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Hi everyone,

Today's Target and Pay Per Lesson release is now live, If I Needed You by Townes Van Zandt.

If I Needed You is a song written by American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt and performed on his 1972 album ‘The Late Great Townes Van Zandt’.

Although ‘Pancho and Lefty’ is the song most associated with Townes, ‘If I Needed You’ is his most covered composition. Among them are covers by Emmylou Harris and Don Williams, Doc Watson, Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett and Mumford & Sons. It is also covered in the Belgium movie ‘The Broken Circle Breakdown’, where the Broken Circle Breakdown Bluegrass Band, including the actors Johan Heldenberg and Veerle Baetens, sing it live.

This lesson shows how Townes plays it in live performances, which can be a little different from one performance to another.

The arrangement is mostly done as a chord melody, featuring Travis style picking with the melody of the vocals incorporated. The good news is that it only includes three chords in the key of G, where the guitar is capoed on the 4th fret.

Emmylou Harris and Don Williams performed the song as a duet, making it a big hit on the country charts in 1981. A few segments of how she plays it live at the Austin City Limits and a duet cover of their version is included in this lesson.

Enjoy this level 4 song!

http://www.totallyguitars.com/target-so ... .html#song

Thx Vanessa, love the song, love the lesson with all the segments, love the relaxed way you talked us through. B)

B)

Great lesson Ness and a lovely bonus for everyone with your cover of the song with Bill, which I have seen before, but is a real joy to watch again.

Great job! Your lessons have been covering some great songs lately.

Cheers,


Tom.

TGNessa,

What a great idea to teach this song. It's so gorgeous. I'm crazy busy at the money but I'll be trying to get it down at some point.

I haven't heard Townes' version before. It's really interesting to hear the difference to Emmy Lou's take.

You played it beautifully and it was wonderful listening to your cover with Bill again. You two really give it heart.

Thanks teach. Another winner.

Shel

Hi Ness,
It is completely clear how much time and dedication you put into each one of your lessons. Three chord songs might be easy, but it is very difficult to make them sound interesting. You've succeeded in doing that with this song, and with many other simple song lessons you've done in the past. I'm particularly flattered that you decided to use our cover in this lesson. It was fun to listen to again. I can't wait to do it in person at IGC. Thanks for your generous comments regarding our collaboration, my friend.

Bill

Bill Wrote:

It is completely clear how much time and dedication you put into each one of your lessons. Three chord songs might be easy, but it is very difficult to make them sound interesting. You've succeeded in doing that with this song, and with many other simple song lessons you've done in the past.

Bill said it all :ohmy:

Great duet with Bill.

Neil's pink T shirt ?

Dermot

Vanessa, I put the Emily Lou Harris and Don Williams tab on one sheet for myself to save turning the page for the last three measures.
If you want me to take it down, let me know. http://www.totallyguitars.com/images/fb ... _Sheet.zip

I loved this song when Bill and Vanessa posted it so its great to have the lesson. Nice job again Ness!

Which got me looking up Townes Van Zandt ( I assumed he was Dutch but he's actually Texan!). I am fascinated by song writer's and the life they lead and his is an interesting but pretty down-beat story (if you'll excuse the pun!). So I actually heard Panco and Lefty for the first time today and I guess that most of TG will gasp in amazement that there's a guitar player out there who didn't know the song :laugh: , so once you've picked yourselves up off the floor laughing, here it is by Townes himself....

Ness, you know I just love this song!
So nice to see you and Bill doing this superb cover.

Big hug (for both of you)
Corina

Great lesson. Lovely song, and the duet cover was simply excellent.

Willem: Well I absolutely LOVED to read your comment Willem, thank you very very much! :cheer: B) (It was also awesome to watch a little clip of you playing it!!)

Tom: Many thanks Tom! Very glad you think so. I try to keep things varied of course and there are always more songs to cover. :blink: I'm not done by far!

Michele: Oh yeah, such a gorgeous song for sure! I réally had to get used to Townes' original version. :dry: I obviously fell for the duet versions first. Also very awesome to cover it with Bill. 'Give it heart', wow, thank you!!!!

Bill: As you know Bill, the pleasure was all mine as well. Thanks so much for your generous comments on my lessons, that means a lot. You're right, making three chords sound interesting.....there is definitely more to it than what the eye meets. Can't wait to perform it together for real!!! Thanks again my friend, big hug!

Dermot: The pink shirt, well I did get it from Neil . Actually I need at least a dozen more, I don't have enough :ohmy: ! Thanks for the file. Actually I had tried to get it on one page, then added the song-information and all of a sudden, there was page 2... :S I'm fine that it's here, although I do guess it's not for non-Target-members, but oh well, who thinks of getting it in here. The Broken Circle Breakdown, haunting version for sure, very sad actually. Bill and I did it much more 'upbeat'. I like both ways I guess. Many thanks Dermot!

Chris: Thank you very much Chris! Townes' life and story is pretty.....interesting but gosh, the guy was just....don't even know how to say it. Actually, right now I'm listening to P&L for the very first time as well. Knew the title, but never heard it. :S :laugh: It's not just you!

Corina: Thanks babe, very glad you like it! :cheer: In August we'll do a group-hug! :laugh:

Jay: Hey Jay, how great to hear from you and leaving us such a great comment! Will miss you this year at IGC... Well, there will be other years for sure, many thanks Jay!

TGNessa B)