Steve Earle's "Townes"

[David M.]

I guess this is the right section for S. Earle...? Didn't see another thread on this posted anywhere.

His latest "Townes" is good in my book. All covers of Townes Van Zandt material. Tim O'Brien plays some great stuff as always. Good mando break on "Delta Momma Blues". Shad Cobb does some tasty fiddle. Sounds like his kid Justin Townes Earle sings duet on Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold. Good stuff.

I'm a TVZ and SE fan, so this album right up my alley. He was recently on Letterman and played Colorado Girl by himself w/guitar and it was good. Sounded/looked like maybe open D tuning, but I deleted it from my DVR before I could determine key or tuning.

Any others into this cd? I'd recommend it.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm a fan of both, I heard an interview on NPR the other day and plan on buying the next time I'm someplace it's for sale.

[luckylarue]

I've heard a few tunes on the radio - Steve Earle manages to do great justice to Townes' songs while putting his own mark on them & keeping them fresh. I'll definitely be picking this one up - bummer I missed him on Letterman.

[Tony Sz]

If you google "Steve Earle Letterman", you'll probably find a link to the segment. My daughter was on Letterman playing violin with A.C. Newman, and that's how I found her segment.

[gr_store_feet]

Yes, this is a great album. I really dig the version of "Lungs". The crescendo with the scratcher is so cool. Indeed, a good break on Delta Momma. Kind of bummed he did Poncho but that is just my gripe.

Check this link about Steve explaining each tune on the album:

http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2009/06/03/diversions-steve-earle-on-townes-van-zandt/

[BradKlein]

Here's a clip of Eearle playing mandolin on Copperhead Road (20 years ago). As I was watching, I was thinking, 'this is a guitarist playing mandolin, as opposed to someone who learned from other mando players'. And SE addresses that very point at the end, talking to Letterman.

[BradKlein]

and here's the recent Letterman appearance.

[onassis]

Steve Earle has a beautiful ability to be out of tune, off key, and incredibly compelling, all at the same time. :grin:

[David M.]

When I met him after a show in Lexington, KY, he said that Copperhead Road was the first thing he learned on the mando. He got a big kick that my 3 year old (at the time) knew every word to it and made a comment about bringing him up right. Very cordial, genuine person to all who greeted him that night.

[Rick Schmidlin]

Steve Earle has a beautiful ability to be out of tune, off key, and incredibly compelling, all at the same time. :grin:

I agree:))

[luckylarue]

Thanks for posting the video! I momentarily forgot about our "anything - anytime" internet culture. Remember the days when you could actually miss something and had to make do w/ just the idea? I feel myself falling into the "youtube" abyss...

[sgarrity]

I got this cd recently and highly recommend it. I'm a big fan of both Van Zant and Earle and was very impressed. Earls puts his own mark on the tunes without destrying their message.

[pigpen]

I'll be seeing him play a double billing with Amie Mann here in Burlington, Vt in a few weeks. I betcha they're playing other places, but I haven't checked. I'm really looking forward to seeing him play some of these songs (and Amie has been known to throw out some good songs every once in a while!).

[Jim MacDaniel]

I've always been a big fan of his, and this CD is surely a treat -- but is it just me, or is he starting to look a bit like an old mainframe engineer? ;)

[Don]

If you're referring to how he looks with the beard, it reminds me a whole lot of his dad,Jack Earle , who passed away December of 2007. Jack was a world class human being.They don't come any better.
Don.

[Fretbear]

Dead man singing.....he's real lucky to be above ground;
Read Lauren St. John's "Hardcore Troubadour" if you don't think truth is stranger than fiction.
He was born in Fort Monroe, Virginia, but Jack Earle kept a tobacco can of red Texas dirt handy for his feet to touch first.....

"Everybody told me you can't get far
On thirty-seven dollars and a jap guitar
Now I'm smokin' into Texas with the hammer down
And a rockin' little combo from the Guitar Town"

http://www.amazon.com/Hardcore-Troubadour-Death-Steve-Earle/dp/1841156116/ref=ed_oe_p

[Jason Kessler]

Interesting: 20 years between those two clips, but Letterman's wearing the same tie.

[Rick Schmidlin]

I am impressed with all your reviews and buy a copy.

[Alex Orr]

Hmmm... This should be right up my alley, but it's just not doing it for me. Part of the issue is that many of these songs were perfected on Townes' masterpiece, Live at the Old Quarter. Earles' version of "Pancho and Lefty" is almost unlistenably weak with his studiously sloppy vocal phrasing diluting the strengths of the melody to the point where the song becomes boring at best and downright grating at its worst....and really, that's the way it is for most of the album. Earle seems to be trying so hard to infuse the songs with the soulfulness that Townes' did so effortlessly, and the result is both a lack of depth and a recurring sense that Earle is simply trying to hard. There is such a thing as allowing songs to breathe and speak for themselves, and it applies to even the best written songs. Earle obviously loves Townes and these songs, and perhaps his love for this material has led to him becoming too smothering of an admirer, with the result being readings that feel too studied, too worked over, and too self-conscious. Ultimately, Earle stifles the breathless quality Townes imbued his songs with when he performed them himself.

