| In the Beginning - Townes Van Zandt | |
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Reviewed by Kathy Coleman
I have a confession to make. I've never before listened to Townes Van Zandt sing. I have no excuses, other than the simple fact that this legendary songmaster has always been cloaked in shadows, never someone who stood out in the big, hot spotlights; not for Van Zandt the awards, accolades, arenas, or television appearances. Van Zandt didn't even write a lot of famous songs, with really only two major hits to his credit -- "Pancho and Lefty," a duet by Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard, and "If I Needed You," a duet by Don Williams & Emmylou Harris. But his name has always been a part of the musicial history meltdown that lives in my head--I always knew his name--and after listening to this disc, In The Beginning..., I realized something.
I've been listening to Townes Van Zandt all my life.
These ten songs were recorded in 1966, two years before Van Zandt's first album was recorded. It was a time when music was exploding in a lot of directions. It was two years into the Beatles' invasion of America, when rock and folk and country merged and separated and grew and intermarried. Bob Dylan had just gone electric; pop was borrowing more from rock than it was from Broadway; a "rock and roll" group was made-for-TV; the Beatles stopped touring and went all-studio with the release of Revolver; experimentation was becoming the way of music as the world changed, and here came Townes Van Zandt. He had been circulating the club scene in Houston, making a stop in Nashville, absorbing the music of the legends who came before him and he very obviously inspired those who came later. When I listen, I hear all my favorites: Dylan, Nesmith, Waylon & Willie, the Byrds, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Poco, the Eagles; and through them, those who were in turn inspired by these folks. When I listen, I hear more than beginnings, more than just one man with a phenomenal flat-picking style and a simple Texas voice. This previously unreleased music, these songs Van Zandt was sure were
"somewhere," is, perhaps, the very dawn of country-rock, the missing link that reunited musical styles which came from the same tree to begin with. Van Zandt returned to the beginning and through these songs demonstrated where things should have gone to begin with.
The ten songs on this disc were found by Van Zandt's wife in 2002. They had been recorded as Van Zandt's first attempt to go national and break out of the Texas circuit, and subsequently packed away, presumed lost. All they are is a powerful, understated voice and brilliant acoustic guitar, performing indescribable melodies, and that is all they need to be. These songs may have been recorded in 1966, but they are timeless as music can get. They
could have been recorded yesterday, or will be recorded tomorrow. Today's Americana acts still obviously draw on Van Zandt's inspirational genius, the tricks of phrasing he uses and the deceptively simplistic quality of his music. The songs are powerful, eerie, true, gritty, dreamlike, passionate -- all the right things for country music, country that leans on folk and blues, and country that leans toward rock. That Van Zandt's own inspiration came from Hank
Williams Sr. is no surprise.
Townes Van Zandt died of a blood clot on New Year's Day, 1997 (the same day, nearly 40 years removed, as Hank Sr.). He left only his quiet presence and understated voice, hidden behind names that got bigger and faces which drew more attention. But "legend" does not imply someone who sold a billion records, won a few awards, or filled stadiums to capacity for a couple years -- Legend is drawn by those whose names and faces endure from decade to decade, season to season, and whose contribution can be felt in the efforts of those who come later. Big names today will come and they will go, but Townes Van Zandt will quietly endure forever.
Song List:
Album cover, used with permission of Compadre Records.
Sound clips courtesy of Barnes & Noble.
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