Heartworn Highways

Heartworn Highways is documentary film by James Szalapski whose vision captured some of the founders of the Outlaw Country movement in Texas and Tennessee in the last weeks of 1975 and the first weeks of 1976. The film was not released theatrically until 1981. The documentary covers the artists who were singing songs they wrote in a style that was more like their grandparents' music two generations back instead of following in the tradition of the previous generation. Some of the main songwriter/performers are Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, David Allan Coe, Rodney Crowell, Gamble Rogers, Steve Young, and The Charlie Daniels Band. The movie features the first known recordings of grammy award winners Steve Earle and Rodney Crowell who were quite young at the time and appear to be students of mentor Guy Clark. Steve Earle was also a big fan of Townes' at the time. The beginning of the movie shows Larry Jon Wilson in a recording studio shortly after he had been woken up for the movie after having been partying all night after a gig into the morning. The film maker goes to Austin and visits Townes Van Zandt at his trailer (At what is now 14th and Charlotte in the Clarksville neighborhood of downtown Austin) and his girlfriend Cindy, his dog Geraldine, Rex "Wrecks" Bell, and Uncle Seymour Washington (born 1896) at his place, who is also called "The Walking Blacksmith", and who gives his great worldly advice to the viewers and represents a very important aspect of the atmosphere that these songwriters living in the South are surrounded by and involved in. The movie shows Charlie Daniels completely fill a big high school gymnasium. Then the camera man sound recorder and director join David Allan Coe and film him playing a gig at the Tennessee State Prison where he admits to being a former inmate and tells a story of being there and seems to bring out friends of his onto the stage who still are inmates there (He says, "Now I'm going to bring on the stage some people that I think you know.") and they perform a gospel number "Thank You Jesus" that they used to sing in the yard. The end of the movie centers around a wild but mellow drinking party that starts Christmas eve and ends sometime Christmas day at Guy Clark's house in Nashville with Guy, Susanna Clark, Steve Young, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Jim McGuire (who plays some of the finest dobro [according to Guy Clark's own words in that scene of the film] ), and a couple other pickers and guests. Steve Young leads the group in a stirring rendition of Hank Williams' song "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and Rodney Crowell leads everyone in "Silent Night".

Some of the performances featured:

*Guy Clark - "L.A. Freeway," "That Old Time Feeling," "Desperadoes Waiting For a Train," "Texas Cookin'", "Ballad of Laverne and Captain Flint"
*Steve Earle - "Darlin' Commit Me," "Mercenary Song," "Elijah's Church"
*Townes Van Zandt - "Waitin' 'Round To Die," "Pancho and Lefty"
*Steve Young - "Alabama Highway", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"
*Rodney Crowell - "Bluebird Wine," "Silent Night"
*David Allen Coe - "River", "I Still Sing The Old Songs"
*Gamble Rogers - "Black Label Blues"
*Larry Jon Wilson - "Ohoopee River Bottomland"
*John Hiatt - "One for the One"
*The Charlie Daniels Band - "Texas", "Long Haired Country Boy"