Heartworn Highways

I don't know what Americana is let alone when it was born, but if you want to say it was here, I won't argue. Something was definately happening. I speak of James Szalapski 1976 documentary Heartworn Highways which anyone interested enough to perservere with this blog will definately be needing to see. Capturing some of the icons of the genre -- Townes, Guy Clark, Steve Earle (looking about 12, swigging Jack Daniels from the bottle), Steve Young, John Hiatt (in the DVD but not the video) -- at work and play, it's an amazing document of that incredibly fertile time in American music. We're still reaping the rewards of it today.

I have the VHS bought from the Townes Van Zandt site years ago but somehow, inexplicably now I think about it, never picked up the DVD which has added scenes and extra songs.

Now a CD sound track is being released:

Rather than doing a literal soundtrack, HackTone started from scratch, compiling an album from all of the recordings made during filming in order to create a stand-alone listening experience that captured the essence of the film. They eliminated songs featured in the film that were irrelevant to the new wave of artists it was conceived to document; they also included several tracks from artists that were omitted from the original film. All of which says nothing of the meticulous audio restoration, done by GRAMMY®-award nominee Alan Silverman and Heartworn Highways editor Phillip Schopper, which restored all of the recordings to their original length and captured all the richness and warmth inherent in their original performances. It's this exacting attention to detail that makes the Heartworn Highways CD a deeply intimate listening experience as well as a historical document of incredible value.

VARIOUS ARTISTS -- HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS
Catalog Number: DK 37457
Price: $18.98 SRP
Release Date: March 14, 2006

1. "LA Freeway" (Guy Clark)
2. "Ohoopee River Bottomland" (Larry Jon Wilson)
3. "That Old Time Feeling" (Guy Clark)
4. "Waitin' 'Round To Die" (Townes Van Zandt)
5. "I Still Sing The Old Song" (David Allan Coe)
6. "Desperadoes Waiting For A Train" (Guy Clark)
7. "Bluebird Wine" (Rodney Crowell)
8. "Alabama Highway" (Steve Young)
9. "Pancho and Lefty" (Townes Van Zandt)
10. "Texas Cookin'" (Guy Clark)
11. "Gamble's Story" (Gamble Rogers)
12. "The Black Label Blues" (Gamble Rogers)
13. "River" (David Allan Coe)
14. "One For The One" (John Hiatt)
15. "Darlin' Commit Me" (Steve Earle)
16. "Ballad Of Lavern And Captain Flint" (Guy Clark)
17. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" (Steve Young)
18. "Mercenary Song" (Steve Earle)
19. "Elijah's Church" (Steve Earle)
20. "Silent Night" (Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, Susannah Clark, Steve Earle, Richard Dobson)


I've had an homemade copy of the soundtrack for a while, I'll update with an MP3 just as soon as I can get it working. Here's a slap up singalong, you can definitely make out Steve and Guy, that didn't make the CD.

MP3 Stay All Night, Stay A Little Longer (2.4mb)