Comments on: Heartworn Highways :: OST

By: The Rising Storm » :: Beyond Sweetheart: Good and Real Country Music ::

The Rising Storm » :: Beyond Sweetheart: Good and Real Country Music :: — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 14:45:49 +0000

[...] Some classic albums from the era include Viva Terlingua! by Jerry Jeff Walker (recorded in the tiny musician’s bar town of Luckenbach, Texas), Red Headed Stranger by the one and only Willie Nelson, and scores of other great records from a singer/songwriter’s paradise. To get the full picture, you need to invest in the “bible” of the scene, Jan Reid’s 1974 (and recently updated) The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock. Oh, you’ll also really enjoy the DVD Heartworn Highways, check out the drunkard’s post. [...]

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:48:11 +0000

Oh yeah, and Steve Earle looks like he’s about 12. And Townes looks happy. Both pretty cool things to see.

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 04:46:29 +0000

The movie is actually not that great. It’s kind of disjointed, jumping around from one thing to the next without putting it in context–or usually even noting who, when, or where. Not great in terms of a “documentary,” and I could have done without David Allan Coe’s “amusing” little prison rape story.

The extras on the DVD version, OTOH, are amazing. There are a couple long bits of the guys just sitting around and playing for each other and for the hell of it. Skip the movie and just watch those, and you won’t be missing much.

By: Cari

Cari — Thu, 24 May 2007 17:42:16 +0000

I choked up watching the scene with Townes Van Zandt and Seymour Washington. That scene’s worth the entire piece of the DVD. Glad that some of the dialougue’s on the CD.

By: risingstorm

risingstorm — Thu, 24 May 2007 16:25:40 +0000

it’s a great film. I am obsessed with this whole scene right now and I’m reading The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, the 1974 account of this Austin music scene, which I highly recommend.

there are two clips from HH on youtube
Townes:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xTGKzWDakK8

Steve Earle:
at the very beginning of this clip, take a look at the painting on the wall. It’s also on the cover of Guy Clarke’s Old No. 1
http://youtube.com/watch?v=WHE1dM4hYCw

By: W

Tue, 22 May 2007 17:33:26 +0000

Wow! I hadn’t heard of this being released/rereleased. I’ll be buying this for the full splendour of Townes. Thanks.

By: David

David — Tue, 22 May 2007 14:57:53 +0000

Funny, I just watched Heartworn Highways this weekend, and bought the soundtrack on Sunday. It’s amazing to think that Steve Earle wrote “The Mercenary Song” when he was 19-20. The movie itself is a little scattered, with many great scenes but no cohesive whole. I thought that both the David Allan Coe AND Charlie Daniels Band sequences needed to be cut. However, make sure to check out the extras on the dvd: They supplement the amazing scene near the end of the movie where Rodney Crowell, Steve Young, Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and others sit around drinking and singing songs on Christmas Eve 1975 at Guy/Susanna Clark’s house. It’s extremely moving and touching, and captures the true essence of what makes music great.

By: triplej

triplej — Tue, 22 May 2007 03:51:18 +0000

I always thought ‘Waiting Around to Die’ was about Townes. But, I’ve got a live recording somewhere. He introduces the song by saying, it was about a guy he knew that lived in Houston. He watched him as he sat on his porch, waiting around to die.

By: brooke

brooke — Mon, 21 May 2007 22:51:22 +0000

Ive got a copy I’ll send ya. I didn’t like it that much. The soundtrack is probably a lot better. Although there are some good scenes of David Allan Coe playing a prision and talking shit to the prisoners.