Willie Nelson - "Just Breathe"

 

A month ago, we went to the Outlaw Music Festival in Va Beach.  It was an outstanding lineup: Allison Krauss & Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson.   Unfortunately, Willie Nelson was sick and while he was originally projected to return to the tour in time for the Va Beach show, he did not join until the next show on the tour.  I missed a chance to see Willie Nelson in Norfolk in 2008, and I had hoped this would be a chance to make up for that.  He's 91, so realistically my chances of seeing him live are running out.

Allison Krauss and Robert Plant were the opening act, and were definitely the highlight of the show -- we would definitely see them again.  For example, their interpretation of "When the Levee Breaks" was darker, more predatory and menacing that Led Zeppelin's version.  Drew had seen them a couple of times before, so I sort of knew what to expect, but they exceeded my expectations and we would definitely see them again.

I saw Bob Dylan once in college (ca. 1988) and he's not exactly a showman.  I mostly enjoyed his show here, even though he purposefully did some of his most obscure songs. His set fit the bar room, honky tonk aesthetic of this tour, but I certainly would have appreciated at least a couple more of his classics.  

Since Willie was still too ill to perform, Lukas played his set.  He looks and sounds like a lot like his father, and they made the best of the situation.  We enjoyed the set, but we couldn't quite shake the feeling that we were watching a Willie Nelson tribute band.  

Even with the limitations, we enjoyed the concert and it was an evening well-spent (even though it was a million degrees).  But the song that I am choosing to mark the event is not one that they performed, but one that we heard in between sets.  It is a cover of Pearl Jam's 2009 "Just Breathe", a single from their 2009 LP "Backspacer", a late-career "hit" for Pearl Jam that I always enjoyed.  I did not know until that evening that Willie Nelson and Lukas Nelson did this as a duet for Willie's 2012 LP "Heroes".  It's a great song, and they turn in an inspired cover, and I could not help but think of Johnny Cash's work with Rick Rubin.  

Pearl Jam: Just Breath (studio), Live at Austin City Limits (2009)

Willie Nelson (Featuring Lukas Nelson): Just Breathe (studio), Live at Farm Aid (2012)

Townes Van Zandt - "Pancho and Lefty" (the song remains the same)

In my previous post I introduced Ronnie Montrose to illustrate the concept of popular vs. influential. Continuing in that theme we now look at Townes Van Zandt, a songwriter's songwriter. You probably haven't heard of Townes, but he was an enormously influential on and respected by artists you do know, as we will see.

One reason Townes never achieved greater fame is that he was his own worst enemy, embodying all the cliches of "Bad Blake" in Crazy Heart, but without the happy ending. His death could be a movie by itself. Somewhere, Townes must have heard that you need to suffer to be a good songwriter... and he was a very good songwriter. As Steve Earle once said:

"[Van Zandt is] the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

My first introduction to Van Zandt's music was long before I even knew who he was. In 1983, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard released a collaborative album entitled "Pancho & Lefty". I had a lot of exposure to country music at the time because my mother played it 24-7 and even though I was into metal then, I knew "Pancho and Lefty" was a compelling song.

It tells the story of the two outlaws, Pancho now dead and Lefty retired (for the record: it is not about Pancho Villa). They live a hard life on the run, but perhaps their freedom is a farce:

All the Federales say
We could have had him any day.
We only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose.

Eventually Pancho is "laid low" and Lefty escapes:

The day they laid poor Pancho low,
Lefty split for Ohio.
Where he got the bread to go,
There ain't nobody knows.

The exact details of what happened are never revealed. One reading of the song is that it is a retelling of the universal theme of betrayal, but even though the evidence suggests otherwise I like to think Lefty didn't flip on Pancho (read the rest of the lyrics to decide for yourself). The story that Townes tells is simple, direct, and powerful; there are no wasted words. It is a perfect match for Willie Nelson's voice, who absorbs the story and the way he sings the opening stanza gives me chills:

Living on the road my friend,
Was gonna keep you free and clean.
Now you wear your skin like iron,
Your breath as hard as kerosene.
You weren't your mama's only boy,
But her favorite one it seems.
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
And sank into your dreams.

Before Willie and Merle recorded it, Emmylou Harris recorded it for her 1977 LP "Luxury Liner", and it first appeared on Towne's 1972 LP, "The Late Great Townes Van Zandt". As you can see below, you can take almost any combination of country and folk singers and find a live version. Some of the notable versions are:

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard: studio (1983), live

Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan: live

Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris: live (2000)

Emmylou Harris: live (1977), live (2008)

Steve Earle: studio, live (2009), live (2009)

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings: live (1997)

and of course:
, live (ca. 1975, from "Heartworn Highways")
Townes Van Zandt: live (1993), interview + live (1984), live (ca. 1975, from "Heartworn Highways")

The Highwaymen - "Highwayman" (forgotten song)

What's cooler than Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson (collectively known as "The Highwaymen") singing together? How about them singing "Highwayman", a Jimmy Webb song that is: 1) a literal account of reincarnation, 2) an objectivist paean to heroic individualism, or 3) an example of Nietzschean eternal recurrence. Take your pick, but it's a cool song.

It is a single of the 1985 debut LP "Highwayman". Cash, Jennings, Nelson & Kristofferson are four of the main figures in "Outlaw Country", which is a lot more fun than the lifeless, corporate- & RNC-approved pablum that currently passes for country.

Link: YouTube (live 1993)

Bonus Links #1, studio version: last.fm, YouTube (cheesy video alert!).

Bonus Links #2, Jimmy Webb version: last.fm, YouTube.

Bonus Link #3, Glen Campell: live 1992.  

(Thanks to Joy for the updated links: 2015-03-07)