Danh Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Any Townes Van Zandt fans here? I've been meaning to listen to him, and finally have some free time. I'll be buying one or two of his albums based on what kind of answers I get on here. What is his best album? Which of his albums are must buys? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deletedunknown Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Live at the Old Quarter is a great live album that showcases not just his music, but his personality. Townes' music is best on show on his most stripped back albums. Just him, his guitar, and minimal accompaniment. Sandmankev 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apirk Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Flying Shoes us my favorite but it is hard to go wrong with any of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight1echo Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Live at the Old Quarter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandmankev Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 It's already been said but just an affirmation that Live at the Old Quarter is definitely the place to start. It not only has a majority of his best tunes on it but showcases Townes as Townes, a fantastic performer and stage man with all the emotion and humor one could ask for. His actual albums are great as well but the songs get bogged down with too much instrumentation and arrangement for my tastes. He gets kind of lost in the mix sometimes on them. That being said, I personally would recommend any of the first 3 (For the Sake of the Song, Our Mother the Mountain, and Townes Van Zandt) and/or The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. But as also mentioned, hard to go wrong with any. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JezmundToo Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Live at the Old Quarter came in here to say this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyhambone Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Omnivore released a nice collection of out takes and demos from '71-'72, when his first two albums came out. Maybe not the place to start but it has great stripped down versions of some songs that got over-produced on the official releases, no mariachi horns and such. I think it was an RSD thing last year but it's still around, on nice sounding red vinyl to boot -- Sunshine Boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight1echo Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 CIGARETTE MACHINES ARE UPSTAIRS Sandmankev 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sillybarry Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 For The Sake of the Song because of the track Waitin' Around To Die... one of my all time favorite tracks. Also The Mighty Stef does an amazing cover of this song with Shane MacGowan on vocals! Check that out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellyesicheated Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Self-Titled (which I think is his 3rd) is by far my favorite. Not the best recording of Waiting Around to Die... but it has some of my other favorite tracks of his... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sacredheart Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 As people have said, Live at Old Quarter is a good album as you get to hear just him and his playing, but his albums also have some great gems on them that didnt make it to that. I love Delta Momma Blues, it has Tower Song, Rake, Nothin'. If you can grab the soundtrack to his documentary Be Here To Love Me it has a lot of great versions of his stuff, some live and some studio. At My Window is perhaps his best late era album coming out in the 80's. For straight studio go for Late Great Townes Van Zandt though, it has Pancho and Lefty, If I Needed You, a great version of Sad Cinderella and a cover of Guy Clark's Dont Let the Sunshine Fool Ya. Sandmankev and JezmundToo 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdwell Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Start with his entire damned discography Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingvinyl Posted July 21, 2014 Share Posted July 21, 2014 Flying Shoes us my favorite but it is hard to go wrong with any of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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