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Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt

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With the recent release of a two-CD retrospective of his early recordings, and now this tribute, those who may have been worried may be assured that though their creator left us nearly five years ago, Townes Van Zandt's songs will not soon be forgotten. In a review of Poet in the New York Times, Anthony De Curtis, not entirely hyperbolically, declared him a greater songwriter than Hank Williams -- though, of course, known to many fewer devotees of American music.

Poet may not be the last Van Zandt tribute we'll ever hear, but it sets the gold standard. Its producers have assembled a stellar collection of folk and country artists, all of whom turn in impassioned performances. The production is right, too -- a big consideration when one considers the clunky production that mars a number of Van Zandt's own recordings. Billy Joe Shaver offers a rocking roadhouse-blues version of "White Freightliner Blues," and it's great. But except for Steve Earle and the Dukes ("Two Girls"), everybody else prefers an austere acoustic approach whose effect is to underscore Van Zandt's roots in traditional music. No one does it so explicitly as Emmylou Harris, who sets the obscure "Snake Song" to a plaintive old-time banjo sound. If one didn't know better, one might almost think this was some venerable Appalachian lyric and melody. Willie Nelson's stark take on "Marie," one of Van Zandt's last songs, brings to mind the mood and storyline of Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home."

Still, for all his manifest influences, Van Zandt was an original, a melancholy romantic who never lost his ability to laugh. Few have known, either, how to tell a story better than he did. It's hard to imagine that "Pancho and Lefty" (done here by Delbert McClinton) and "Waitin' 'Round to Die" (Pat Haney) will ever lose their dark power.

The bad news is that while the music is uniformly satisfying, the extensive liner notes one would expect are nowhere to be found. A thoughtful, informed essay on Van Zandt's life and art, which one would assume to be essential to a project of this sort, is nowhere to be found. Nor is information on who played behind whom on the various cuts. This shouldn't keep you from buying this very good disc, but it should annoy you a little.

Though nothing here quite equals, in this writer's opinion, Townes Van Zandt's own performances of these songs (studio & otherwise) this is, overall, an enjoyable tribute. I'm not wild about everything here - 'Highway Kind' by the Cowboy Junkies for instance, while listenable enough, never rises above its own weariness and sounds too much like just another Cowboy Junkies song. Robert Earl Keen's interpretation of 'Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold' is similarly disappointing. On the face of it such a 'narrative song' would seem to be ideal for him and yet his version of the song falls somehow flat. Also, why we need another version of 'Pancho & Lefty' (Delbert McClinton) at this point in the recorded history of the song is somewhat baffling. Still there's nothing on 'Poet' which isn't at the very least good - including electric performances by Steve Earle ('Two Girls') and Billy Joe Shaver ('White Freightliner Blues'.) The Flatlanders do a warm, appealing version of 'Blue Wind Blew' but a few interpretations - by Guy Clarke ('To Live's To Fly'), Nancy Griffith ('Tower Song'), Emmylou Harris ('Snake Song'), Lucinda Williams ('Nothin') and Willie Nelson ('Marie') - really outshine the rest. The reason for this is simple - it is in these (mostly quite stark) interpretations that one has the sense that the respective performers can be said to inhabit (or, to put it differently) are truly inhabited by the songs. Which means that on these songs there is a kind of magic that comes through - through the sensitivity of the individual performers the songs cast a spell and it's the spell of Townes Van Zandt's songwriting. Another highlight is John T. Van Zandt's rendition of 'My Proud Mountains' - his voice and delivery uncannily recalling his father's.

Townes Van Zandt was an extraordinary songwriter who wrote lyrics that could justly be called poetical. And while he played and acoustic guitar and his disks get filed under "folk," Townes was no folkie in the pejorative sense. He was from Texas and he had an edge. Once in a Houston bar at 3am he launched into this epic version of "Nothin'" which must have clocked in at nearly 10 minutes (he had a band behind him), undoubtedly the most frightening musical look into the abyss that I have ever experienced. A couple of drunken cowboys at the bar got into a fistfight at roughly the six-minute mark. Townes, wisely, kept right on playing. I don't think Townes ever made it to Lake Woebegone. Would have been lost if he had.

I sympathize with the reviewers who write that TVZ's originals top most of these covers (though in fairness, Townes' studio recordings were often marred by cheesy production). As an introduction, "Live at the Old Quarter" is superior. This disk is a complement to, not a substitute for, Townes' own recordings. But this collection works, if only for that while Townes was a "poet" and the cover illustration has him looking suitably folkie/poetical, enough of his contemporaries who have retained their edges (if not their chops) are on hand to keep TVZ from being embalmed in treacle.

