Heartworn Highways

Last updated
Heartworn Highways
Heartworn Highways FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by James Szalapski
Written byJames Szalapski
Produced by Graham Leader
Starring Guy Clark
Townes Van Zandt
Steve Earle
David Allan Coe
Rodney Crowell
Gamble Rogers
Steve Young
The Charlie Daniels Band
Larry Jon Wilson
Cinematography James Szalapski
Edited by Phillip Schopper
Distributed by First Run Features (theatrical)
Navarre Corporation (DVD)
Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution
Release date
  • May 13, 1981 (1981-05-13)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Heartworn Highways is a documentary film by James Szalapski whose vision captured some of the founders of the Outlaw Country movement in Texas and Tennessee in the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976. [1] The film was not released theatrically until 1981. [1]

Contents

Plot

The documentary covers singer-songwriters whose songs are more traditional to early folk and country music instead of following in the tradition of the previous generation. Some of film's featured performers are Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell, Gamble Rogers, Steve Young, and The Charlie Daniels Band. The movie features the first known recordings of Grammy award winners Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell who were quite young at the time and appear to be students of mentor Guy Clark. Steve Earle was also a big fan of Van Zandt at the time.

The beginning of the movie shows Larry Jon Wilson in a recording studio, awakened for the movie after an evening of post-gig debauchery. The filmmaker goes to Austin and visits Townes Van Zandt at his trailer (at what is now 11th and Charlotte in the Clarksville neighborhood of downtown Austin) and his girlfriend Cindy, his dog Geraldine, Rex "Wrecks" Bell, and Uncle Seymour Washington (born 12 July 1896; died 12 November 1976) [2] at the home of Washington, who is also called "The Walking Blacksmith," and who gives his great worldly advice to the viewers and represents a very important aspect of the atmosphere that these songwriters living in the South are surrounded by and involved in.

The movie shows Charlie Daniels completely fill a big high school gymnasium. Then the camera man, sound recorder and director join David Allan Coe and film him playing a gig at the Tennessee State Prison where he admits to being a former inmate and tells a story of being there and seems to bring out friends of his onto the stage who still are inmates there and they perform a gospel number "Thank You Jesus" that they used to sing in the yard. The end of the movie shows a drinking party that starts Christmas Eve and ends sometime Christmas Day at Guy Clark's house in Nashville with Guy, Susanna Clark, Steve Young, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Jim McGuire (playing the dobro), along with several other guests. Steve Young leads the group in a rendition of Hank Williams' song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and Rodney Crowell leads everyone in "Silent Night".

Reception

Pauline Kael wrote highly of the film and its lyricism, but lamented the loose structure and lack of contextualizing information:

Szalapski is an attentive and scrupulous cinematographer; he loves his subjects, and the imagery is so warm and finely detailed that I had a hard time believing I was seeing a blow-up from 16-mm. But in this film he isn't yet a director—not fully, anyway ... It's fairly clear that during the (underfinanced) shooting he caught whatever he could; he couldn't plan a structure, and he probably wasn't looking for anything as vulgar as a hook or an angle. Which is too bad, because although there is very little in the film that isn't friendly or funny or really soul-stirring, it has no unifying energy. Watching it is like being carted off to a good party by people who told you where they were taking you so casually that the names of the people who were going to be there didn't sink in. [3]

Janet Maslin also noted the unfocused ambience:

The camera periodically (and somewhat unpredictably) drops in on a tavern where the regulars play pool and grouse about what country music is coming to. A woman is seen singing here - a homely elderly woman with long teased hair, a too-tight shimmering jumpsuit and a voice not even Smith or Wesson could admire. The movie presents her almost matter-of-factly, though, or at least it offers no discernible attitude toward her. Here, as in many places, the directorial haziness becomes a problem. But for those interested in the particular performers to whom the film is devoted, Heartworn Highways at least offers ambience, if not much more. [4]

Contemporary critics, such as Doug Freeman, see the lack of structure as a strength:

Yet in many ways, Heartworn Highways refuses that historicizing assessment, even resists it. The film would certainly not have become the canonical documentary it has without the subsequent success of its subjects, but their names are never the emphasis here. While the songwriters Szalapski follows are exceptional, there is the sense that he could have just as effectively been following any number of other young artists or communities. The documentary pushes into the moment, which if not timeless, is at least removed from time. The lack of context as the camera rolls is the point. [5]

Music

Songs performed in the documentary:

"Extras" (bonus songs on the DVD):

Party at Guy Clark's house:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Allan Coe</span> American country musician

David Allan Coe is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly in the blues style, before transitioning to country music, becoming a major part of the 1970s outlaw country scene. His biggest hits include "You Never Even Called Me by My Name", "Longhaired Redneck", "The Ride", "Mona Lisa Lost Her Smile", and "She Used to Love Me a Lot".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Earle</span> American musician

Stephen Fain Earle is an American country, rock and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Townes Van Zandt</span> American singer-songwriter (1944–1997)

John Townes Van Zandt was an American singer-songwriter. He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "For the Sake of the Song", "If I Needed You", "Snake Mountain Blues", "Our Mother the Mountain", "Waitin' Round to Die", and "To Live Is to Fly". His musical style has often been described as melancholic and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guy Clark</span> American folk and country singer-songwriter (1941–2016)

