Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas

I will freely admit that I came to a love of Townes Van Zandt's music fairly late, and that he should have been on my radar long before I came to advocate his music with my current passion. After all, I had been impressed with Emmylou Harris' cover of Pancho & Lefty almost as soon as it appeared on her breakthrough album, Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town, and that was a long, long time ago. But like many lovers of Van Zandt's poetry - and he is one of the few songwriters I will definitely refer to as a poet - he just didn't come to my attention as a performer or a songwriter until his life was over, and for that, I owe him a great amends.Despite the fact that his legend has grown since his untimely death on New Year's Day in 1997, Townes Van Zandt remains a woefully underappreciated talent. Between his first album (For the Sake of The Song, 1968), recorded at the age of 24, and his death at age 52, Van Zandt's output grew to an astonishing number of releases - at least 39 albums, according to some sources, if you include compilations - yet he still remains largely unknown to the general public, and a large segment of his output, especially his later recordings, continues to be out-of-print and unavailable. In looking over the track listing on many of his albums, one will note that he seemed to record some of his earlier songs over and over, but I now realize that this can be attributed to the fact that he just couldn't seem to keep many of his early releases in print, and he probably revisited many of his best pieces out of a fear that they might be lost forever. This is not to be construed as a bad sign - I have long been of the opinion that obscurity, coupled with a prolific but largely ignored body of work, is usually a sign of unbridled genius in many a recording artist, and often a source of deep musical satisfaction for those lucky enough to find them.In fact, relative obscurity has come to be a defining commonality in many of my favorite singers or singer/songwriters through the years - from Billie Holiday - whose fame languished in the shadows until shortly after her death - to my favorite vocalist, Tracy Nelson, who still seems to be appreciated only by a select few. Not to worry; Tracy is alive and well and still working, and I am confident that she, like Van Zandt, will eventually get her due, if no for other reason than, like him, her talents are frequently trumpeted by her musical peers. As for me, I can be rather dense at times, and it took me a long time to realize that there really is such a thing as a "singer's singer" or in Van Zandt's case, a "songwriter's songwriter". Of course, such trite accolades, however true, should be used sparingly, if they are to have any real meaning at all, but twelve years after his death, Townes Van Zandt is definitely worthy of such a title. Long championed by Country and Folk mega-talents, the name of Townes Van Zandt continues to be whispered reverently by a plethora of his peers, despite a woefully overproduced atmosphere in many of his early recordings. Still, I should have known long ago that he had the chops to be mentioned with the best of them, when Tracy Nelson herself once mentioned to me that she was an admirer of his work. What goes around come around, as they say, and I am constantly amazed that the people I most respect in music always seem to share a deep admiration for each other's work.I was lucky enough to become acquainted with Van Zandt's early songs through the now-rare boxed set, Texas Troubadour, which contained his first seven studio albums complete and intact, together with eight of the songs included in Live at the Old Quarter. But while those eight songs - each of which were not previously recorded on early studio albums - merely rounded out the Troubadour boxed set, in its entirety, Live at the Old Quarter is a far more appealing and artistically pure rendering of Townes Van Zandt at his finest. In fact, I believe that the 26 songs featured on the live album Live at the Old Quarter represent Van Zandt at his absolute zenith. Recorded with only the stark accompaniment of his guitar and the appreciative applause of a small, tight audience, Live at the Old Quarter arguably represents Townes Van Zandt's finest moments before a microphone - at least those that I've heard so far, although, again I must admit, I am still working on acquiring as much his work as I can get my hands on.The album notes mistakenly announce that all songs lyrics and music on Live at the Old Quarter were written by Van Zandt, but a few were not, notably Merle Travis' Nine Pound Hammer, Cocaine Blues and Chauffer's Blues, a song that has popped up in the repertoire of blues singers from Memphis Minnie to, well, Tracy Nelson. But besides these covers, some of Van Zandt's greatest compositions are included in Live at the Old Quarter, including the celebrated Pancho & Lefty and If I Needed You, two tunes raised to immortality as a result of covers by other singers. Live at the Old Quarter also offers sparsely arranged and heartfelt versions of Waiting `Round To Die, Tecumseh Valley, Tower Song, For the Sake of the Song, Don't You Take It Too Hard, Lungs, Kathleen and No Place to Fall, among others. All in all, the album easily contains a dozen more poetic gems than can be found on the best single releases of almost any other country or folk artist of the last fifty years. The more I listen to Townes Van Zandt, and I can - and do, sometimes - listen to Townes Van Zandt for months on end, the more I am convinced he just may be the best songwriter of the 20th Century.In fact, Steve Earle once remarked that Townes Van Zandt was, "the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that", to which Van Zandt famously replied, "I've met Bob Dylan's bodyguards and if Steve Earle thinks he can stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table, he's sadly mistaken". He needn't have bothered. At this point, Van Zandt's reputation has been validated and his legacy assured, not only by the fellow musicians who love his work, but by the wonderful music he has left behind in releases such as Live at the Old Quarter.Highly recommended.

