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Townes Van Zandt A Gentle Evening With Townes Van Zandt |
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Track List
Listen to clips or purchase this CD at CDNOW Watch for Dualtone Vintage's other releases: Roy Acuff-The Voice of Country Music Roy Acuff-Songs of the Smoky Mountains Roy Acuff-The Great Roy Acuff The Reivers-Saturday The Reivers-End of the Day |
(Dualtone Vintage) Townes Van Zandt was long
regarded as one of the most widely respected, admired, and among the
greatest folk and country artists of his generation, years before his
tragic and untimely death in 1997.
While many an artist has covered a Van Zandt
song, Pancho and Lefty perhaps being the most famous among them,
commercial success proved elusive for Townes himself. In his lifetime,
his studio albums never gained anymore than a "cult following" status.
Townes Van Zandt live, however, was an
entirely different matter, and those live performances, as well as his
influential writing, have made him a Texas legend. Somehow what he
wasn't able to capture in the studio, came easily there in the
spotlight, solo and acoustic, and an artist never shone more brightly.
He was soft spoken, but with a cutting and sly wit, and always managed a
deep connection with his audience. In this arena, Townes was most
comfortable, and here was where he was able to brilliantly translate is
own works masterfully.
Fortunately, there are several
live albums from Townes, done at different points over the course of his
career. The definitive Van Zandt live recording, "Live At The Old
Quarter" recorded in 1977, has been long out of print and never
re-issued. However, that travesty changes on May 21st. when that long
awaited gem finally gets re-issued and hits the street.
"A Gentle Evening With Townes Van Zandt"
could possibly rate up there with the seminal "Live At The Old Quarter",
in that this concert has never before been released. "A Gentle Evening"
was recorded in 1969 at Carnagie Hall, after the release of Townes'
second album. The tape was thrown in a vault, and then shuffled from
label to label as mergers took place, and was ultimately forgotten
about, until now.
This is a remarkable look back at a young,
25 year old Townes, at the beginning of his career, and an insightful
glimpse at what was yet to come. Townes is best known for his shows at
small, intimate clubs, in front of small audiences. Yet here, he shows
an amazing command of connecting with a much larger audience in a far
larger venue, even so early in his career. Despite the sizable venue and
audience, he transforms it into an understated, acoustic affair, and his
songs come across as self-assured and confident. He sprinkles laid back,
and at times, self depreciating humor throughout, making for a powerful
performance.
"Tecumseh Valley", "Like A Summer's
Thursday", "Second Lover's Song" and "She Came And She Touched Me" are
culled from his first two albums. The rest of the songs are early
workings of songs that wouldn't be released until later. "Lungs" and
"Rake" show up on his next two releases, respectively. "Talking
Thunderbird Wine Blues" and "The Ballad Of Ira Hayes" wouldn't appear on
a studio album for another two decades. The biting wit of "Talking KKK
Blues" shows up here on a recording for the first time ever.
"A Gentle Evening" isn't just another in a
spate of posthumous recordings by Townes. This one is an essential and
important find, one more than worthy of seeing the light of day, after
being forgotten for decades. As the earliest known existing live
recording of Townes, it brings his story full circle, as we can
now catch a glimpse at the beginnings of a true musical genius in
progress- one that was taken far too soon.
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