I'll Be Here in the Morning: The Songwriting Legacy of Townes Van Zandt

Lyle Lovett

lyle lovett Spring only sighed, summer had to be satisfied Fall is a feeling I just can’t lose —TVZ, “Flyin’ Shoes,” from Flyin’ Shoes l yle Lovett’s Step Inside This House (1998) directly salutes his favorite Texas songwriters. Lovett’s covers collection honors mentors close in sentiment (Guy Clark’s “Step Inside This House”), spirit (Willis Alan Ramsey’s “Sleepwalking”), and style (Vince Bell’s “I’ve Had Enough”). He nods most frequently (four times each) tothelatesongwriterWalterHyatt(including“BabesintheWoods”and “Lonely in Love”) and Townes Van Zandt (“Lungs,” “Highway Kind,” “Flyin’ Shoes,” and “If I Needed You”). “I learned ‘Flyin’ Shoes’ when I was eighteen,” Lovett says. “I loved the chord changes, the lyrical idea Lyle Lovett, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Telluride, CO, June 17, 2004 lyle loVeTT 113 of leaving everything you know and love behind and embarking on an unknowncourse.Thatnotion’saveryrealthingwhenyou’reeighteen.”1 Lovett, born November 1, 1957, in Klein, Texas, cut his teeth as a performer atlegendary LoneStarvenues such asAndersonFair in Houston and Gruene Hall in New Braunfels. He recalls gigs at one of Texas’ oldest working dancehalls as idyllic snapshots in time. “On Sunday afternoons, people were relaxed and just happy to be [at Gruene Hall]. The doors would be open and the breeze would be blowing through the screen doors and people would be wearing shorts. Behind the bar, Hal Ketchum would lean through the window and play harmonica.”2 Lovett’s self-titled debut (1986) matched wits with other emerging young country singers Steve Earle (Guitar Town), Dwight Yoakam (Guitars , Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.), and Randy Travis (Storms of Life). Lovett’s singles fromthealbum,including“CowboyMan”and“FartherDowntheLine,” highlighted his storytelling ability while “God Will” showed more pensive qualities.3 Lovett migrated toward big band and swing tunes on the album Pontiac (1988). “It was a really experimental time in Nashville,” he says.4 Thefollowingyear’s LyleLovettandHisLargeBandmadeofficialthat transition, which has continued through It’s Not Big, It’s Large (2007). Aquartercenturyon,LyleLovettremainsasunapologeticallyindependent as his former Texas A&M University roommate, Robert Earl Keen, although with significantly more mainstream popularity. As one writer claimed, “[Frank Sinatra] might well have hung out with Lyle Lovett, in which case the Texas singer-songwriter with the Eiffel Tower hair could have told Ol’ Blue Eyes a thing or two about ‘doing it his way.’”5 Lovett’s personal life became highly trafficked tabloid fodder for a time. In late June 1993, Keen reportedly found a message from Lovett on hisansweringmachinethatsaid,“I’vemetthisgreatgal,andI’mgetting married to her tomorrow, and I hope you can make it.” The “gal” was movie star Julia Roberts, whom Lovett had met while filming the Robert Altman movie The Player. The marriage was frequently portrayed in the press as a beauty-and-the-beast pairing due to Lovett’s unconventional looks. It lasted less than two years.6 114 I’ll Be Here In THe MornInG Lovett’s ongoing “guitar pull” concerts with Guy Clark, Joe Ely, and John Hiatt have endured considerably longer. The loose acoustic song swapscaughtsteamafterthequartetperformedtogetherfortheCountry Music Association in 1990, and they continue sporadically today. “We come here with no agenda, no set list . . . no clue,” Clark will often say to introducetheevening.“TositonstageandwatchGuyplayisincredible,” says Lovett, who alludes to the guitar pulls in his song “All Downhill” with the lyric, “Good luck, you can’t buy it / Joe Ely and I sit next to that John Hiatt / We park next to Guy Clark / We sing when it gets dark.”7 On November 8, 2010, Lovett performed “All Downhill,” along with the Van Zandt songs “Loretta” and “White Freightliner Blues,” during the final episode of Austin City Limits taped at the television program’s original Studio 6A set on the University of Texas campus in Austin.8 • • • lyle lovett We’djustfinishedplayinganearlyeveningsetattheKerrvilleFolkFestival in 1985, and as I walked offstage, there was Townes. He shook my hand and introduced himself. He was a real gentleman. I’ll always remember what he said to me: “I’ve never heard your music, but people whose opinion I respect say you’re all right.” That really made an impression on me. What a nice thing to say. Guy Clark always talks about how lighthearted and smart Townes was, how he had a wonderful, playful sense of humor and a razor-sharp wit. That’s the Townes I remember, too. I first saw him after the years he lived in Houston, after he’d made his Live at...