Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt

 (23 customer reviews)

With the recent release of a two-CD retrospective of his early recordings, and now this tribute, those who may have been worried may be assured that though their creator left us nearly five years ago, Townes Van Zandt's songs will not soon be forgotten. In a review of Poet in the New York Times, Anthony De Curtis, not entirely hyperbolically, declared him a greater songwriter than Hank Williams -- though, of course, known to many fewer devotees of American music.Poet may not be the last Van Zandt tribute we'll ever hear, but it sets the gold standard. Its producers have assembled a stellar collection of folk and country artists, all of whom turn in impassioned performances. The production is right, too -- a big consideration when one considers the clunky production that mars a number of Van Zandt's own recordings. Billy Joe Shaver offers a rocking roadhouse-blues version of "White Freightliner Blues," and it's great. But except for Steve Earle and the Dukes ("Two...Read more

Though nothing here quite equals, in this writer's opinion, Townes Van Zandt's own performances of these songs (studio & otherwise) this is, overall, an enjoyable tribute. I'm not wild about everything here - 'Highway Kind' by the Cowboy Junkies for instance, while listenable enough, never rises above its own weariness and sounds too much like just another Cowboy Junkies song. Robert Earl Keen's interpretation of 'Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold' is similarly disappointing. On the face of it such a 'narrative song' would seem to be ideal for him and yet his version of the song falls somehow flat. Also, why we need another version of 'Pancho & Lefty' (Delbert McClinton) at this point in the recorded history of the song is somewhat baffling. Still there's nothing on 'Poet' which isn't at the very least good - including electric performances by Steve Earle ('Two Girls') and Billy Joe Shaver ('White Freightliner Blues'.) The Flatlanders do a warm, appealing version of 'Blue Wind Blew' but...Read more

Townes Van Zandt was an extraordinary songwriter who wrote lyrics that could justly be called poetical. And while he played and acoustic guitar and his disks get filed under "folk," Townes was no folkie in the pejorative sense. He was from Texas and he had an edge. Once in a Houston bar at 3am he launched into this epic version of "Nothin'" which must have clocked in at nearly 10 minutes (he had a band behind him), undoubtedly the most frightening musical look into the abyss that I have ever experienced. A couple of drunken cowboys at the bar got into a fistfight at roughly the six-minute mark. Townes, wisely, kept right on playing. I don't think Townes ever made it to Lake Woebegone. Would have been lost if he had.I sympathize with the reviewers who write that TVZ's originals top most of these covers (though in fairness, Townes' studio recordings were often marred by cheesy production). As an introduction, "Live at the Old Quarter" is superior. This disk is a complement...Read more