Been listening to Townes this drunken evening.
What's your opinion of Townes Van Zandt?

Steve Earl reportedly said he'd dance on Bob Dylan's coffee table while telling him that Townes was the greatest American songwriter of the 2nd half of the 20th century.

I don't know about that, but guy was GOOD. Real good.

NC

Great songs, nice records, cool outsider vibe…..but sadly, not much of a distinctive singing voice.

I'm struggling to think how TVZ could be crap.
Maybe someone doesn't care for the arrangements on some of his studio records, I guess?
About as not-crap as one can get, as a songwriter.

djimbe wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 1:55 pm Steve Earl reportedly said he'd dance on Bob Dylan's coffee table in his cowboy boots while telling him that Townes was the greatest American songwriter of the 2nd half of the 20th century.

I don't know about that, but guy was GOOD. Real good.

NC

Fyp

Townes was one of the greatest ever. His story is so, so sad. That one about having to dig up Blaze Foley for a pawn ticket, him yelling at his kids for shooting birds, the shock therapy, memory issues, and those harrowing recordings from his last couple years. You can hear him shaking when he plays.

Waffles for the idiot decisions to put goofy shit all over his records. Cohen also had this problem with producers.

I love Live at the Old Quarter. Absolutely not crap.

brephophagist wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 4:11 pm I'm struggling to think how TVZ could be crap.
Maybe someone doesn't care for the arrangements on some of his studio records, I guess?
About as not-crap as one can get, as a songwriter.

Yeah, the only criticism I can even think of is he doesn't have a lot of range and imagination in terms of arrangement, texture, production etc. Which is the only place where Steve Earle's Bob Dylan showdown isn't a total win.

But if that sounds like a waffle from me- fuck my waffles.

Absolutely not crap. The dude could write the shit out of a song and has contributed more than a dozen heavyweights to the American songbook.

boilermaker wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:59 pm Been listening to Townes this drunken evening.
What's your opinion of Townes Van Zandt?

My personal opinion is that I would give every single second I have ever spent listening to his songs back if the guy could have just had some regular Joe life where folks probably would never have heard his songs(well, assuming he would ever have written any...)