The Late Great Townes Van Zandt

Infobox Album
Name = The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Type = Album
Longtype =
Artist = Townes Van Zandt


Released = 1972
Recorded = Jack Clement Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre = country, folk, singer-songwriter
Length = 38:31
Label = Tomato
Producer = Kevin Eggers, Jack Clement
Reviews =
* "Allmusic" Rating|4.5|5William Ruhlmann, Review for the Capitol reissue of "High Low and in Between"/"The Late Great Townes Van Zandt", "Allmusic" ' The "AMG" does not have an individual rating on their page for the individual album, "The Late Great Townes Van Zandt" ( [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:7uzyxdfb8old link] )]
* "Dirty Linen" (favorable)Al Riess, "Recordings", (Review of "Rear View Mirror", "The Highway Kind", and the "High, Low, and In Between/The Late Great Townes Van Zandt" reissue), "Dirty Linen", 72, October-November 1997, p. 49]
* "Relix" (favorable)Tyson Schuetze, "CD Reviews: The Late Great Townes Van Zandt", (favorable review of reissued Tomato Records catalog), "Relix - Music for the Mind", 29:4, August-September 2002, p. 80]
Last album = "High, Low, and in Between"
(1972)
This album = "The Late Great Townes Van Zandt"
(1972)
Next album = "Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas
(1977)

"The Late Great Townes Van Zandt" was the second 1972 studio album by Texas singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt and a follow-up to "High, Low and In Between". The album includes the earliest recorded version of two of his best-known songs, "Pancho and Lefty" and "If I Needed You". The album also included several cover songs and a re-recorded version of "Sad Cinderella" from his . Some reviewers point to this as an indication that Van Zandt's prolific writing was beginning to slow, however, this was his sixth studio album in five years. The cover songs included one song by his close friend, Guy Clark ("Don't Let the Sunshine Fool Ya'"), one by a major influence, Hank Williams ("Honky Tonkin'"), and the Lawton Williams song "Fraulein". As a boy Van Zandt's father only agreed to buy him his first guitar after Van Zandt promised to learn to play "Fraulein".

The album has been reissued many times over the years. In 1996, just before Van Zandt's death, Capitol released a single disk that compiled "High, Low and In Between" and "The Late Great Townes Van Zandt" onto a single disk.

Critical acclaim

The album has made several critical "best of all-time" lists. "Stereophile" included it as one of 94 honorable mentions that just missed their list of "The 40 Essential Albums".Robert Baird, Richard Lehnert and Robert Levine, "40 Years of Stereophile: The 40 Essential Albums", "Stereophile" November, 2002 ( [http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/710/index.html main article] , [http://www.stereophile.com/musicrecordings/710/index5.html "honorable mentions"] )]

Track listing

All lyrics and music by Townes Van Zandt unless noted otherwise:

# "No Lonesome Tune" – 4:21
# "Sad Cinderella" – 4:15
# "German Mustard" (A. Clapalong, Van Zandt) – 2:55
# "Don't Let the Sunshine Fool Ya'" (Guy Clark) – 2:25
# "Honky Tonkin'" (Hank Williams) – 3:44
# "Snow Don't Fall" – 2:27
# "Fraulein" (Lawton Williams) – 2:42
# "Pancho & Lefty" – 3:40
# "If I Needed You" – 3:44
# "Silver Ships of Andilar" – 5:07
# "Heavenly Houseboat Blues" – 2:51

Arranged by Chuck Cochran

Release history

Credits

Musicians

* Townes Van Zandt – acoustic guitar & vocals
* Joe Allan – bass
* Jack Clement – mandolin
* Vassar Clements – fiddle
* Chuck Cochran – piano, keyboards & arrangments
* Jim Colvard – guitar
* Rocky Hill – slide guitar
* Kenny Malone – drums

Production

* Produced by Kevin Eggers & Jack Clement
* Executive producer – Kevin Eggers
* Engineer – Garth Fundis
* Production coordination – Kevin Calabro, Katja Maas, & Tyson Schuetze
* Remastering – Gene Paul

Artwork

* Milton Glaser – art direction, design, & cover design
* Steve Salmieri – photography
* Kevin Eggers & Lola Scobey – liner notes

Notes & sources