This is one of the reasons why I love music SO much: there's alsways something new to dig into. And that's exactly what happened to me when I first listened to Townes Van Zandt: I was mesmerized by it, like something resonated inside me. It's a bit like what George Harrison saisd while telling about the first time he heard indian music play: there! An instantaneous connection! And so I did fall in love with this great musician's music (though I'm not sure if I can bet, like Steve Earle does, that he's the greatest american songwriter ever, even better than Dylan), and I'm still going on listening more and more stuff of him (i.e. official and non official releases), so, though I can't quite recommend one of his albums (over another) with certainty, I think I can quite comfortably stress that some of his best recording are actually live recordings. Probably because too many of his records were made with too much of an ear to the typical (Nashville) country act (specially in the 70's... i.e. too much lap steel, man!), and later on there were some of the usual awkward sounds of the 80's, plus his voice wasn't the same as it used to be (but during some concerts it did sound pretty better than in, say, "At My Window" or in "No Deeper Blue").Of course that was pretty obvious with my previous post on him, being the "Live at the Old Quarter" a true masterpiece of a live album, but there is indeed some magic to be found in many bootleg out there too, and I've traced down a great site with lots of them (both in mp3 and in FLac, yeah!), which is OUSTERHOUT.NET (by ROIO), where you can find also some Dylan, Richard Thompson, Wilco, Leonard Cohen, Lucinda Williams, Paul Simon, Steve Earle, (and many more).
So, if haven't won you over on Van Zandt yet, well, check these out.
Here's No place to fall:
and here If I needed you:
And then, finally, 'I'd suggest you to go watch the whole "Be here to love me" documemantary on TVZ. This is the first fragment, but if you want to see the rest of it check Nothingdrugs' YouTube Channel.
