Heartworn Highways

Heartworn Highways is a 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 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 died 1977 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 and they perform a gospel number Thank You Jesus that they used to sing in the yard. The end of the movie shows a drinking party that starts Christmas Eve and ends sometime Christmas Day at Guy Clarks house in Nashville with Guy, Susanna Clark, Steve Young, Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Jim McGuire playing the dobro, along with several other guests. Steve Young leads the group in a rendition of Hank Williams song Im So Lonesome I Could Cry and Rodney Crowell leads everyone in Silent Night. ........

Source: Wikipedia