[David M.]

Hmmm... This should be right up my alley, but it's just not doing it for me. Part of the issue is that many of these songs were perfected on Townes' masterpiece, Live at the Old Quarter. Earles' version of "Pancho and Lefty" is almost unlistenably weak with his studiously sloppy vocal phrasing diluting the strengths of the melody to the point where the song becomes boring at best and downright grating at its worst....and really, that's the way it is for most of the album. Earle seems to be trying so hard to infuse the songs with the soulfulness that Townes' did so effortlessly, and the result is both a lack of depth and a recurring sense that Earle is simply trying to hard. There is such a thing as allowing songs to breathe and speak for themselves, and it applies to even the best written songs. Earle obviously loves Townes and these songs, and perhaps his love for this material has led to him becoming too smothering of an admirer, with the result being readings that feel too studied, too worked over, and too self-conscious. Ultimately, Earle stifles the breathless quality Townes imbued his songs with when he performed them himself.

So, who in your book DID do justice to covering Townes' material? Guy Clark? Nanci Griffith? Ray Benson? Any others?

I think we'd have gotten a totally different take from Steve if he had recorded it a few years ago. Part of me agrees with you a little bit the more I listen to it, but I still find it very listenable and some downright enjoyable.

[Jason Kessler]

I'm very much an Earle fan, but he DOES sometimes overthink things and winds up trying too hard. I'm not saying this is the case with "Townes;" I haven't heard it.

[BradKlein]

Interesting: 20 years between those two clips, but Letterman's wearing the same tie.

I do believe you're right Jason.

Here's a pretty wonderful TVZ cover. And I think we can consider Rawlings an honorary mandolin player. Just favors a big 6-string mandolin.

[Alex Orr]

So, who in your book DID do justice to covering Townes' material? Guy Clark? Nanci Griffith? Ray Benson? Any others?
That's a tough question. Off the top of my head, I can't think of too many Townes' covers that I've found to be really first-rate. The Cowboy Junkies did a version of "To Live Is To Fly" on Black-Eyed Man that was good, but not really anything too exceptional. Somehow I missed the 2001 tribute album that was done in his honr. I like the looks of the line-up and may order a used copy - it's currently out-of-print.

[MikeEdgerton]

I do believe that Steve Earle and Guy Clarke have gone out of their way to keep his music alive. I'm a TVZ fan but I think that others (including the above mentioned and Emmy Lou Harris) have done his songs better than he did. YMMV.

[David M.]

Somehow I missed the 2001 tribute album that was done in his honr. I like the looks of the line-up and may order a used copy - it's currently out-of-print.

It's pretty good. I have it somewhere in my unorganized cd collection. Billy Joe Shaver does a great "White Freightliner Blues" on it.

I also like the 3 of them (Guy clark, townes, Earle) on that Live at the Bluebird Cafe album. Some good stories told there by Townes, one about a guy betting a gold tooth and after they pulled it, they realized it wasn't the gold tooth (alcohol was involved in the story).

[fishdawg40]

The first Townes Van Zandt song I've ever heard was "To Live is To Fly" done by the Peter Rowan and Tony Rice Quartet. I don't see how anything could be more beautiful than that. I love the TVZ album Flying Shoes, but I need to delve more. But I hear some of his albums have an over production to them.

[Hans Henrik Rasmussen]

I'm a TVZ fan but I think that others (including the above mentioned and Emmy Lou Harris) have done his songs better than he did. YMMV.

No no no! :) Make sure you hear his live stuff: Old quarter, In Pain, Abnormal, Carnegie Hall. It is unsurppassable.

I like Steve Earle as well, but was kind of wary of buying the Townes album, though his Tecumseh Valley cover on Train A'Comin is great.

-Hans

[kirksdad]

Alex:

I couldnt disagree with you anymore about "Townes" I think Steve Earle does an admirable job covering his good friend and mentor's songs. I bet if Townes were alive today, he'd be very happy with this output, he was I believe, a songwriter more comfortable with others performing his songs. Yes I have some of TVZ live stuff too, and prefer the originals to the any cover done, but I also like Steve's takes.

I'm sorry you dont like it, because your definatley in the minority.

KD

[jaco]

I think Townes was up somewhere smiling after that Lettermen gig.

[Jon Hall]

A couple of my favorite covers of Towne's songs were live performances. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings sang a great "Snowing On Reton" but my favorite is Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan's "Pancho and Lefty"

[Alex Orr]

I'm sorry you dont like it, because your definatley in the minority.
Yeah, I know. The album has a decent metacritic score and I haven't read any scathing reviews, other than the one I wrote. :redface: