Townes Van Zandt was an American singer-songwriter. He is widely held in high regard for his poetic and often heroically sad songs. In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularised it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song "Pancho and Lefty", reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart. This two CD set features two live shows recorded in Johnson City, Tennessee in 1985 and Helsinki, Finland in 1993. Much of his life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms and backwoods cabins. And for much of the 1970s, he lived in a simple shack without electricity or a phone. He suffered from a series of drug addictions, alcoholism, and was given a psychiatric diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Van Zandt died on New Years Day 1997 from health problems stemming from years of substance abuse. A revival of interest in Van Zandt occurred in the 2000s when two books, a documentary film (Be Here to Love Me), and numerous magazine articles about the singer were written.
