At My Window (album)

Infobox Album
Name = At My Window
Type = studio
Artist = Townes Van Zandt


Released = 1987
Recorded =
Genre = country, Folk, singer-songwriter
Length = 33:20
Label = Sugar Hill
Producer = Jack Clement, Jim Rooney
Reviews =
*"2 Walls" (favorable) Brandon Copple, [http://www.2walls.com/REVIEWS/MUSIC/vanzandt_townes.asp "Review: Townes Van Zandt - "At My Window"] , "2 Walls Webzine", May 16, 2001]
*"Allmusic" Rating|3|5 Kelly McCartney, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dhd7yl6jxpvb "Review: "At My Window"] , "Allmusic"]
*"New York Times" (favorable)
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|5|5 Jamie Malanowski, [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/townesvanzandt/albums/album/92789/review/5942463/at_my_window "Review: Townes Van Zandt - "At My Window"] , "Rolling Stone", 514, December 3, 1987]
* Piero Scaruffi (5/10) Piero Scaruffi, " [http://www.scaruffi.com/vol2/vanzandt.html History of Rock Music: Townes Van Zandt: Biography, Discography, Reviews, Links] ", 1999 (English and Italian)]
*"Washington Post" (favorable) Joe Sasfy, [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73824276.html?dids=73824276:73824276&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+29%2C+1987&author=Joe+Sasfy&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&edition=&startpage=n.15&desc=More+Tough+Texas+Townes "More Tough Texas Townes"] , "Washington Post", Weekend Section, N:15 May 29, 1987]
Last album = "Flyin' Shoes"
This album = "At My Window"
Next album = "Live and Obscure"

"At My Window" is an album released by Folk/country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt in 1987. This was Van Zandt's first studio album in the nine years that followed 1978's "Flyin' Shoes", and his only studio album recorded in the 1980s. Although the songwriter had become less prolific over the years, this release showed that the quality of his material remained high. The title track and "Buckskin Stallion Blues" in particular are frequently cited as standout tracks.Bill Janovitz, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:jnkvudl5anxk "Song Review: 'At My Window'"] , "Allmusic" (Note: Janovitz statement that these songs appeared on the 1978 album "Flyin' Shoes" appears to be incorrect. It does, however, appear as a bonus track on a German 1994 reissue of that album)] Bill Janovitz, [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:mmeb9je7krrt "Song Review: 'Buckskin Stallion Blues'"] , "Allmusic"]

"Buckskin Stallion Blues" was later recorded and adopted as the title track of a 1994 collaborative EP by country singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore and grunge rockers Mudhoney. Other notable covers of these songs include Robert Earl Keen's take on "Snowin' on Raton" for his "Gravitational Forces" album and Pat Green & Cory Morrow's cover of "Ain't Leavin' Your Love" on "Songs We Wish We'd Written".

In addition to the songwriting, another highlight of this release is the cast of talented musicians. Features such as the fiddle and mandolin playing of Mark O'Connor and the harmonica playing of Mickey Raphael, all compliment Van Zandt's songs in a way that string arrangements on some of his earlier recordings did not. With the exception of the re-recording of "For the Sake of the Song", the title track of , these were all previously unreleased songs by the artist.

The CD liner notes quote a 1987 "New York Times" review that draws comparisons between Van Zandt and Hank Williams, "...Their songwriting craft and vocal musicianship are exceptional, but what you hear beyond that: it seems to be the direct, untrammeled expression of a man's soul..."Robert Palmer, [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40712F93D580C748CDDAF0894DF484D81 "A Hard Road. Seldom Taken"] , "New York Times", June 7, 1987] Comparisons of the lives of these two men continued to increase following Van Zandt's death on New Years Day 1997 — 44 years after the day of Williams' death.

Track listing

All songs written by Townes Van Zandt, except where noted
# "Snowin' on Raton" — 3:52
# "Blue Wind Blew" — 2:39
# "At My Window" — 4:09
# "For the Sake of the Song" — 4:24
# "Ain't Leavin' Your Love" — 2:33
# "Buckskin Stallion Blues" — 3:01
# "Little Sundance #2" — 2:57
# "Still Lookin' for You" — 2:37
# "Gone, Gone Blues" — (Van Zandt, Mickey White) 2:43
# "The Catfish Song" — 4:24

Credits

Musicians

* Townes Van Zandt — vocals, acoustic guitar
* Mickey White — acoustic rhythm, lead & slide guitar
* Donny Silverman — saxophone & flute
* Jack Clement — acoustic guitar & dobro
* Jim Rooney — acoustic guitar
* Mark Howard — acoustic steel & gut string guitar
* Charles Cochran — piano, DX-7
* Mark O'Connor — fiddle, mandolin
* Mickey Raphael — harmonica
* Joey Miskulin — accordion
* Roy Huskey, Jr. — acoustic bass
* Kenny Malone — drums, percussion

Production

* Produced by Jack Clement & Jim Rooney
* Recorded & Mixed at Jack Clement's Cowboy Arms Hotel & Recording Spa, Nashville, Tennessee
* Engineered by Jim Rooney, assisted by David Ferguson & Rich Adler
* Mastered as Masterfonics, Nashville, TN

Artwork

* Photography — McGuire
* Cover design — Raymond Simone

Other

* Special thanks to Jeanene Van Zandt, Guy & Susannah Clark, Jerry Jackson & Kathy Merola
* Bookings — The Case Company, 1016 16th Avenue South, Nashville, TN

Releases

The original CD release (and possibly other fomats as well) was digitally mixed and mastered. Some copies included a bright pink sticker on the shrink wrap with the now famous quote from Steve Earle, "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

External links

* [http://ippc2.orst.edu/coopl/tvzguide.html Townes Van Zandt — A guide to his songs and recordings] (links to discography & lyrics)

Notes & sources