At My Window by Townes Van Zandt

Revinylization

- By Robert Baird

To be a poet is to be tormented. And singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt's demons were relentless: mental illness, addiction, willful recklessness. He constantly complicated his life and the lives of those around him. Even fans who felt lucky just to have him play their town were unwittingly drawn in, often exhilarated but occasionally aghast. Yet judged by his recordings, he was indisputably a songwriting genius-often sad and confused but gifted nonetheless. The scion of a storied and wealthy Texas clan, he was that rare artist who was compelled to create art. As John Prine put it, "Townes, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen absolutely had to write. They had no choice in it. They had to get it out of 'em." Haunted and otherworldly, his songs bore the deep scars of self-inflicted wounding. They were full of what music writer Robert Palmer called "prickly uncomfortable truths and unsentimental reflection," qualities on display, eg, in the opening lines of "Still Lookin' for You" from At My Window: "Ain't much I ain't tried / Fast livin' slow suicide / Then a-runnin' in a place to hide." Artists inevitably find a strong suit; a mood, feeling, or emotion they relate to best. For Bob Dylan, it is profundity. John Philip Sousa was triumphant. The Gershwins were about joy. Primarily a ballad singer, Townes feared heartbreak.