52 : I found it on a DVD called Singers songwriters, apparently a tribute dedicated to Townes hence this song and Nanci crying. The overall broadcast is far from being state of the art on the technical front but the songs and people are wonderful.

  • @SylvainThuret

    "Singing Songwriters" is a compilation of Austin City Limits broadcasts, which I believe was done for European TV. It includes some performances from this night as well as performances from other shows. The original broadcast of this performance was a tribute concert after Townes died. This was the only original song, the others were covers of Townes' songs. If someone is looking for the full tribute, the may be disappointed in the "Singing Songwriters" DVD.

  • there is another tribute to townes by david munyon called "Guitar Road ", be sure to check that one also. both are great songs.

  • Comment removed

  • Comment removed

  • Hands down, my favorite sad sack song. It doesn't get any more beautiful than this.

  • We all have the "Fort Worth Blues".......to me "Fort Worth" is my home and all my travels have only made me remember all the things that make home "home", and this song hits it right on the head.....Well done Steve-0

  • first time hearing this.. just recently learned about Townes watching a movie about him on hulu. Gave this song extra meaning. Thanks for posting.

  • Music does not get more moving than this. Simple. Pure. True. Sad. Triumphant. Townes would have love it. The wonder is not that nancy cried; the wonder is if you don't. tom

  • Awesome song and the emotion is raw as nancy griffiths is overcome , it's just one of those rare moments captured.....the power of music and lyrics...........it can make you reach for the sun

  • I faved this song years back. Late at night when all are bedded down, I listen and weep at the sheer grace that i hear........I guess i have the fort worth blue.....I know I do.......

  • So thoughtful.

  • excellent song, steve earl good stuff

    

  • Saw this many years ago on Austin City Limits. Can't buy a recording of it so I spent 6 months watching my old VHS tape of it. A bit of a travis pick challenge but it flows easy once you get. I love this song with just the guitar and vox. Beautiful. I've seen people play this song on youtube...strumming it! Bleeechhhh. Got to travis pick this song. Maybe I'll post mine. But I am bass player and player and playing guitar scares me :-)

  • The song is about Townes Van Zandt and nobody would be more qualified to write and sing that than Steve Earle. Townes was his mentor from the time Steve was a teenaged newcomer to Nashville. Townes died tragically too young and I imagine all the performers on this stage had their Townes stories to tell. This one of my favorite songs. Thanks for putting it up here.

  • Nanci is it OK if I kiss you, I know why you're crying, can't kiss the blues away but at least let me try to.

  • Linked to this from my acoustic guitar blog (addy in profile). Thanks for uploading

  • Nanci Griffith crying in the behind him is intense.

  • Steve at his finest

  • @EdC371 not in weight ;)

  • Essential.

  • one person need to have their balls sawed off with a dull rust knife!

  • 282 likes vs 1 dislike is awesome. that's a testament to how fucking badass this tune really is.

  • I have become hooked on all of these artist since this aired.

  • I recorded this show on vhs the night it aired on ACL, converted to dvd a couple of years ago.. truly a treasure..

  • cheers for putting this on.from the uk x

  • i'm scottish and i love his music

  • another great songwriter. one of his best song.

  • beautifully sad song

  • I watch it every now and then...I love Steve...heck of a songwriter...

  • wow. talk about a song that never gets old.

  • amazing tune means so much!!

  • I feel this song right in my heart!

  • I love the song Fort Worth Blues, I used to live there and man do I miss it.

    RIP Townes Thanks for posting!

  • I love the song Fort Worth Blues, I used to live there and man do I miss it.

    RIP Townes

  • TRain-A-Comin, buy the SE CD, finest of fine

  • This is so special. The song, yes, and then add to that how Nanci Griffith sits there with tears streaming down her face. Just like me. Thank you for posting this. <3

  • sad and beautiful...god bless you townes

  • What kind of guitar is that?

  • Full moon over Lemonts gas makin plant... I missed October.... I misseed my brother for alot longer... It aint worth money.

  • There has never been a more gut-wrenching song ever written, in my opinion...It just kills me. I've endured a lot...but I'm glad I didn't have to endure everything you'd have to to be able to write a song like this. It'd kill most people.

  • This is absolutely brilliant. Love it!

  • Comment removed

  • 2:45 awww :)

  • I love Steve Earle and I love this song.

  • love it! Thanks!

  • incredible song definately under rated masterpiece

    

  • Steve Earle sings and plays this with amazing heart. Thanks for posting this.

  • steve earle. one of the best

  • Beautiful, so moving. A big thank you for uploading

  • Beautiful, so moving

    thanks for uploading

  • Left to Right: JT , Nancy, Steve, Guy. Straight up Texas Royalty.

  • great

    wellwhatelse

    is there to say

  • Great video. Thanks for posting. Townes was an incredible writer. Miss him alot..

  • Peter Hadden XXXXXXXXXXXXX

  • FTW!

  • Me and andy Seward once had the privilege of having a few drinks with Townes Van Zandt in a pub in Doncaster. A gent.

  • what is the name of the dvd this is off of

  • I have on DVD

  • Steve Earle is the Hank Williams of his generation....

    Hasnt sold out so he never 'made it' in commercial success, thank GOD.

  • @StSimonOfTrent He plays a bad ass with a cross bow in the movie "leaves of grass"

  • Damn,this is as real as a head on collision at 2 am.........

  • London never fails to leave me blue

  • Für HLG von Hase19 und LatteM  usw.

  • Love this song - Thanks. Unfortunately I looked at the comments - how can Nancy Griffith be confused with Emmylou Harris? There are even stories about Emmylou and it's not her! Glad people are listening anyway...

  • Great song. Thanks for sharing it.

  • Pretty sure that's Nancy Griffith.

  • So, who is the lady sitting behind Steve? Its certainly an emotional song. Is she struck by the beauty and emotion or is she "connected" to Townes and Steve in some way?

  • That is Emmylou Harris!

  • That is not Emmylou Harris. So how do you call yourself Countryman if you don't know what Emmylou looks like.

    That is Grammy Award winning Nancy Griffith!!!

  • Ok dundeeroad! .....your right its Nancy Griffith I guess I didn't look all that hard. She does resemble Emmylou a little though.

  • It is definitely Nanci, though Emmylou is there. This is a tribute concert for Townes after his death, so they are all his friends (and family, Townes' son JT is there.)

    Nanci sings "Tecumseh Valley" the same night, and Emmylou and Steve duet on "If I Needed You." Both are here on youtube.

  • amazing track

  • Chase I know your gonna watch this eventually. Sick shit I know. you play it well also.

     R.I.P Townes

  • Im cryin too Nanci

  • Songs like this are timeless. RIP Townes

  • @toterola451 - how wonderfully you put this- sending Townes along his journey with a song. What a tender expression. Two works of art! Can't help but cry with this one - thanks for the post.

  • Genius!

  • magic....i love that he adds galway at the end...im from galway and steve loves to come here!! what a dedication it was to write this song for the "late great TvZ"!

  • thanks for posting this. i have loved it since i first found it on here. it vanished and now its back. wonderful. the guy on steve's left also sang a song after steve. what is his name? thanks again

  • The guy on the left is Peter Rowan, he sings 'No Lonesome Tune' along with Nanci Griffith after Steve

  • thanks again 1000magicians.i will look for it

  • I was told steve and emmy loue once dated and he cleaned up his drug prblem they split so when he played this song she cried

  • hey dude...thats not emmy lou thats crying beside steve..its nacy griffeth...the song is a tribute to townes van zandt, hence the townes in the song..she was a close friend!!

