In which I provide no details about Townes Van Zandt or his 1977 album Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas, though I say everything that came to mind when I first tried to write about both.
Wonderful articulation of how so many of us responded (and sometimes still respond) to recorded music that was or is experienced as a portal to something beyond "mere" music. While I more appreciate Townes than love him (goodness knows I have tried), I can easily see how his live album was so influential as entry to a whole realm of what would later be dubbed Americana music. In my own songwriting I am prone to referencing the importance of listening to specific records as being transformational, and your writing reminds me that there really are some people similar to me in our obsessions and their perhaps inscrutable origins.
Great read. And Live At The Old Quarter is such a great album. Townes is one of those artists I wished I had discovered when he was still alive, but there's no way young/teenage me would have appreciated him.
Thanks! It is a wonderful album, probably the best collection of Townes songs on record, and the best versions. Hoping to get time to gather my thoughts on some of it over the next week or so. I did get to see Townes a couple of times a few years before the end (1994) and I treasure those memories.
Fantastic essay, Richard! Your words profoundly express the significance of transformative musical discoveries in our youth. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to the others you share with us.
Wonderful articulation of how so many of us responded (and sometimes still respond) to recorded music that was or is experienced as a portal to something beyond "mere" music. While I more appreciate Townes than love him (goodness knows I have tried), I can easily see how his live album was so influential as entry to a whole realm of what would later be dubbed Americana music. In my own songwriting I am prone to referencing the importance of listening to specific records as being transformational, and your writing reminds me that there really are some people similar to me in our obsessions and their perhaps inscrutable origins.
Thank you! Yes, transformational is the word.
Great read. And Live At The Old Quarter is such a great album. Townes is one of those artists I wished I had discovered when he was still alive, but there's no way young/teenage me would have appreciated him.
Thanks! It is a wonderful album, probably the best collection of Townes songs on record, and the best versions. Hoping to get time to gather my thoughts on some of it over the next week or so. I did get to see Townes a couple of times a few years before the end (1994) and I treasure those memories.
Fantastic essay, Richard! Your words profoundly express the significance of transformative musical discoveries in our youth. I really enjoyed reading this and look forward to the others you share with us.
Thanks, Michael, I really appreciate that.