Be Here to Love Me

Man, I've been waiting for months for this film since I spied the soundtrack at Other Music. My favorite tragic Texas troubadour: Townes Van Zandt gets the documentary treatment in "Be Here to Love Me." The film opens December 2 at the Angelika (I know, the train rumblings ruin the experience, but there are always exceptions).

A certain bird tipped me off that my favorite North Caroliner is headed back up to the City for a free jazz gig. I'm hoping that he'll clear enough time for 99 minutes of hard-drinking Texas-song listening. Bring your flasks folks.

One of my favorite records is his live double album "Live at the Old Quarter" home of the Rex of "Rex's Blues." Besides a great set, there are great asides and jokes by TVR.

Parenthetically, many of Townes' early album covers (from Tomato records) were done by Milton Glaser, a favorite designer of mine, most famous for the I [heart] NY logo, and flavoritely the Brooklyn Brewery labels.