  • @mistyw

    I think maybe the person who told you the story was confusing Emmylou and Steve's wife Lou-Anne. There are two biographies out about Steve, and neither talks about them dating. He did split with Lou-Anne after he got clean. And as others have said, this song is about Van Zandt, who had just died , and that is Nanci crying.

  • I doubt there's been a time that Steve has played this when at least ONE person wasn't crying somewhere in the room. One of the most deeply felt songs written...

  • Awesome, like all of his music is!

  • Heartbreaking, if anything is

  • There´s only two guys who can put some tears in my eyes, Mr.Townes Van Zandt and Mr. Steve Earle, specially with this song.

  • His best song. Everytime he plays it, he owns the room. I don't know of any other song by any other artist that gets to so many people when they hear it.

  • Saw Steve in Derby last nite,played for around 2 hours every song a gem and sung from the heart. He's up there with the best!!

  • beautiful

  • One of my ABSOLUTE ALL TIME FAVORITE YouTube vids! The best performance of an amazing song. All deeply felt and expressed under the somber circumstances of Townes' death. One great songwriter and friend paying heart-felt tribute to another GREAT songwriter and friend is just soooooooooo freakin' moving.

  • Its amazing how few views this video gets, for such a master piece.

  • It had been removed for a long time which could be a reason for the low views. Still tho, you would think it'd get more views.

    Such a classic, never ever gets old, love it!

  • what is the name of the dvd this is off of

  • @kj243dx1 I know how ya feel. Finding this DvD would be like finding buried treasure. Nanci Griffith's version of Techumseh Valley is incredible. I sure would like to have seen Guy Clark do a tribute. Spread the word if you ever find out at least the name of the tribute VHS?

  • @enterfailedment yeah...but most of the greats are mostly unknown to the masses. the mass isn't interested in this kind of music. just look at Blaze Foley and Townes Van Zandt...imo it takes a very high level of sophistication and even eccentricity to make such music and most people, i think, are driven off by this odd yet unique behavior

  • @josephgelb does it count that I come back every night? Wonder how many of the views are repeats...

  • Comment removed

  • @josephgelb you are right, my friend, when all of the trash on YouTube gets such views...and Steve Earle doesn't....amazing, this fellow has been first in my heart for twenty plus yrs..

  • Bugger. This freaking some always makes me well up. Magical songwriting.

  • I've never really sat down and listened to steve earle before tonight but with songs like this, copperhead road and guitar town, i think i'll be paying more attention to his stuff. This is especially a great great song.

  • thanks for posting this video, last year I was driving through Texas on my way to my father's funeral. This song really opened a flood gate of memories I had of my father and though we had not been very close I really had to pull over and just get a good cry out of my system before I could finish the drive. Beautiful song from a truly great song writer and singer.

  • The building blocks of a song are imperfect complex pieces. Many folks posing as songwriters, throw a handful of these blocks together and proclaim a masterpiece for something that is little more than a cobbeled up Lego structure. Steve Earle is one of very few people who patiently fits the blocks together to create a true masterpiece every time. Bravo!!

  • Well said.

    Steve is a master, who was a very able apprentice and a willing journeyman before attaining his current lofty perch.

    God rest Townes' sodden bones.

  • Wow this is brilliant.

    Townes Van Zandt was some songwriter but Steve Earle really pays him justice here.

  • Ahhh... Steve Earle hit this one out of the park. Townes was his buddy, and I guess he was sending him along his journey with a song.

    Beautiful. Thanks for posting it.

  • @toterola451 Whenever a song comes from the heart...there's a good chance...it's out of the Park.

  • @toterola451 If you watch him sing the very last word...he gets it out just in time and his head goes down onto his guitar. All the while Nanci Griffith is gently weeping. Thank God For John Townes Van Zandt

  • @toterola451 cannot agree with you more. In the midst of being in a state of mind lower than at any time in my life (My Wife passed away at 52) I found Townes Van Zandt. I cry still but credit him with turning things around. Of Course this song is straight from the heart. Gonna start searching around to see if Steve is touring and coming close to Detroit.

