Bet My Soul on Rock 'n' Roll: Diary of a Black Punk Icon by Jean Beauvoir with John Ostrosky (review)

from the hard realities of a lived experience with bipolar disorder and depression” (p. 170). Ultimately, Quaglia argues that Van Zandt’s Austin fans, in particular, respond to the songwriter’s patterns of self-destructive behavior “but [reduce] them to a romantic and cautionary tale that may be removed from, and then be read back against, his music” (p. 170). Giving Van Zandt the last words in this collection, particularly his voice outside of the songs, For the Sake of the Song concludes with “Townes in His Own Words: Excerpts from Richard Dobson’s The Gulf Coast Boys.” Dobson (1942–2017) was a singer–songwriter and author, and in 1974 he joined Van Zandt and several other musicians on a tour that was originally planned to promote his new album’s release. The record company shelved the album, but the tour went on anyway, according to archivist Norie Guthrie, who introduced and edited the excerpts from Dobson’s eye-witness account of his time with Van Zandt based on his notebooks and cassette recordings of “the wide-ranging conversations, jokes, and bickering taking place among Van Zandt, his future wife Cindy Morgan” and the other members of the tour (p. 188; Richard Dobson, The Gulf Coast Boys [Bryan, TX: Greater Texas Publishing, 1998]). While the essays throughout this book center on documenting and interpreting the singer– songwriter’s artistic voice expressed in his songs, the excerpts in this final chapter present what one could characterize as Van Zandt’s conversational voice, at least as recorded and commented upon from a particular place and time. Each of the essays is extensively researched and includes sources that inspire further reading. The collection includes both a bibliography and index, the latter mostly focusing on names, song and album titles, and institutions mentioned in the text. Curiously, the bibliography does not include Dobson’s Gulf Coast Boys. Van Zandt himself never recorded a hit song. Nor does his music fit comfortably into any one genre. Nevertheless, if you have too long heard of the significance, genius, and brilliance of the songwriting of Van Zandt and have yet to discover his songs for yourself, this collection of essays published by University of North Texas Press will guide your journey into an exploration of why Van Zandt has been called “a songwriter’s songwriter.”