An Introduction to Townes Van Zandt
“There are only two kinds of songs; there’s the blues, and there’s zip-a-dee-doo-dah.” – Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997) was a Texan folk, blues, and country musician, most notable for his profound songs. His debut album, 1968’s For The Sake Of The Song, suffered from overbearing arrangements; even though Van Zandt’s a fine songwriter, his albums can feel indifferent as he was not enthused about the recording process. 1969’s Our Mother The Mountain is slathered with strings, but they help give the album a brooding atmosphere that matches Van Zandt’s tales of despair:
Van Zandt’s subsequent albums were better produced, focusing often on just Van Zandt and his guitar. His third, self-titled, album featured an acoustic version of one of his most iconic songs, ‘Waitin’ ‘Round To Die’, with its despairing worldview.
Van Zandt’s best songs were generally melancholic, although ‘Mr Mudd and Mr Gold’, a verbose parable of a poker game from 1971’s High, Low and In Between, was a notable exception.
Van Zandt’s most celebrated album is arguably 1977’s Live at the Old Quarter, which presents his most best known work with just Van Zandt’s voice and guitar. Here he performs his most well-known song, ‘Pancho and Lefty’.
After 1972’s The Late, Great Townes Van Zandt, Van Zandt didn’t return to the recording studio until 1978’s accomplished Flyin’ Shoes, which gave his songs a more commercial country sheen, with excellent songs like the title track:
For more detailed Townes Van Zandt analysis, please visit https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/townes-van-zandt/
One of Country music’s great unsung heroes. I posted one of his songs a year or so ago, and it prompted my father to text me, demanding to know how he’d managed to escape his attention for so long. The man’s a genius (Townes, not my father).
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Van Zandt was born the same year as my father, but I don’t think my father even knows about him.
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I like that blues vs. zip e dee doo dah line!
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I was just checking, and he doesn’t have anything in the 1001 Albums book, right? I would have assumed that his 1977 live album would have slipped in there.
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None on the list is correct – though from the Townes fans I’ve spoken with, that appears to be a significant oversight.
Not many seem to be aware of him, but those that are seem to be huge fans
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TVZ is such a great artist! I’m currently (well for the last month or so) enjoying his third studio album and am getting started on his second album. Ponderous listening that’s for damn sure!
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Such a great songwriter – it’s a shame he didn’t have more sympathetic production/arrangers at times, I like Our Mother the Mountain’s Gothic feel but otherwise his best stuff is often just him and his guitar.
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I have just started to listen to “Mountain”. I like it thus far (quite a bit actually). I need to listen to his live album that you reviewed.
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