Townes Van Zandt 1997 Deaths

Townes Van Zandt

Van Zandt's spare delivery and melancholy lyrics influenced folk and rock musicians such as Steve Earle, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, though he never enjoyed commercial success. His tragic ballads reflected his own personal travails and lonely wanderings, including mental illness and alcohol abuse. His recordings include For the Sake of the Song, “Pancho and Lefty,” which Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson performed in 1983, and No Deeper Blue.