March 7, 2024, marks what would have been the 80th birthday of Townes Van Zandt. The acclaimed and respected Texas singer/songwriter died on New Year’s Day in 1997 at age 52 of cardiac arrhythmia after undergoing surgery for a serious hip injury.
Van Zandt released his debut album, For the Sake of the Song, in 1968, and soon established himself as one of the premier country and folk songwriters. He struggled with mental illness, and drugs and alcohol throughout his life, while amassing a body of work that showcased his knack for writing insightful, poignant, and heart-wrenching songs that often explored the dark side of life.
Videos by American Songwriter
[RELATED: The Meaning Behind Townes Van Zandt’s “Pancho and Lefty”]
His music was embraced by many of his peers, and has influenced generations of younger songwriters. Among the many artists who have covered Van Zandt’s compositions are Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Lyle Lovett, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, and Gillian Welch.
In honor of his milestone birthday, here are five fascinating facts about Van Zandt:
He Once Jumped Off a Fourth Floor Balcony
In 1962, while attending the University of Boulder in Colorado, Van Zandt was drinking wine while on the balcony of his fourth-floor apartment, and he decided he wanted to know how it felt to fall from that height. He recalled that he fell backwards off the balcony and landed on his back. Van Zandt claimed he was uninjured by the fall, and hadn’t even spilled the wine he was holding.
Not long after the incident, Van Zandt’s parents, worried about reports that he’d been binge drinking and suffering from depression, brought him home to Houston to receive psychiatric attention. He was diagnosed with manic depression, and underwent three months of insulin shock therapy. The treatments reportedly wiped out a lot of his long-term memory.
He Once Roomed with a Psychedelic Rock Cult Hero
Around 1968, Van Zandt was roommates with Roky Erickson, lead singer of the Texas psychedelic rock band The 13th Floor Elevators. While they were rooming together, Erickson suggested that Van Zandt try out as bassist for the group. Van Zandt had never played bass before, though, and when the band’s electric jug player, Tommy Hall, discovered this, he kicked Townes out of the audition.
Other Artists Scored Country Hits with Van Zandt’s Songs
One of Van Zandt’s best-known songs is “Pancho and Lefty.” Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered the song for their 1983 collaborative album, which also was titled Pancho and Lefty. The country legends’ duet version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart in July of 1983. In 2020, Nelson and Haggard’s rendition “Pancho and Lefty” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 1981, Emmylou Harris and Don Williams released a duet version of the Van Zandt song “If I Needed You” that reached No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs tally.
He Wrote a Song About Cowboy Junkies That the Band Recorded
In 1990, Van Zandt was invited to tour with Cowboy Junkies as the Canadian alt-folk band’s opening act. While on the road, Van Zandt wrote a song called “Cowboy Junkies Lament” especially for the group.
Cowboy Junkies recorded the tune for their 1992 album Black Eyed Man. The album also features a cover of Van Zandt’s 1971 song “To Live Is to Fly.” In addition, the record includes a tune called “Townes’ Blues” that Cowboy Junkies guitarist Michael Timmins wrote for Van Zandt to return the favor for him writing “Cowboy Junkies Lament.”
Van Zandt also recorded his own version “Cowboy Junkies Lament,” which appeared on his 1994 album No Deeper Blue.
Van Zandt Turned Down the Chance to Write Songs with Bob Dylan
Van Zandt and Bob Dylan were mutual fans of each other’s work. However, according to Van Zandt’s friend Susanna Clark, he turned down multiple invitations from Dylan to write songs together.
Clark noted that while Van Zandt admired Dylan’s songwriting, he wasn’t interested in the celebrity that surrounded him. One of the few times Van Zandt and Dylan met happened when Dylan was playing a show in Austin, Teas, and he invited Townes to come see him. The story goes that Van Zandt drove his motorhome to where the concert was happening, and Dylan boarded the vehicle and asked Townes to play him a few of his songs.
Dylan covered “Pancho and Lefty” multiple times in concert, and in his 2002 book The Philosophy of Modern Song, he profiled Nelson and Haggard’s version of the tune. He also wrote about how great a songwriter he thought Van Zandt was.