- Hardcover: 344 pages
- Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc; 1st Da Capo Press Ed edition (5 April 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0306815532
- ISBN-13: 978-0306815539
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 15.6 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 847,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
"A fervent tribute to a true legend of American songwriting. John Kruth has tracked the back story of Townes Van Zandt like a manic bloodhound without spoiling the mystery of the man." -- Sam Shepard
Record Collector, March 2007
"The roguish gallery of intimates going on for the record with at-once loving and frightening memories of this volatile artist is impressive."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Rarely has an artist received so much acclaim and recognition from critics and fellow musicians yet received so little fame and fortune. That is the case of Townes Van Zandt. His relatively short but enthralling life is well recorded by John Kruth in this excellent biography. That Townes Van Zandt was a superb writer of intensely sad and poetic songs is beyond doubt (some argue even greater than Dylan) and many of the reasons for his relative lack of wider popularity are also clear. Townes Van Zandt was self-destructive, literally drinking and drugging himself to death. Moreover, few artists have shown such little interest in their own success and career, merely singing and performing night after night for the simple joy of doing so. Much of Townes Van Zandt's recorded output was unfortunately characterised by suffocating, overblown production when simplicity would have worked so much better. Thankfully, (some of) his live performances (for example, Live at The Old Quarter) show Townes Van Zandt as he should be remembered. Kruth's understanding and discussion of these issues is crucial to the success of his biography. The author must be congratulated for writing such a well researched and informed biography about someone who clearly touched so deeply those fortunate enough to have had contact with him personally or through his music.
3 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A drunk is hard to love and Townes is no exception. You feel for his children and friends, but there's no doubting the beauty and unflinching insight of his greatest songs.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
19 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
A bumpy ride, but worth the fare.
13 May 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Hang in there with this one. Kruth gets off to a shaky start, with one early chapter consisting entirely of an account of a drunken Guy Clark essentially telling the author to go to hell. But the narrative acquires power and tragic beauty as one of the most talented songwriters of all time slowly destroys himself with alcohol and drugs. The end of Van Zandt's life will look all too familiar to anyone who's ever watched an alcoholic ride the disease to the end of the line - the sheer horror of reaching the point where he can't continue to drink, and can't quit drinking, either. If you haven't already done so, you may want to steep yourself in Van Zandt's music before you read To Live's to Fly. Besides being required for anyone who gives a damn about the art of songwriting, I'm pretty sure this is a prerequisite to sticking out this tale to the bitter end.
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Valuable only for the Missing Years 1975-1983 Chapters
18 Nov 2007
Format:Hardcover
Ummm.... I just read this book cover to cover on a plane from Atlanta to San Francisco. I should say, I am a long time Townes fan, I own it all. I had the pleasure of meeting Townes once, a wonderful experience.
I did not get the sense the author was even a fan of Townes music. Also, I don't think he understood the depth and beauty of Townes lyrics. Several major pieces in Townes canon were neglected, such as his masterpiece, the song "High, Low, & In Between", or the latter day piece "Cowboy Junkies Lament", the author talked about the song, but not the lyric itself. Several song lyrics were misquoted, or labeled wrong.
The part about Guy Clark.... it felt like the author was trying to gain credibility by letting the reader know how hard it was to gain Guy Clark's trust (Guy was a life long friend of Townes, and a brilliant songwriter). In fact, if seemed Guy decided to contribute next to nothing, other than that one scene, and I would bet money Guy did not like the way he was presented. In fact, Guy Clark's wife refused to speak to the author, and she spoke to Townes on the phone everyday.
Also, entire passages in the book were lifted from Townes in between song talking, him in his own words, yet they were not credited as such.
The book also dwelt on the liquor and drugs. The songs it spoke of were the obvious ones. I feel an artist like Townes deserves better than this.
The one redeeming factor is that the book filled in a lot of the details from the "Missing Years" 1975 to 1983, when Townes disappeared from sight. This was a real gem, this history that had been lacking for so long.
If you want to know about Townes find a copy of "Last Rights" or the UK Version called "Documentary". A radio interview with Townes telling stories, and him singing his songs in between.
The "Old Quarter" is good, but "Live at Union Chapel" is better, and "Live and Obscure" is breathtaking. The studio records never quite worked, Townes was best live.
This book is not the last word on Townes, not by a long shot.
I did not get the sense the author was even a fan of Townes music. Also, I don't think he understood the depth and beauty of Townes lyrics. Several major pieces in Townes canon were neglected, such as his masterpiece, the song "High, Low, & In Between", or the latter day piece "Cowboy Junkies Lament", the author talked about the song, but not the lyric itself. Several song lyrics were misquoted, or labeled wrong.
The part about Guy Clark.... it felt like the author was trying to gain credibility by letting the reader know how hard it was to gain Guy Clark's trust (Guy was a life long friend of Townes, and a brilliant songwriter). In fact, if seemed Guy decided to contribute next to nothing, other than that one scene, and I would bet money Guy did not like the way he was presented. In fact, Guy Clark's wife refused to speak to the author, and she spoke to Townes on the phone everyday.
Also, entire passages in the book were lifted from Townes in between song talking, him in his own words, yet they were not credited as such.
The book also dwelt on the liquor and drugs. The songs it spoke of were the obvious ones. I feel an artist like Townes deserves better than this.
The one redeeming factor is that the book filled in a lot of the details from the "Missing Years" 1975 to 1983, when Townes disappeared from sight. This was a real gem, this history that had been lacking for so long.
If you want to know about Townes find a copy of "Last Rights" or the UK Version called "Documentary". A radio interview with Townes telling stories, and him singing his songs in between.
The "Old Quarter" is good, but "Live at Union Chapel" is better, and "Live and Obscure" is breathtaking. The studio records never quite worked, Townes was best live.
This book is not the last word on Townes, not by a long shot.
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A lackluster effort based on even less research
3 April 2007
Format:Hardcover
The excitment I had when I got my hands on a copy of the new TVZ book matched the disappointment I suffered as I read through it. I did read the entire book - in part out of dumb dedication to my favorite songwriters & in part hoping that the book would improve. This book doesn't flow; it is a collage of events & quotes loosely organized by topic. Many of the quotes are identical to those printed in the 1970's issue limited edition songbook with this book failing to give credit to the primary source (perhaps appropriately so, but I have my doubts). The author's interpretations of certain songs are questionable in most cases and dead wrong in one specific case. Perhaps due to the author's clearly northwestern attitude towards Texas music or maybe because of his awkward writing style, several people of great significance in TVZ's life refused to provide interviews for this book. It is extremely telling that Susanna Clark refused as she was his best friend & closest confidant who knew him better than any of us. Though it is hard to recommend this book, it does aggregate a lot of quotes and anecdotes about Townes life in one place and that is helpful. The mediocre quality of writing, lack of primary research, and typical New York attitude do the memory of Townes a great disservice.
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