Search - Townes Van Zandt :: A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 8/13/2023...

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Eye-opening "lost" 1969 live recording

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 04/24/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This recently rediscovered (and never before issued) live recording from a 1969 Carnegie Hall concert provides a rare opportunity to look back to the beginning of an artist's career and see things that might not have been evident at the time. It's akin, as the album's promotional materials allude, to viewing a previously unseen photograph of a familiar friend or family member from a time before you really knew them. It adds dimension to a period of that person's life that you may have not been present for, and thus have only learned about in retrospect. At the same time, your view of this historical artifact is colored by the perception you've developed over the years.This performance was part of a label showcase (for Poppy Records), and the live recording was shuffled from one vault (United Artists) to another (Capitol) as labels bought one another. Eventually it was simply forgotten. Having been recorded shortly after Van Zandt's second LP was released, the songlist leans heavily on his early work. Four songs ("Tecumseh Valley" "Like a Summer's Thursday" "Second Lover's Song" and "She Came and She Touched Me") are drawn from the two released albums, and another pair ("Lungs" and "Rake") would turn up on his next two releases. Two songs ("Talking Thunderbird Wine Blues" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes") wouldn't turn up in studio form for more than two decades, and the final original track ("Talking KKK Blues") has never before seen release on a Van Zandt album.Though Van Zandt's catalog of self-penned tunes was smaller in 1969 than for his famous 1977 live recording, "Live at the Old Quarter (Houston, Texas)," his plain-spoken, folky style and dark humor was already in place. His half-spoken rendition of "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" is more chilling than Johnny Cash's contemporaneous cover, and his "Talking KKK Blues" is truly sardonic (including the introduction: "I figure there're more bigots here than winos."). The understated solo-acoustic setting is incredibly powerful, and Van Zandt's focus is impressive. All the more so for his young age of 25, his few years of performing experience, and the imposing Carnegie Hall setting.Van Zandt released several live albums, including a spate of posthumous issues, but this 1969 recording offers something distinctive: a voice that hasn't yet gained the weariness of a life on the road, employed by a superbly talented songwriter whose life experience had yet to fully catch up to his preternatural wisdom. It's a truly amazing feat of vault archaeology to turn up something this significant, artistically worthy and completely forgotten on such a well-known artist.4-1/2 stars, if Amazon allowed fractional reviews."

An interesting rarity, but not essential for casual fans...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 07/08/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This 1969 half-hour concert in NYC gives the young Townes a showcase for early work. He sings eight of his own compositions, two of them in the "talking blues style." He tells a joke. And he concludes with a movingly performed rendition of Peter LaFarge's "Ballad of Ira Hayes." While Townes' version of this famous story/song is not quite as good as LaFarge's own, or Johnny Cash's hit single, it has a quiet power. In fact, the concert suffers most from the fact that Van Zandt's song choices are all mellow. He probably had not yet written his livelier songs, such as "Two Hands" or "To Live is to Fly" or "No Lonesome Tune" or "If I Needed You" or "Rex's Blues." None of those are rockers, but each is a bit quicker than the material on "A Gentle Evening." As a picture of Townes' early in his career, this is a good product, with good sound quality. As a folk/country listening experience, it's a bit uneven, a bit too gentle, somewhat dated, and yet a bit too short to be worth the price. A better value is "High, Low and Inbetween" which also includes a second LP from the '70's, "Late Great Townes Van Zandt" (He became "late" on New Year's Day, 1997, so the title is satirical.) As to WHEN Van Zandt became "great" opinions differ, but that he WAS a "great" songwriter, most serious singer/songwriter fans are in agreement. On this release, by the way, he is in fine voice, better than on his later records, in my opinion."