His studio albums were tricky affairs generally cursed with overproduction, but Townes Van Zandt's solo live recordings (and his influential songwriting) have made him a Texas music legend. A Gentle Evening with Townes Van... more » Zandt captures the enigmatic performer alone at a 1969 Carnegie Hall concert, sounding a little tentative but still cracking the occasional joke. His set list consists of material from his first two albums, including classics "Tecumseh Valley," "Like a Summer's Thursday," and "She Came and She Touched Me." "Talking KKK Blues," heard here for the first time on record, bears a striking resemblance to the songwriter's "Fraternity Blues" and shows Van Zandt's biting wit. Since the definitive Townes Van Zandt concert document, Live at the Old Quarter, remains out of print, this single CD will serve the late Texan's legion of fans well. Aptly titled, it's a subdued affair, but it's still essential for anyone who wants to hear the performer in his youthful prime. --Jason Verlinde« less
His studio albums were tricky affairs generally cursed with overproduction, but Townes Van Zandt's solo live recordings (and his influential songwriting) have made him a Texas music legend. A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt captures the enigmatic performer alone at a 1969 Carnegie Hall concert, sounding a little tentative but still cracking the occasional joke. His set list consists of material from his first two albums, including classics "Tecumseh Valley," "Like a Summer's Thursday," and "She Came and She Touched Me." "Talking KKK Blues," heard here for the first time on record, bears a striking resemblance to the songwriter's "Fraternity Blues" and shows Van Zandt's biting wit. Since the definitive Townes Van Zandt concert document, Live at the Old Quarter, remains out of print, this single CD will serve the late Texan's legion of fans well. Aptly titled, it's a subdued affair, but it's still essential for anyone who wants to hear the performer in his youthful prime. --Jason Verlinde
"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."
A glimpse into genius...
E. Viladevall | Plano, TX | 02/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD is striking in so many ways....1969...the height of "flower power" and political turmoil over the war....the "Summer of Love"...and along comes a soft spoken Texan with nothing but his mind, heart and guitar to elevate us and to show us a higher truth. Certainly Our Mother the Mountain, The Old Quarter etc. are Townes' masterworks but this one shows a purity, sparseness and "less is more" than even The Old Quarter. This is my favorite Townes album, only a few songs, but maybe its better that way..his picking is precise and rhytmic but not clinical......his voice at age 26 (?)is strong, controlled and has a tinge of bittersweet at times...the sound is wonderful...of course the songs themselves are timeless and pure genius in my opinion...the imagery of "She Came and She Touched me" is nothing short of magical, the lilt of "Like a Summer Thursday" is like a snowflake dancing on a breeze. Tecumseh valley of course, needs no comment. I think this is the best version. Man Townes, what a gift you had and gave to us...God bless you..."
Lives up to the title...
B. Bowman | Jersey, United States | 04/18/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This CD may not contain Townes Van Zandt's best known material, but taken in the context of when this performance was recorded the song selection makes sense. Townes was 25 when this was recorded at Carnegie Hall and hadn't written many of his most famous songs yet, therefore other reviewer's complaints that he didn't play "Pancho and Lefty" can be dismissed as ludicrous. If Townes hadn't written the songs yet, he couldn't have included them in his set (!). The previously unreleased "Talking KKK Blues" is Townes at his spoken blues best. The sound on this CD is phenomenal and what is striking is the way he projected in a concert hall like Carnegie Hall. I guess this struck me because I'm so used to hearing his live recordings in tiny dives like the Old Quarter in Texas or McCabe's guitar shop in California. Townes' voice was in top form and his guitar skills were also top notch during this time period, and while his song selection for this gig was his more subdued material I don't find this to be negative. This recording was lost in the shuffle between record labels but now that its been released it serves as a valuable document of Townes' early years and his budding genius. Despite the fact that the songs here could be classified as rarities, I would go so far as to say that this would be a good introduction to Townes Van Zandt's music. His humor and personality shine throughout the performance and it is refreshing to hear him at the peak of his powers."
Beautiful
B. Bowman | 04/26/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is my 3rd TVZ live album (others: Rear View Mirror, Live at McCabes) and it is very very good. Compared to the others that I have heard the two things very different about this album is that one, it is a very very young TVZ (25 year old) and secondly the large audience. A typical TVZ concert usually were to small audiences. My only complaint is that he sings only 6 of his "songs", the rest being a joke, talking blues and a cover.
All in all, an excellent album. And now I can't wait for the release of the mythical Live at the Old Quarter"