Guy Charles Clark was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffett, Kathy Mattea, Lyle Lovett, Ricky Skaggs, Steve Wariner, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Nanci Griffith and Chris Stapleton. He won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album: My Favorite Picture of You.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Dobson</span> American singer-songwriter

Richard James Joseph Dobson II was an American singer-songwriter and author. Dobson was part of the outlaw country movement and spent time in the 1970s with Townes Van Zandt, Mickey White, Rex "Wrecks" Bell, Guy Clark, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell, and "Skinny" Dennis Sanchez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gruene Hall</span> United States historic place

Gruene Hall, built in 1878 by Henry (Heinrich) D. Gruene and located in the historical town of Gruene, Texas, bills itself as "the oldest continually run dance hall in Texas". By design, not much has physically changed since the hall was first built. The 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) dance hall with a high-pitched tin roof still has the original layout with side flaps for open-air dancing, a bar in the front, a small lighted stage in the back, and a huge outdoor garden. Advertisement signs from the 1930s and 1940s still hang in the old hall and around the stage.

John Lomax III is an American journalist, music distributor and manager who has worked with many country music and folk music musicians, such as Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, David Schnaufer, The Cactus Brothers, Kasey Chambers and many others. In 2010, Lomax was recognized for his work sharing country music with the Jo Walker-Meador International Award by the Country Music Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susanna Clark</span> American artist and country/folk songwriter (1939–2012)

Susanna Talley Clark was an American artist and country/folk songwriter. She was married to Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark and had a close personal friendship with fellow singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt.

<i>The Late Great Townes Van Zandt</i> 1972 studio album by Townes Van Zandt

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is a 1972 studio album by American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. It was the second album that he recorded in 1972, and a follow-up to High, Low and In Between.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skinny Dennis</span> American country musician

Skinny Dennis Sanchez was an American country musician who was based in the Los Angeles area. He played the upright bass, most famously accompanying Nashville musician Guy Clark during Clark's stay in Los Angeles. His nickname is in reference to his having Marfan syndrome; Sanchez stood at 6'11", and weighed 135 lbs.

<i>Together at the Bluebird Café</i> 2001 live album by Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt & Guy Clark

Together at the Bluebird Café is a live recording of an "in-the-round" concert by three critically acclaimed Texan singer-songwriters, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. Each alternates between solo performances.

<i>Be Here to Love Me</i> 2004 film by Margaret Brown

Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt is a 2004 documentary film directed by Margaret Brown which chronicles the often turbulent life of American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. The film includes interviews of Van Zandt's immediate family and contemporaries such as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Emmylou Harris, Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle and Guy Clark along with "home movies, old TV performances and, especially, mid-Seventies footage originally filmed by James Szalapski for his outlaw country documentary Heartworn Highways."

<i>The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy</i> 1974 studio album by David Allan Coe

The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy is the third album of American singer David Allan Coe, and his first on Columbia Records. Released in 1974, it is his first release in the country music genre.

<i>Better Days</i> (Guy Clark album) 1983 studio album by Guy Clark

Better Days is the fifth studio album by Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark, released in 1983.

"'Till I Gain Control Again" is a country song written by Rodney Crowell and originally recorded by Emmylou Harris in 1975. The song was included on her 1975 studio album Elite Hotel. The song is most known by the No. 1 single version recorded by Crystal Gayle on her 1982 album, True Love.

"If I Needed You" is a song written by Townes Van Zandt and performed on his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. It was covered 9 years later by American country music artists Emmylou Harris and Don Williams as a duet, and was released in September 1981 as the first single from Harris' album Cimarron. The song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. According to Townes's business partner and producer Kevin Eggers, the song was written about his wife Anne Mittendorf Eggers.

"Desperados Waiting for a Train" is a song written by Guy Clark and originally recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker for his 1973 album Viva Terlingua. It subsequently appeared on Rita Coolidge's 1974 album Fall into Spring, David Allan Coe's third album, The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy (1974), Tom Rush's album Ladies Love Outlaws the same year, before Clark's own rendition was released on his first LP, 1975's Old No. 1. Clark has stated that the song is about his grandmother's boyfriend named Jack who was a grandfather figure to him.

Thesongadayproject was created by the American singer-songwriter, Zachary Scot Johnson, in September 2012. The first day, featured a cover version of Donovan's "Catch The Wind". Johnson set out with a goal to record a song a day, every day, for as long as he could. As of December, 2023, Johnson has uploaded over 4, 000 songs, spanning over eleven full years, and has accumulated over 42 million views.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Hedley</span> American country music singer-songwriter, violinist, and guitarist

Joshua Hedley, born and raised in Naples, Florida, is a country music singer-songwriter, violinist, and guitarist. His debut album Mr. Jukebox was released in 2018 through Third Man Records.

References

  1. 1 2 AllMovie entry for Heartworn Highways .
  2. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/37344337/seymour-washington
  3. Kael, Pauline (1984). Taking It All In . Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. p.  204. ISBN   0030693616.
  4. New York Times, May 14, 1981, Section C, Page 28 of the National edition with the headline: COUNTRY MUSICIANS RIDE 'HEARTWORN HIGHWAY', by Janet Maslin
  5. Heartworn Highways, 1976, NR, 92 min. Directed by James Szalapski. REVIEWED By Doug Freeman, Fri., Feb. 5, 2021, online.