Customer Reviews

Legend

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Legend, good title for this disc. For the price you get 46 songs of well-produced tunes. I'm more of a blues/rock listener,but was looking for something different and I found it. Van Zandt is a masterful troubadour. When I can feel the pain of heartache and the beauty of love in words and song, well isn't that what good music is all about. He is hard to compare to anyone, but I hear a mellow Steve Earle and some Dylan. I hear whiskey-soaked storys throughout Legend,any real man can relate to these songs.Van Zandt's jammin' buddy,Guy Clark said,"A self-destructive, depressive,reclusive alcholic is not, perhaps, built to last. And that, according to Legend was Townes Van Zandt.If you like music that epitomizes life, Get This.

What more can I say? This is an excellent collection of a music legend's early works. If you are at all interested in the blend of folk, blues, and country that is Townes van Zandt, you can't go wrong buying this one.

If you like Townes this is the essential CDs to own. He was/is one of the greatest hardly known singer/songwriters of our time.

The main points of this review have been used to review other Townes Van Zandt CDs.

Readers of this space are by now very aware that I am in search of and working my way through various types of American roots music. In shorthand, running through what others have termed "The American Songbook". Thus I have spent no little time going through the work of seemingly every musician who rates space in the august place. From blues giants, folk legends, classic rock `n' roll artists down through the second and third layers of those milieus out in the backwoods and small, hideaway music spots that dot the American musical landscape. I have also given a nod to more R&B, rockabilly and popular song artists then one reasonably need to know about. I have, however, other than the absolutely obligatory passing nods to the likes of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline spent very ink on more traditional Country music, what used to be called the Nashville sound. What gives?

Whatever my personal musical preferences there is no question that the country music work of, for example, the likes of George Jones, Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette in earlier times or Garth Brooks and Faith Hill a little later or today Keith Urban and Taylor Swift (I am cheating on these last two since I do not know their work and had to ask someone about them) "speak" to vast audiences out in the heartland. They just, for a number of reasons that need not be gone into here, do not "speak" to me. However, in the interest of "full disclosure" I must admit today that I had a "country music moment" about thirty years ago. That was the time of the "outlaws" of the country music scene. You know, Waylon (Jennings) and Willie (Nelson). Also Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and Jerry Jeff Walker. Country Outlaws, get it? Guys and gals ( think of Jesse Colter)who broke from the Nashville/ Grand Old Opry mold by drinking hard, smoking plenty of dope and generally raising the kind of hell that the pious guardians of the Country Music Hall Of Fame would have had heart attacks over (at least in public). Oh, and did I say they wrote lyrics that spoke of love and longing, trouble with their "old ladies" (or "old men"), and struggling to get through the day. Just an ordinary day's work in the music world but with their own outlandish twists on it.

All of the above is an extremely round about way to introduce the "max daddy" of my 'country music moment', Townes Van Zandt. For those who the name does not ring a bell perhaps his most famous work does, the much-covered "Pancho And Lefty". In some ways his personal biography exemplified the then "new outlaw" (assuming that Hank Williams and his gang were the original ones). Chronic childhood problems, including a stint in a mental hospital, drugs, drink, and some rather "politically incorrect" sexual attitudes. Nothing really new here, except out of this mix came some of the most haunting lyrics of longing, loneliness, depression, sadness and despair. And that is the "milder" stuff. Not exactly the stuff of Nashville. That is the point. The late Townes Van Zandt "spoke" to me (he died in 1997) in a way that Nashville never could. And, in the end, the other outlaws couldn't either. That, my friends, is the saga of my country moment. Listen up to any of the CDs listed below for the reason why Townes did.

Townes Van Zandt was, due to personal circumstances and the nature of the music industry, honored more highly among his fellow musicians than as an outright star of "outlaw" country music back in the day. That influence was felt through the sincerest form of flattery in the music industry- someone well known covering your song. Many of Townes' pieces, especially since his untimely death in 1997, have been covered by others, most famously Willie Nelson's cover of "Pancho and Lefty". However, Townes, whom I had seen a number of times in person in the late 1970's, was no mean performer of his own darkly compelling songs.

A Tribute To The Work Of Townes Van Zandt

Legend, Townes Van Zandt and other artists, Snapper Music, 2003</strong>

This compilation, "Legends", gives both the novice a Van Zandt primer and the aficionado a fine array of his core works in one place. This CD came out after his death and, I believe, is the subject of some legal controversy with his estate. However, the two discs (plus nice bonus duets with assorted well-regarded fellow artists like Willie Nelson). Start with the above-mentioned "Pancho and Lefty", work through the longing felt in "If I Needed You", and the pathos of "For The Sake Of The Song" that could serve as a personal Townes anthem. Then on to the sadness of "No Place To Fall" and "Waiting Round To Die". Finally, round things out with the slight hopefulness of "Colorado Girl" and the epic tragedy of "Tecumseh Valley". Many of these songs are not for the faint-hearted but are done from a place that I hope none of us have to go but can relate to nevertheless. This well thought out product is one that will make you too a Townes aficionado. Get to it.

There are so many good Texas songwriters, but for my money Townes was the best. It's just too bad the record buying public didn't feel the same. Many folks are familiar with some of his songs thanks to other performers such as Emmylou, etc., but it's hard to beat the world weary and true treatment that Townes gave this material. I drive many miles for work and Disc One rarely leaves my car. Listen to the man that Steve Earle considered his mentor- you won't regret it.

Although the CD took quite a while to arrive, the quality is perfect. this was a gift and the receiver was thrilled. The duets on this album are classic........

some of the most poet but melodic country music I have ever heard,not the most uplifting but incredibly beautiful music.check it out