Townes Van Zandt - Anthology 1968-1979

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Free Music Notes for Anthology 1968-1979

Free Music Review: The Blues and Zippedy-Doo-Dah
Hit: 5 Stars

Townes always seemed saddled with well-meaning indie record labels and their miniscule distribution networks. Before the rise of internet, you could spend the day searching for his albums and come up empty handed, even in major markets like Chicago or Boston. What I like about "Anthology" is it has an equitable distribution curve of all of his career highlights, even the harder to find stuff. This is a great sample of his early seventies work with Tomato Records before his plaintive, smokey baritone was ravaged by booze and hard living. I quibble with the fact that "Nothing" and "Rake", his two most sublimely dark and introspective songs, fell off the list in favor of lighter fare. There are two "essential" Van Zandt recordings for any serious collector of country or folk music collector. One is the live recording "Rear View Mirror", and the other is this solid anthology.

Gram Parsons often comes to mind when searching for a "musician's musician" of comparable stature to Townes. Both Parsons and Van Zandt were born about the same time, raised in priviliged circumstances, were notorious drinkers with dark erratic personalities, and were drawn to American roots music for inspiration. Gram's musical legacy has been brought to a broader audience by his devotees, and if there were any justice in the world, the same would happen to Townes. Townes would probably just sneer and say, "At least I got a darker hole in hell than him."

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