Van Zandt spent his career from Day One authoring his impending death, and this 1970 album, produced by Jack Clement of Sun Records fame, is as fatalistic and off-handedly portentous as Leonard Cohen's finest, and consider... more »ably less affected (Robert Altman could have easily substituted Van Zandt for Cohen on the soundtrack of McCabe and Mrs. Miller). Not many songwriters familiar with electricity could pull off a song entitled "Waitin' Around to Die." Clement's production is topnotch country doomuzak, although the poorly mastered CD doesn't really reflect this. Put this on before you rent The Wild Bunch. --D. Strauss« less
Van Zandt spent his career from Day One authoring his impending death, and this 1970 album, produced by Jack Clement of Sun Records fame, is as fatalistic and off-handedly portentous as Leonard Cohen's finest, and considerably less affected (Robert Altman could have easily substituted Van Zandt for Cohen on the soundtrack of McCabe and Mrs. Miller). Not many songwriters familiar with electricity could pull off a song entitled "Waitin' Around to Die." Clement's production is topnotch country doomuzak, although the poorly mastered CD doesn't really reflect this. Put this on before you rent The Wild Bunch. --D. Strauss
"This album has two of TVZ's greatest, and also saddest, songs -- 'Tecumseh Valley' and 'Waiting Around to Die.' 'Tecumseh Valley' has been covered by both Nanci Griffith (in her album 'Other Voices, Other Rooms') and Steve Earle (in his album 'Train A'Comin'), but as with all TVZ songs, Townes breathes life in this song like no one else can."
The Start of Greatness
F. R. W. Miles | Oak Hill, VA United States | 11/15/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"TVZ was expected to be the next Bob Dylan and listening to this album will make you wonder why he never became a superstar. The song writing is fantastic, the delivery precise, the emotion high. I first fell in love with the album shortly after it came out on LP (remember LPs?) and have enjoyed it to this day (2 LPs, cassette, and now a CD.)The lovely and sad "Waiting Around to Die" and "Tecumseh Valley" are the stars of the album. "Talkin' Karate Blues" (although not politically correct) is a standout comedy piece on how to keep a bully from picking on you.There is not a bad track on the album. The songs are his, the experiences are shared."
Amen, Lee!!
Mark R. Emmett | Murray, UT United States | 12/20/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Amen to (almost) every word of Lee Charles Kelley's review (I'd take Joni Mitchell's Blue in place of the classical stuff). I knew Mr. Kelley during his disc-jockey period, and can vouch for his impeccable taste and talent. He's not very good, though, at staying in touch with old, fat friends ."