Townes Van Zandt's "Live at the Old Quarter"

This weekend's album recommendation is the critically acclaimed "Live at the Old Quarter" which was recorded back in 1973 by Townes Van Zandt. It contains his classic "Poncho & Lefty" which became a #1 hit on the country charts in 1983 by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. My friend Joe used to mimic TVZ's opening announcements... "Pool tables up stairs..." Joe had the whole 44 seconds memorized to perfection.

Early on in his career TVZ played the clubs in Houston along with the likes Lighting Hopkins, Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Doc Watson. He began to hone is songwriting skills about that time as well. Other classics on the album include For the Sake of the Song, Waiting Around to Die, and my favorite song of his to play, Tecumseh Valley.

Townes had a huge cult following, but he never caught on with mainstream country fans until after his death in 1997. Now-a-days everybody from Norah Jones to Bob Dylan have covered his music. The Old Quarter was a small hole in the wall establishment only 18' X 38'. It could only hold sixty patrons except for that night...when over a hundred folks squeezed into that hot and steamy Texas bar. This album is stripped down and ready to ride. If there were a genre called "authentic" Live at the Old Quarter would be the standard by which all others would be judged. This one's a dandy....