The sound and weight of the record are good. Trying to do a little research about who is producing records these days and the quality of the vinyl. Fat possum, the label, appears to be pressing their own from vintage machines. The 180 g weight definitely makes them feel like pre-1970s records. The sound quality on this is Rich and good. As far as the record itself goes, this is one of my favorites from Townes Van Zandt, who is himself, perhaps my favorite artist. I love the banter and the clinking bar glasses. The collection of songs is solid. He didn't play every favorite at the Old Quarter… Or they didn't make it on the record, but such is life. It's nice that the purchase comes with the digital download also. So when I have to move from my chair and can't take my record player with me at least Townes can continue to play the soundtrack of my life.My one complaint is that whatever the processes for punching holes in the center of the record seems to be a little rough. One of the records still had plastic in the middle of the hole that I had to fish out with my Leatherman. It's quite a tight fit. I didn't get a picture of that one because I was so eager to play the record. The second record looks like the punch skidded across the label. See above. That said, sound quality seems fine.

I bought the CD of this concert, not the vinyl, so regarding the recording quality I can only speak to the CD. There really isn't much background noise left on either disc--it seems like a pretty clean master, actually, and its dynamic range is good, too.Now, about the music: it has almost ruined me for anything else. I'm a huge blues fan--especially delta blues--but I just haven't been listening to any of my blues compilations lately. Every time I get in the car, it's gonna be Townes, and it's gonna be tracks off _Live at the Old Quarter_. The spartan sound of this album, with just Van Zandt singing and playing his guitar, sans accompaniment, makes it my level favorite. I did get _Rear View Mirror_, too, which is good, but has a badly aggressive fiddle player on it who grabs center stage more often than I say he should. I got _RVM_ because I am so completely in love with his live performances of "Rex's Blues," which I regard as one of the most beautiful songs from all the 20th century (seriously). The *studio* version is badly inferior; please don't judge the song by *that* thing. The _RVM_ version is excellent. The _Old Quarter_ version, though, touches the first foothills of Heaven itself, even with a few missteps in the performance. Another absolute favorite is "Only Him or Me," which is the last track on _Old Quarter_. Many other tracks ("To Live Is to Fly," "If I Needed You," "Two Girls," etc.) are excellent, but "Rex's Blues" and "Only Him or Me" are songs I really could listen to ad infinitum without growing tired.

I do not as a rule buy live albums but the high ratings for this one persuaded me to give it a go. Townes is in great form and unusually the recording seems to have captured the atmosphere of the moment. If you like Townes Van Zantd it is very unlikely you will regret purchasing this.

I've been a Townes Van Zandt admirer for over 20 years now and I've lost more cassettes and cd's of him than I care to remember. So when I decided to begin collecting his music again I fortunately begun here. There's all the Townes that I've always admired (I nearly used the word love) on one cd. If you buy no other of the unique Townes , then this one is a must as it's the songwriter/poet at his natural best. I was fortunate to see him perform live once and will never forget that evening. The same genius and humanity shines through here too.

An extraordinary album that absolutely sears itself into your soul on every playing. Cannot recommend highly enough. Superb.

Love Townes! love this album...great to hear his humour between tracks too!

good old cd