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

Foreword

Foreword Harold F. eggers Jr. I met Townes in 1967, the year my brother Kevin signed him to his label, PoppyRecords.Weworkedtogetheroveraspanoftwentyyears.Istarted off as his road manager in 1976 and eventually became his manager, agent, and business partner. My music education was in the school of Townes, through the eyes and thoughts of this extremely intense and overwhelmingspiritwhowasobsessedandconsumedwithsongwriting, performing, and traveling. Townesbelievedthatyoucan’tsingthebluesunlessyou’velivedthem, and he lived them to the extremes and beyond. As Steve Earle has said, Townes would go to the depths of darkness where we were all afraid to go, and then he’d come back and tell us about them. Townes lived his songs right to the end. That may be what killed him. The highway was Townes’s home. “Normal” would be the last way of describing our travels, but I got used to the extreme craziness that Townes brought along with him. We zigzagged across North America and Europe, talking about his life, his songwriting, and all the highs and lows that haunted him daily. I feel very privileged that he chose me to work and travel with him, but the truth is that he always did what he wanted to do. I just held on for dear life as the years and miles flew by. It was always about where we were off to now. It was the going, not the getting there. That was part of the beauty and mystique of touring and working with this maddening and troubled artist. Every show was different because Townes’s extreme moods changed from day to day. I started recording his shows from the very beginning and continued throughout the entire time that I worked with him. We would listen to the recordings as we traveled, and his favorites were the xiv ForeworD darkest. I never got used to the intensity of his shows. His words and music rattled me every time. Townes’s music and lyrics still run through mymindeveryday,evennow.Youcanfeellineslike“sorrowandsolitude, these are the precious things” right to the bone. I like the title I’ll Be Here in the Morning for this book. A line from that Townes song—“There’s no prettier sight than looking back on a town youleftbehind”—remindsmethatwewerealwayshereandgoneandon theroadtothenextshow.Inmid-1996,Townesrecordedaduetof“I’llBe Here in the Morning” with Barb Donovan, who through opening many shows for Townes earned the distinction of being his favorite female singer-songwriter. While we were touring overseas later in that year, the German Rolling Stone magazine approached Townes for a unique recording to include on a CD with the publication. Townes suggested their duet. That compilation,Rare Trax, which included songs by major artists such as Sting and Sheryl Crow, was released the day that Townes died. I think Townes would have felt honored by this book, with so many peers and younger artists recognizing him as a great songwriter. At the same time, he would say that there are many more important people to write a book about. He was very humble, shy, and unassuming. The international press called Townes one of our greatest songwriters and a livinglegend,buthealwayssaidalegendissomeonewho’sdead.Townes was at peace just knowing that his words and music will go on forever. February 2011 ...