New York-based singer/songwriter Robert O. Leaver, who records under the moniker Birdthrower, has released a new cover of the late Townes Van Zandt’s classic 1972 song “If I Needed You” as a holiday single. Birdthrower’s stripped-down acoustic version of the tune features Ben Harper on harmony vocals.
Videos by American Songwriter
The song is available now as a digital download and via streaming services. It’s the first new music that Birdthrower has released since his self-titled debut album in 2021. His rendition of “If I Needed You” also will appear on his forthcoming second album, due out in 2025.
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Harper signed Birdthrower to his Mad Bunny Records label and produced his debut album.
Ben said of the new “If I Needed You” cover, “On this track Birdthrower is the cello and I am the violin. He and I both share a deep love for this track and it’s exciting to pay tribute to one of the great American songwriters while singing a song I feel this passionate about.”
A music video for the tune has premiered at the Mad Bunny Records’ official YouTube channel and social media pages. The clip features footage on an unidentified man lacing up a pair of extremely well-worn leather boots.
More About Townes Van Zandt and “If I Needed You”
“If I Needed You” originally appeared on Van Zandt’s sixth studio album, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. The folk-influenced love ballad has been covered by many artists over the years, most notably in 1981 by Emmylou Harris and Don Williams. Harris and Williams’ duet version reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
Other artists who also have recorded “If I Needed You” include Doc Watson, Lyle Lovett, Asleep at the Wheel, Guy Clark, Joey + Rory, and Andrew Bird.
In addition, Julia Roberts sang the song in a scene of the 1998 film Stepmom.
In an interview segment featured on the 1997 album Documentary, Van Zandt explained that “If I Needed You” came to him in a dream. The singer/songwriter explained that he’d been suffering from the flu while living with his friends Guy and Susanna Clark in East Nashville, Tennessee, and he was taking some cough medicine he claimed gave him vivid, “technicolor dreams.”
“It’s the only song I ever wrote in my sleep,” Townes shared. “I dreamt that was a traveling folk singer and I was up in front of these people and I sang this song, and it was ‘If I Needed You.’ And it was so intense that it woke me up, and I reached over, turned on the light, and wrote down the words. … And … the guitar part had been so clear that I didn’t even get off the mattress and go get my guitar. I remembered it, and I just went back to sleep.”
Van Zandt died on January 1, 1997, at the age of 52.
More About Birdthrower and Harper
In addition to being a singer/songwriter, Birdthrower is a multimedia performance and visual artist. He also has worked a variety of outdoor jobs, and currently is a gardener in Riverside Park in Manhattan.
As for Harper, he released his 17th studio album, Wide Open Light, in June 2023.
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