Townes Van Zandt A Far Cry from Dead LP

Townes Van Zandt's music doesn't jump up and down, wear fancy clothes, or beat around the bush. Whether he was singing a quiet, introspective country-folk song or a driving, hungry blues, Van Zandt's lyrics and melodies were filled with the kind of haunting truth and beauty that you knew instinctively. His music came straight from his soul by way of a kind heart, an honest mind, and a keen ear for the gentle blend of words and melody. He could bring you down to a place so sad that you felt like you were scraping bottom, but just as quickly he could lift your spirits and make you smile at the sparkle of a summer morning or a loved one's eyes — or raise a chuckle with a quick and funny talking blues. The magic of his songs is that they never leave you alone.

For the first time ever, Townes Van Zandt's posthumous 1999 release A Far Cry from Dead sees a vinyl release.

Van Zandt recorded the vocal and guitar takes for the album from the late '80s through the early '90s at Texhoma Music Group Studio, the late singer's next door neighbor's home studio in Nashville, and Jack Clement's Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa.

Townes left the tapes to his widow, Jeanene Van Zandt, who worked with producer Eric Paul to bring the songs to life with a full band including guitarist Richard Bennet (Mark Knopfler, Billy Joel, Steve Earle, Rodney Crowell), percussionist Kenny Malone (Ray Charles, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, etc.), and Charlie McCoy (Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings) among others.

Called the greatest songwriter ever by Nashville rebel Steve Earle, A Far Cry from Dead is a collection of the sharp, insightful writing that led Earle to make such a bold claim about Townes Van Zandt... More than anything, though, the album showcases just how honest and revealing Van Zandt's words are. The blunt reality of the aborted relationships in 'Many a Fine Lady,' for example, and the exalted freedom of 'To Live's to Fly' do more to broadcast his mastery than the magazine covers he always seemed to be overlooked for.