Lars68 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I'm pretty new to the music of Townes van Zandt, but a few months ago I bought his album "Live at the Old Quarter". I expected a good album, but boy was I surprised. The album is sublime. It is whithout a shadow of a doubt the single best acoustic/singer songwriter album I have ever heard (I'll put Neil Young's "Live at Massey Hall" in second place). The album is Townes with his acoustic guitar in front of a small but very enthusiastic audience in a club in, Houston, Texas. His music is mostly stark and highly emotional. These naked versions of his songs perfectly fit the mood, and I think they trump the studio versions I have heard by quite a bit. Knowing the sad fate of Townes van Zandt and the struggles he went through during his short life, makes hearing the songs even stronger. Most of the songs appear to relate very closely to his own life and experiences. Here are two of my favorite songs from the album: Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 He was indeed unique. "If I Needed You" is thought by many to be an all time " Top100" . He travelled to and from gigs sometimes using his thumb. Sometimes bringing his 2 hamsters. The "Loop and Lil agree" in that song. For some reason, "Snowing on Raton" seems to me to provided a view of the artist more than the many other songs he's written I've heard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Townes was one of those Texas songwriters who Traveled to Nashville in the mid-70's. He was good friends with Guy Clark and Jerry Jeff Walker (of "Mr. Bojangles" fame). I like a lot of his music. Some of the songs I have a difficult time understanding what he's taking about, but I think we have to consider the place where Townes was writing from. Townes was an alcoholic and sometimes mixed some pills with it. Many of his songs were about the painful and seedy side of life---Marie, Waiting Around to Die, Tucumseh Valley, Kathleen, and numerous others. Those songs that were uplifting used metaphors and analogies that I've often had a difficult time following, BUT, when someone explains them to me I can see it and the song tends to make sense. To me, the biggest thing about Townes and likely what really got my interest were the "live" albums he did. There's one "live" album where he's either stoned or drunk, but the album is super. I'm thinking there were two albums taped at The Old Quarters. The one I'm thinking of and can't find at the moment was somewhere in Texas and on a very hot night, and the place's air-conditioning was out. It's as real and human as you can get. He misses some chords, slurs a bunch of words and meanders-around when he talking to the crowd. Yet, it was a hell-of-an album. It was like you were sitting right there.......Anyways, I like Townes Van Zandt. Van Zandt said that Johnny Cash told him something about "You remind me of me. We're both tortured souls..........Lots and lots of real talent in Townes. Died way-too-early, but those guys burn at a very high temperature. Here's a clip of him on a tv program not long before he passed-away.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pittgibson45 Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 "Knowing" the musical tastes of the fine folks that hang around here, I suspect there are many Townes fans around. He wrote Pancho and Lefty, which is enough said as far as I am concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Interesting story behind "Poncho and Lefty." Back then lots of folks were trying to figure out who Townes was writing about. Was it some historical outlaw and his partner? Turns out it was just a song. Anyways, here's the story directly from Townes. and another version of the story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I consider myself a fan of TVZ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I like the comment under If I Needed You, by Lowell Thomas, Jr.: One of those Texas boys. I'd see him occasionally around Crested Butte when he'd want to be in the mountains. Rumor around here from those that were there is that he wrote Pancho and Lefty on the bench outside The Company Store. Who knows. He could convey the essence of the harder side of certain human conditions in such a beautiful way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slinky1 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 My favorite by far!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Steve Earle said 'Townes van zandt is the greatest songwriter there ever was , and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and shout that' Live at the old quarter is indeed a classic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 YESSSSSSS I get lost in his stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Interesting story behind "Poncho and Lefty." Back then lots of folks were trying to figure out who Townes was writing about. Was it some historical outlaw and his partner? Turns out it was just a song. Anyways, here's the story directly from Townes. and another version of the story "... his horse was fast as polished steel" "... now you wear your skin like ours and your breath's as hard as kerosene" You don't find writing better than that. I think Emmylou probably wast instrumental in getting him the recognition he deserved by recording Pancho & Lefty early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Is it not 'skin like iron' ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 I agree that his writing is not always easy to comprehend when I try to understand it word by word, but on an emotional level I get it 100%. He really sings in way that makes you listen and pay attention. Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roughdiamond Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 "Rear view mirror" (esp. Vol. 1) album is quintessential appreciation for Townes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwalker201 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Is it not 'skin like iron' ? BBG, I remember you saying that you covered that song. I would like to hear you cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 Is it not 'skin like iron' ? Wow. all these years, based on my faulty hearing - I've had it wrong. I guess I need to start Googling lyrics I learned back before Google. Thanks! Also thought it was 'honest world to FEAR' and turns out it was 'honest world to FEEL. Brave New World. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfbird Posted February 3, 2016 Share Posted February 3, 2016 I've long considered Townes to be a major talent. Sadly, when I saw him in 1993, he was largely sapped of his strength. He played well, but seemed a touch flat. How I wish I'd seen a powerful set like the one caught on the Old Quarter album. I also enjoyed a latter-day live album called Rain On a Conga Drum that has my favorite version of If I Needed You. Townes captures a uniquely American way of being in much the way that Nick Drake captures a British way of being. They don't represent all people, of course, but they represent an expression of our powerful myths and many dreamers' view of the two countries. I hear Townes and I feel like I"m in Texas of the southwest at some point in the past. I hear Nick Drake and I feel like I'm in an English garden, perhaps George Harrison's at Friar Park, in touch with the British melancholia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stringbreaker Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Fan of Townes? My goodness gracious yes. What a songwriter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Van Zandt was,to me, and remains so, an outstanding example of how complexity can be derived from an outwardly simplistic presentation. Wow - that's a bit cosmic-sounding: suffering a flash to the 1970's perhaps;y'all be patient and it'll pass. Better now! It's easy to project your own experience into his songs, I believe. His genius was the ability to make that work for many of us and to do it again and again and yet again. That said, I'm gonna stop this before it gets professorial. Bottom line: can't say enough good about his songwriting and (many of) his performances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian1964 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Lefty split for "Ohio" .... Great song! Yes fan of Townes van Zandt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneS Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Never even knew this existed but came across it this morning and thought I'd share. Townes with Nanci Griffith, i'm guessing from the early 1990s. Tecumseh Valley. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V7_oQU2vuUQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Wilson Posted February 16, 2016 Share Posted February 16, 2016 Townes had a lot of great songs. I think that Tecumseh Valley and Snowing On Raton have to be my two favorites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaac Hunt Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 Townes captures a uniquely American way of being in much the way that Nick Drake captures a British way of being. They don't represent all people, of course, but they represent an expression of our powerful myths and many dreamers' view of the two countries. I hear Townes and I feel like I"m in Texas of the southwest at some point in the past. I hear Nick Drake and I feel like I'm in an English garden, perhaps George Harrison's at Friar Park, in touch with the British melancholia. I can't think of a better way of making the link between those two songwriters than what you have written there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boozeball Posted February 18, 2016 Share Posted February 18, 2016 If you haven't seen the films "Be Here To Love Me", and "Heartworn Highways" I highly recommend them. It will give you a new understanding of what kind of person Townes was. One of the all time greatest singer/songwriters in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSchooner Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 "Townes van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." - Steve Earle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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