Search - Townes Van Zandt :: A Far Cry From Dead : featuring Pancho and Lefty & others

The melancholic troubadour/poet whose name was legend in Nashville and Austin, Townes Van Zant inspired a generation of progressive country artists such as Lyle Lovett and Richard Buckner. His untimely passing left a void that A FAR CRY FROM DEAD attempts to fill. Consisting mostly of new versions of classic Van Zandt songs, the album was constructed by overdubbing a crack country-rock band onto vocal-and-guitar tracks recorded by Townes in '90s and late-'80s.
The result is a successful updating of the Van Zandt catalog, the excesses of his early albums replaced by a leaner, meaner aesthetic more in keeping with his own uncompromising approach. Key tracks like "To Live's To Fly" and "For The Sake of the Song" combine rapturous flights of poetic imagery with an earthy, hard-bitten sensibility and a gift for simple, unforgettable melodies. The two previously unheard songs, "Squash" and "Sanitarium Blues," are slight compared to the majesty of their neighbors, but Van Zandt fans should be grateful for whatever they can get in the way of new material.

Industry Reviews
... First-rate songs, lyrically and melodically. Van Zandt has rarely sounded better - dry, weathered, intimate and convincing - and the playing is excellent... with an effortlessness and sensitivity hard to believe...
Mojo (07/01/1999) - Track Listing
1. Dollar Bill Blues
2. To Live's To Fly
3. Rex's Blues
4. Sanitarium Blues
5. Ain't Leavin' Your Love
6. Greensboro Woman
7. Snake Mountain Blues
8. Pancho And Lefty
9. For The Sake Of The Song
10. Waitin' Around To Die
11. Many A Fine Lady
12. Tower Song
13. Squash