Music, beer, grillin', chillin'

My streak of cookouts/potlucks ended last night at three. After spending Saturday night at Jon's enjoying some tasty edamame salad and listening to records on his patio, and Sunday night at Amy and Chris' smoking cigars and enjoying an Italian potluck prior to The Sopranos, I headed to Jonathan's on Monday for pork & beans and a screening of the new Townes Van Zandt documentary Be Here to Love Me. As far as documentaries go, I thought it was excellent, as it culled together some interesting, I'm sure never-seen-before footage and some compelling interviews. While the film ends on a downer, it also does a commendable job of showcasing Townes' unique humor and wit, which often is lost when listening to his pensive songs or discussing his tragic death.

Anyway, I've already blogged exhaustively about another documentary related to Townes, Heartworn Highways. (Many thanks to Zac for turning me on to it.) Be Here to Love Me borrows a small amount of footage and some outtakes from that film, including a brief segment of the following performance of "Waiting Around to Die". But the new documentary also sheds light on the song's origins. Turns out Townes wrote "Waiting Around to Die" shortly after marrying his first wife, who of course found the song's subject matter a bit perplexing considering that they had just married, and Townes was in his early 20s. Three cheers for YouTube for having this available. Enjoy.