Personal favorites: Willie Nelson absolutely nails "Marie," and the Lucinda Williams/"Nothin'" pairing is inspired. (In general the artist/song pairings work well: Nanci Griffith gets "The Tower Song" and John Prine on "Loretta," for example.) Billie Joe Shaver reminds us that while TVZ carried an acoustic, he could wail. Steve Earle sort of bashes his way through "Two Girls," but, hey, I saw Townes sort of stumble through his catalogue on some nights, so it sort of illuminates this aspect of his life/style. Reviewers complain about Delbert McClinton's version of "Pancho and Lefty" - but like Lucinda taking on "Nothin'" who better to do "Pancho and Lefty" than a middle-aged Texas roadhouse honky-tonker with a rhythm section? (Nice guitar solo - standard compilation complaint: where are the notes? Who played that solo?). Delbert and Townes are from the same tradition - TVZ used to cover "Fraulein." And for the folks who like the more delicate poetical stuff, Nanci Griffith covers "The Tower Song," and everyone else plays acoustic. And lifelong TVZ supporter Guy Clark justly gets his crack at "To Live is To Fly."

All in all, this comes off as a heartfelt tribute by TVZ's contemporaries. Not a bad disk.

I suspect -- and hope -- that this CD will bring the powerful songs of TVZ to a wider audience. While Townes was the quintessential "songwriter's songwriter", his recordings never reached the wider audience enjoyed by some of the artists represented on 'Poet' .

Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and John Prine -- all heard here-- are household names by comparison. If you like these artists, I would encourage you to give this album a listen. In the past several years I have been fortunate to hear these three artists in live performance, as well as Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, Delbert McClinton, Steve Earle, and the Flatlanders. Besides being on 'Poet', what do all of these terrific artists have in common ? Each one of them at some point in their performance said (more or less), "Now we're going to play one for Townes." Anyone who commands that degree of respect in this company deserves a wider audience.

Notable cuts: If there was ever a blacker song written than "Marie", I've never heard it. (Who else could write, "she just rolled over and went to Heaven, with my little boy safe inside" ?) Willie Nelson gives it a powerful, minimalist treatment here. Nanci Griffith sometimes sets my listening ear on edge, but she absolutely nails "Tower Song" here. Maybe I have heard Guy Clark too often in live performance to be objective, but the emotional undercurrents in "To Live is to Fly" are quite moving. Bravo to Lucinda Williams for "Nothing".

Not so notable: Townes' most widely known song, "Pancho and Lefty", is covered frequently, often badly. Delbert McClinton continues that tradition here. Cuts by the Cowboy Junkies and Robert Earl Keene are forgettable.

If you're not familiar with the music of TVZ, this is a terrific introduction by some artists you probably do know. Then treat yourself to the original with "Live at the Old Quarter" (young Townes) and "Rear View Mirror" (Townes sounding nearly bone-tired).

... and if you appreciate TVZ's music, then start listening to Guy Clark, Townes' longtime friend and traveling partner. He's another songwriting master who is still with us. Let's not let another treasure slip away under-appreciated.

For the most part this is a respectable tribute to Townes Van Zandt. He was a great songwriter whose strength was slow mellow tunes. Consequently the artists in twelve of the fifteen songs stick to that formula making for a very good album. It's interesting though that the stars seem a little reserved to the point where it's almost obvious nobody wants to top Van Zandt's original interpetations. So if your looking for a killer version of a song like "Pancho & Lefty" previously done by both Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson, it's not here. I like the Cowboy Junkies, but why do they keep getting invited to these tributes with their "Stoner Americana" style on "Highway Kid", which is so different from the original is beyond me. My favorite cut is "Nothin" by Lucinda Williams, which has some catchy guitar work. If you like Townes in the studio, the rest of the music found here on "Poet" matches up well, but it doesn't come close to his live stuff found on "Rear View Mirror". For collectors, the cd cover is mini-album fold out, similar to Bonnie Raitt's "Luck Of The Draw" with good pictures of the man himself and nice little booklet.

Townes Van Zandt was the greatest. He deserves tribute albums. These artists are the right people to record this album.

But the album is SO DARN SAD. Every track is recorded like a funeral hymn.

Now to be fair, some of these songs can't really be recorded any other way. Upbeat versions of "Marie" or "Waitin' Round to Die" would be perverse.

