CD Odyssey Disc 878: Townes Van Zandt

When I first started the Odyssey I invoked the “can review a new album right away rule” a lot more often (I have since come to fully embrace the chaos, and rarely review newly purchased albums, unless I’ve just seen the associated concern). Back when I did review new records, I had just bought a bunch of Townes albums and so burned through a whole lot of them all at once. I now miss getting a Townes album in the mix, so when it happens (as it just did) it is a welcome event.

Disc 878 is….For the Sake of the Song

Artist: Townes Van Zandt

Year of Release: 1968

What’s up with the Cover? Hey man, it was the sixties.

How I Came To Know It: I got into Townes from hearing Steve Earle’s tribute album “Townes” and since then have been buying up whatever I could find. “For the Sake of the Song” was just me drilling through the collection.

How It Stacks Up:  It seems every time I review a Townes Van Zandt album I own more than the last time. I’m now up to 10, and of those I must reluctantly put “For the Sake of the Song” in lowly eighth place. It is still a very good record, but there’re just too many better ones.

Ratings: 3 stars but almost 4

“For the Sake of the Song” is the first album Townes Van Zandt released, and while it showcases his immense talent, it cannot help but be overshadowed by the run of five amazing albums he would release in the three years following.

The biggest problem with “For the Sake of the Song” is the production, which sounds sparse to the point of feeling threadbare. Townes’ voice (never his strongest asset) is ill-served by the tinny quality of the recording, which makes him sound flatter than usual. His phrasing of each line is still instinctive and engaging, but the lack of oomph in the lower range takes away some of his songs’ natural gravitas.

The limitations of the recording is most keenly felt on the title track, which is an exceptional song, rich with lyrics about a man leaving a woman as tenderly as he can, but refusing to lie in the face of her pleas. The chorus has an unexpected open-heartedness about it that is refreshing:

“Maybe she just has to sing for the sake of the song

Who do I think that I am to decide that she's wrong?”

The deeper truth is that ultimately it is Townes that sings about her for the sake of the song, and so in a way, takes her with him, despite his leaving. I’ve heard similar sentiments from Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan. I believe this is how troubadours got laid in the sixties.

I discussed this song in a slightly different light when I reviewed Townes’ self-titled follow up album back at Disc 339, which is a reminder that six of the 11 tracks on “For the Sake of the Song” (the album) are re-recorded on later records between 1969 and 1972. In every case, the later version is better. If those versions didn’t exist, I would probably like the originals more, but I can’t deny that later records did a better job at the same thing.

Fortunately, great songs like “Tecumseh Valley” and “Sad Cinderella” transcend bad production, and while I would have preferred to hear the later recordings, I was still happy they appear here as well.

In terms of unique content, four of the five other songs tend to be weaker. “Talkin’ Karate Blues” tells the story of a skinny kid going to learn karate. The song is intended to be funny, but despite a clever rhyme scheme and what (I hope) is a deliberately obtuse narrator, it doesn’t translate well into the twenty-first century.

The one track Townes never re-recorded that I wish he had is “Sixteen Summers, Fifteen Falls”. This standout song tells the tragic tale of a young girl who sleeps with her man, but then kills herself over the perceived shame of her act. The whole tale is over in just 2:35, abruptly ending, just like the subject of the song.

While Townes would later do a better job of the album’s best tracks, it doesn’t diminish how great the songs are, and they still sound fresh and thoughtful almost fifty years since they were first recorded.

Best tracks:  Tecumseh Valley, Sad Cinderella, All Your Young Servants, Sixteen Summers Fifteen Falls