Never commercially successful, singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt drowned his sorrows for most of his life in alcohol, heroin and marriages. When he died in 1997 at age 52, few beyond his cult following knew his name. But the gifted storyteller—this poet of the disenchanted—was a fave of many greats, including Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. His tunes were beautifully contextual too, often rich in the landscape of his native Texas, and they captured real sadness and truth even when they were funny. Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, and others have covered his classic songs.