Just when we thought we’ve exhausted Townes Van Zandt’s catalog, his surviving family – his wife Jeanene, along with his children, J.T., Will, and Katie Bell have found and authorized the release of unrecorded material. While Sky Blue offers versions of his familiar tunes, there are two that have never been heard before – “All I Need” and the title track. He also covers Tom Paxton’s classic “The Last Thing on My Mind.” John Lomax III composed the liner notes.
This is like jumping into a time machine reversing itself to a session 46 years ago to find Van Zandt working out some of his most endeared songs in an intimate, comfortable setting with one of his lifelong confidantes, the late Bill Hedgepeth, journalist, musician, and close buddy. At the time Townes was splitting his time between Texas, Colorado, and a shack outside Franklin, TN. This nomadic lifestyle certainly colors many of his songs. These eleven tracks sound both fresh and familiar. They represent some of the best vocals heard on any Van Zandt recording. For that alone, they are well worth hearing because in his later years, Van Zandt could be inconsistent, especially in live recordings.
Van Zandt, during this period, would often go to Hedgepeth’s home studio in Atlanta to try out new songs as well as variations of old ones. Here the early, raw versions of “Pancho & Lefty” and “Rex’s Blues” seem more moving than ever. The emotion is purely unadorned, and the acoustic flat picking is remarkably clean. This is understated and, in effect, are demo tapes, but it reveals the genius of his economic songwriting – no wasted words, just the necessary notes in support. Every word is clearly articulated and as one listens, the melancholy emotions can be overwhelming in their power.
We mentioned the cover of Paxton, but he also covers fellow Texas pal, Richard Dobson’s “Forever For Always For Certain,” associated mostly with Guy Clark, as well as a “smoky” version or Bill Monroe’s “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues.” He also renders another bluegrass tune, a touching version of the East Tennessee murder ballad “Hills of Roane County” popularized by Tony Rice. Van Zandt may have been one of the darkest songwriters we’ve had but he did have a wry wit and a rather weird sense of humor too. You’ll hear it on “Snake Song” and the venomous “Dream Spider.”
Sky Blue ranks with Townes’ Live at the Old Quarter, a similarly intimate album, long regarded as one of his best. This, for many, will be more intriguing as it shows Townes laying down his tunes with sheer confidence and dripping emotion.
