Live at Mccabe's [Live]

Townes Van Zandt | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 18, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Return to Sender
• ASIN: B00005Y7FN
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,912 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. The Hole

2. Pueblo Waltz

3. Pancho & Lefty

4. Short Haired Woman Blues

5. Shrimp Song

6. Snowin' On Raton

7. Katie Belle

8. Dollar Bill Blues

9. A Song For

10. Banks Of The Ohio

11. Wallbash Cannonball

12. Marie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid (but not outstanding) late-era Townes concert, February 17, 2002

By 

"rainbowcrow" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Live at Mccabe's (Audio CD)

Normal records, who brought us the stellar Townes Van Zandt concert record "Abnormal," follows up that record with this recording of 1995 performance at McCabe's guitar store in Santa Monica. The record is solid, and recording quality is quite satisfactory - but that said, Townes isn't having his very best outing. To be plain, this record is really not one the highlights of the TVZ catalog. Serious Townes fans will probably want this one in their collection, but first-time buyers would do better to go with one of the studio recordings (e.g. Flying Shoes, Our Mother the Mountain, At My Window), with Abnormal for a late live record, or with Live at the Old Quarter for an early one.

The song selection (and delivery) are typical of the concerts from this period:

1. The Hole
2. Pueblo Waltz
3. Pancho & Lefty
4. Short Haired Woman Blues
5. Shrimp Song
6. Snowin' On Raton
7. Katie Belle
8. Dollar Bill Blues
9. A Song For
10. Banks of The Ohio
11. Wabush Cannonball
12. Marie

Townes tells his usual reportaire of jokes, and Kelly Joe Phelps accompanies him on Dobro for tracks 10 and 11.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Feels Like Voyeurism, In A Bad Way, March 25, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Live at Mccabe's (Audio CD)

TVZ was a gifted and troubled soul; and you definitely hear both in this recording. Sadly, I found there was too much of the latter for me to enjoy this. When you hear this performance, it becomes obvious that this was a human being completely swamped by his pain. On this recording, it is obvious he had lost the battle to hold things together, and that robs him of his dignity. Ultimately, maybe one needs to hear this too to see where the stories he tells actually end in the real world. I am not sure. All I know is that this is too much for me.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Townes' last stand..., January 23, 2006

By 

B. Bowman "Double B" (Jersey, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Live at Mccabe's (Audio CD)

I get mixed feelings as I listen to this late career recording of Townes Van Zandt at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, CA on February 10, 1995. His guitar skills had deteriorated considerably since his early recordings and his voice was showing the wear from years of alcohol abuse and constant touring. It saddened me that his once precise fingerpicking skills were nonexistent and that at times he seemed to be barely able to strum his guitar. His voice was also occasionally reduced to a croak. While some songs aren't exactly easy on the ear and have a somewhat sloppy feel (which is fitting I guess, considering the laid back feel of the performance), other songs do benefit from Townes' vocal style and guitar arrangements. In particular, Townes' version of "Two Girls" touches my heart each time I hear it, much moreso than the studio version. His gruff voice really adds to the wistful melody of the song. "Lungs" is another song that he really nails on this disc. Especially noteworthy is "Marie", one of his later songs, which is also one of the bleakest songs I've ever heard. When one hears Townes sing of the narrator's life on skid row, without a job and struggling with poverty, you can't help but feel that his lyrics on this song were partially autobiographical. The haunting end of the song is chilling. On a more upbeat note, "To Live's To Fly" is a song that benefits from Townes' road worn voice and the sparse guitar part included, and remains his eternal statement of hope. His duet with Barb Donovan on "I'll Be Here In The Morning" is also a standout. Overall, this CD is one that I wouldn't recommend to those unfamiliar with Townes' recorded work, but if you are a fan of TVZ this is a valuable document of his playing from the year prior to his death.