Townes Van Zandt

Be Here to Love Me is the official soundtrack from a docmentary film by Margaret Brown about Townes Van Zandt. The music on these two discs is largely taken from Van Zandt's catalog on Tomato, but there are a couple of live cuts and alternate versions of previously released cuts contributed by his longtime manager Harold F. Eggers. These include "Nothin'," "Black Crow Blues," and "To Live's to Fly." There are a few bits of movie audio offered by Brown. In sum, this is a two-disc compilation that feels like a road trip through the songwriter's life. There is love, drama, tragedy, and the aimless, relentless journey down the endless road winding its way through these songs, and in some ways, it's the most unusual and eerily compelling compilation of Van Zandt tracks out there. It's not definitive, but it doesn't mean, nor need to be; it simply presents the man, the myth, and the magic of his gift. And that's plenty. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide