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Unreleased music by Townes coming soon


Lars68

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Very cool. And I also hear the similarity in tone to your own voice my Swede friend.

 

Sal, it's no secret to anyone spending some time on this forum that I'm a huge fan of the music of Townes van Zandt. Any similarity between what I do and his music is totally unintentional on my part, but at the same time most likely unavoidable, given how hugely influenced I am by his music. It is flattering that you hear traces of Townes, no matter how remote, in my humble stuff.

 

Lars

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This is fabulous news...and "All I Need" is an interesting song. An early flash of his more ragged latter-day style, both musically and lyrically.

 

All Townes is great Townes as far as I'm concerned, he never wrote a bad song.

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Heard some great stories from steve earle on Sirius radio the other night (outlaw country I think) Steve was reported to have run away from home at age 14 to follow his idol, Townes Van Zandt, around Texas. He moved to Houston with his 19-year-old uncle, who was also a musician, where he married and worked odd jobs. While in Houston, Earle met Van Zandt, who became his hero and role model.

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Thanks, Lars, my friend.

 

I love Townes's songwriting and singing. But, so few of his recordings do him justice. This first song seems like what I've wanted from Townes for decades: Townes, an acoustic guitar, and 2 mics for, 1 for the vocals and 1 for the guitar. Perfection!

 

Thanks, again.

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Thanks, Lars, my friend.

 

I love Townes's songwriting and singing. But, so few of his recordings do him justice. This first song seems like what I've wanted from Townes for decades: Townes, an acoustic guitar, and 2 mics for, 1 for the vocals and 1 for the guitar. Perfection!

 

Thanks, again.

 

You nailed it for me. I really like this song from Townes. Just him and a lone guitar. I hope the rest of the album is as "acoustic" as this song. Wonder if it was his J200, although he had several Gibsons and Martins through the years and this song may have been before the J200.. Has a great sound.............I've long-enjoyed a lot of Townes music, especially the "live" recordings at actual gigs (for me, those were his best albums). He came across as the tortured soul that he actually was. No strings and orchestra sounds or fancy guitar licks behind him. Just "in your face" Townes. On some of those "live" albums you can tell that he's either high or he'd been drinking.....and that's what made him so damn real. He was who he was. He looked sad and somber and much of his music was on the darker side........I was a member of one of his fan clubs years ago and one of the stories told was about his wife being upset with him because of all his songs, he hadn't written a song about her...So, he locked himself in the bedroom for three days and wrote a song. She was all excited because she figured he was finally writing about her. Anyway, when he came out, he'd write the song "Wait'in around to die," a song about drug addiction. Her version of the story is different, but similar enough to make the story part of his legend. Anyway, like Kristofferson said about Cash: partly truth, partly fiction. The guy was made for unadorned music.

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From what I read, this album was recorded in 1973, which would put it before he started using the J-200. The songs are supposed to be simple demos.

 

I totally agree about what has been said about Townes being his best with just his guitar. I saw an interview with him a while back where he said most of his songs are straight autobiographical, and that ALL his songs are emotionally autobiographical. Anyone who knows just a little bit about his story of mental illness, substance abuse, depression etc will hear in the songs that he is infact singing about himself. So when other instruments are added, even when nicely produced, they just become a barrier, making the songs feel less about Townes. The emotional human connection is partially lost.

 

Lars

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There is a whole slew of performers that I had absolutely zero exposure to growing up in the sticks of the North-Eastern US. Entire genres. I was close to 40 years old before I ever heard of Townes. I'm still not sure if I am to be embarrassed by this admission or not. I'm fairly eclectic as far as my musical tastes are concerned. Not afraid to try new things.

 

I've listened to some of his stuff from way back when and agree that he shined as a singer-songwriter solo act type rather than front man to a bigger production. Listening to some of it again the last day or two, I can't help but wonder how some of that material would have been if the producers had not got to great lengths to take the Folk-Country-Blues out of his Folk-Country-Blues music. I'm certain there's something to learn from that. I feel a song brewing.....

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I always had the feeling Townes' idiosyncratic approach to meter would have made playing with him difficult in the studio. That said, when he wanted to be, he could be very steady on the rhythm. There's a recording of him on YouTube doing "Molly and Tenbrooks" and his timing (and flatpicking) is very good.

 

I read an interview with him years ago in which he said that whatever you do musically, it has to "serve the song." To me, in his case, that's a solo acoustic guitar.

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For anybody not familiar with his music, "Live at the Old Quarter" is a fantastic solo, live recording. The movie soundtrack compilation "Be Here to Love Me" is also a great album to start with for anyone interested in Townes. "Sunshine Boy" is another favorite of mine with simple acoustic, or bare bones arrangements. These three are all availabe at the big streaming services.

 

Unfortunately, there are several other great albums with live recordings not available. I spent quite some time on ebay tracking them down for a few dollars each. It was well worth both the time and money spent. It really is a shame that such a big part of his recorded legacy is still to this day unavailable.

 

Lars

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I'm also in the camp of loving just Townes with a guitar with "Old Quarter" being TVZ at his best.

 

This one is a real gem and not too many are familiar with it. Recorded a year before he passed, it's a radio interview where he tells stories and performs solo.

 

Last Rites

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Rights-Townes-Van-Zandt/dp/B000001Z8L#customerReviews

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