But "If I Needed You" doesn't need to be a lamentation. And Robert Earl Keen (whom I love dearly) bafflingly turns the rapid-fire, raucous celebration of poker, "Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold," into a slow, weary wail. The most perky-sounding track on this album is, wierdly, Delbert McClinton's "Pancho & Lefty."

Don't get me wrong; this is a beautiful album. Maybe sheer grief at the Master's passing has made it such a sad album. I know Townes, like Leonard Cohen, has a reputation for writing sad stuff. This tribute album seems to accept that reputation. It's a good album. I only wish it could also have celebrated Van Zandt's joyous side.

This is one of the all-time best CDs I own. I discovered Townes through other artists and through soundtracks -- smatterings here and there that lead me to the gradual realization that he was one of my favorite songwriters. Frankly, I think he's a better songwriter than almost anyone, but a better songwriter than he is a performer as well -- and this album may prove me right. From John Prine's sweet, lazy cover of "Loretta" to Emmy Lou's chilling rendition of "Snake Song" -- pure folky golk. Guy Clark's cover of "To Live's To Fly" beats the Cowboy Junkies' cover (and I LOVE when they do it). There isn't a single track on this album that I don't jones for when I leave it out of the CD changer for a few days. There's a reason the used copies are so expensive!

This new re-issue is Much Improved from the original release.
The sequencing is way better and feels like twice as much music.
The new tracks are a real good addition and showcases how Townes' songs can go anywhere.
Willie Nelson's Grammy nominated version of "Marie" starts the line-up off
Rocky Hill's version of "Waitin' Around to Die" Rocks the Blues, literally.
The addition of Jonell Mosser's version of the obscure "A Song For" is a wonderful treat.
Two Girls by Steve Earle here is better than any of the cuts on his new tribute album "Townes" by far. (Although I like that record too.)
With Emmylou hissing the "Snake Song", The Flatlanders holding onto their hats as the "Blue Wind Blew" and Nanci Griffith holds up that "Tower Song" as the Cowboy Junkies explain the "Highway Kind" of
living, you just can't go wrong.

BUY THIS RECORD! You won't regret it. Those songs stick!

This tribute to Townes Van Zandt could not be more accurately titled: POET. The songs selected for this compilation prove as thoughtfully chosen as the artists who contribute, each emphasizing the power and beauty of TVZ's verse. He is America's greatest poet of loss and longing, as this recording makes apparent. There are few and very minor disappointments here: Cowboy Junkies and Robert Earl Keen offer interesting but ultimately uninspired versions of HIGHWAY KIND and MR. MUDD & MR. GOLD, versions that pale when compared to the originals. Billy Joe Shaver and Pat Haney, on the other hand, virtually seem to channel TVZ on WHITE FREIGHTLINER BLUES and WAITIN' 'ROUND TO DIE respectively, failing, perhaps, to make the songs their own, but capturing the spirit and heart of the originals beautifully. As I write, I listen to Steve Earle's terrific rendition of one my favorite TVZ songs, TWO GIRLS. It occurs to me that Earle gets the balance of this great tune just right, making it his own, while honoring the original. For my tastes, the stand-outs here are by Guy Clark, John Prine, Lucinda Williams, and Willie Nelson. Each of these artists, much like TVZ himself, have voices that could break your heart just reading the phone book. Clark's lovely TO LIVE'S TO FLY, in particular, can leave me blubbering with just a casual listen: "It's goodbye to all my friends/It's time to go again/But think on all the poetry/And pickin' down the line." The respect and love each of these artists feels for both Townes and his work proves evident in every line, every chord. A brief introduction by Susanna Clark (excerpted from the book, SONG BUILDER) reads like a great American short story. Nothing could be more appropriate for a collection like this. With an ouvre like that of Townes, of course, there are bound to be omissions, songs that we know should have but didn't make the cut; let's hope for a sequel.

I am only vaguely familiar with Van Zandt's work but have read what a great songwriter he was. I have completely enjoyed listening to this tribute album knowing that each artist has a great and deep appreciation for the man and his music. Some of the songs are fun (White Freightliner) while others are almost impossible to follow without reading the words (Gold & Mudd) but all become more enjoyable to listen to the more times you hear them. I believe the biggest part of the enjoyment of this album for me are the artists singing the songs. Listening to Guy Clark, Nancy Griffith and Robert Earl Keen is always a pleasant experience and adding Billy Joe Shaver, J.T. Van Zandt and others becomes a music phenomena. This CD is a must have for anyone interested in Texas music and Texas musicians and singers.