  • yes I am too glad to see it back, amazing song and video

  • Glad these videos are back-thanks for posting.

  • does anyone know if there exists a tape of this whole concert?

  • Yes it was filmed and released on dvd or vhs, but I haven't been able to find it, it does exist out there somewhere tho, I live in Dublin Ireland so this stuff is hard to find, might be easier if you live in the states. :]

  • @enterfailedment I live in New Zealand and managed to find it in a bargain bin here for $5, best DVD I own

  • @Brokendollrecords please tell us the name on the DVD...Gotta have it

  • @steele917

    It was an Austin City Limits broadcast. I have never seen copy for sale, but know it was released.

  • @enterfailedment All I can find is the reference to the PBS airing: Air Date

    Saturday March 28, 1998 Production Code 2309. I too would love to get the DVD> Any Sources?

    I recall watching the show that night-- did not realize it had been that long. This is a beautiful song. Few songs bring tears to my eyes, This one does.

  • @enterfailedment do you know the name of the show or channel it aired on or anything? i dont mean to bug you but id love to have the whole thing as well

  • @ttthhheeerrrooonnn

    It is from Austin City Limits, which is on PBS. I have never seen a copy for sale, and I have looked!

  • @enterfailedment i have it on dvd..

  • @enterfailedment I can get the dvd/vhs (i forget which) here in houston, tx

  • @mushy85 : I have it on VHS but my player died. If you can get it on DVD send me a message here. I'm in Austin and I'll come down there and pick it up. I've turned more people on to Townes' music by showing them this video than by showing them "Be Here to Love Me." I used to go hear Townes play here in Austin when he was just "local color" to some of the folks here. There's a new generation that needs to hear the best poet of the 20th Century.

  • @enterfailedment whats the name of the dvd

  • @greyholden

    It was an Austin CIty Limits tribute to Townes - I have not seen it for sale in recent years.

  • Yes it's on the dvd a tribute to Townes Van Zandt ,you can find it on tapecity

  • @zachgab My father has a worn down copy that I'm trying to get my handa on to make a dvd copy of...

  • it was a PBS special filmed shortly after the death of Townes van Zandt, Many artists sat on stage honoring their friend. I have seen it for sale, look for "Townes van Zandt tribute PBS" and you should find it

  • @zachgab whats the name of dvd?

  • @greyholden Dvd's called Singing Songwriters......totally amazing.

  • @tonykileyable

    Actually, that is not entirely accurate. This was an Austin City Limits tribute to Townes VanZandt in 1997. It is around on torrent sites, but it was never for sale, as far as I know. There was a later European (German, I think) DVD put out with some of the songs from this show and songs from other ACL performances. Not sure if that was actually released or is just a bootleg that circulates. I think it might be the latter, as the quality of the one I saw was pretty poor.

  • Thank you for posting this gem. The one I bookmarked is gone and it's such a beautiful performance.

    This was an emotional performance since it was a tribute to TVZ. Emotional for Nanci Grittith, too, and it is touching to see such genuineness.

  • thanks, my friend, for letting me know about this...it's a wonderful song but an incredible artist...you know, i kinda like Steve Earle!!

  • fucking incredible.

  • true dat

  • Thanks for putting it back up.

  • Yeah I went looking for it myself on here and noticed it was gone, so I found it, downloaded it and put it back up straight away. :]

  • Would you have the "Goodbye" version with him and Emmylou??

    It was on here forever but it's gone....HELP!!

    The boot the BEST songs off of here....bummers.

  • I hadn't actually seen that video before, thank you for drawing it to my attention, I found it and re-uploaded it ;]

    I hope I got the right version.

  • Thanks so much for this gem. It was down for awhile. So glad to see it back!

  • great post

  • .... just hold on tight - that's all ya gotta do. I love my steve xx

Loading...
Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more