I first heard of Townes Van Zandt when a person who bought my first album, "Country Dream" told me, after listening to it a few days earlier, that it reminded him of Townes Van Zandt's material. I was unaquainted with Townes, but promised to look him up. When I did I was shocked when I listened to Tecumseh Valley. While I didn’t think anything I'd recorded was at all like Van Zandts, perhaps the only similarity resides in the Americana-ness of our music. I feel Townes' fully produced albums, with added instrumentation, are the best I've ever heard, or ever will hear. After hearing the great songwiter/performers Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard 'cover' the fairly well known song of Van Zandt's Poncho and Lefty, I was amazed by the beauty of it. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are two of America's greatest songwriters! To give Townes Van Zandt that kind of a 'nod' should tell you something about the caliber of Mr Van Zandt. I knew for myself, what it meant to me as a songwriter, to have two of the nation's legendary Recording artists do Van Zandt's song that way, because they were caught in the amazing tapestry of Van Zandt's powerful imaginative lyric and musical genius. Someone like Townes Van Zandt only comes along once. If you miss out now you'll only regret it later. As you delve deeper and hear the songs more than once you get pulled into a very "real" space/time continuum that this artist takes you, at times so beautiful, and at other times so painful, and at times so rjaw and rugged, using a descriptive force so powerful, it's like you are there with him, seeing exactly what he's intending you to bear witness to. The more you listen, the more you'll "need" to listen, as if it were a requirement of life.
Townes Van Zandt was a very human person, it is easy to know that he suffered from the honest ways he talked and wrote, he carried his heavy load like a great man, Townes paid the high price during his life and he suffered like most of us do, his is now resting in eternal peace in Heaven
2) "Kathleen" It's plain to see, the sun won't shine today But I ain't in the mood for sunshine anyway Maybe I'll go insane I got to stop the pain Or maybe I'll go down to see Kathleen. A swallow comes and tells me of her dreams She says she'd like to know just what they mean And I feel like I could die As I watch her flying by Ride the north wind down to see Kathleen. The stars hang high above, the oceans roar The moon is come to lead me to her door There's crystal across the sand And the waves, they take my hand. And soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen. Soon I'm gonna see my sweet Kathleen.
8} "Tecumseh Valley" The name she gave was Caroline The daughter of a miner Well her ways were free And it seemed to me Sunshine walked beside her She said she'd come to look for work She was not seekin' favors For a dime a day And a place to stay She'd turn those hands to labor But the times were hard, Lord, and the jobs were few All through Tecumseh valley But she asked around And a job she found Tendin' bar for Gypsy Sally She saved enough to get back home When spring replaced the winter But her dreams were denied Her Pa had died The word come down from Spencer She turned to walkin' down the road From all the hate inside her And it was many a man Returned again To walk that road beside her They found her down beneath the stairs That led to Gypsy Sally's In her hand when she died Was a note that cried Fare thee well Tecumseh valley
Why is this man not more celebrated? We all have our demons, like it or not, don't let that judge what this artist has done. He wrote better songs high than most can only imagine otherwise. Respect.
10) "My Proud Mountains" My home is Colorado With her proud mountains tall Where the rivers, like gypsys Down her black canyons fall But I'm a long, long way from Denver With a long way to go So lend an ear to my singing Cause I'll be back no more Well I left as a young man Not full seventeen With nothin' for company But the wind and a dream 'bout all the fast ladies And livin' I'd find When I left my proud mountains And rivers behind So I rolled and a-rambled Like a leaf in the wind Well, I found my fast ladies And some hard livin' men Well, I sometimes went hungry With my pockets all bare Lord, I sometimes had good luck With money to spare Well I made me some friends, lord, That I won't soon forget Well some are down under And some are rambling yet But as for me Well I'm headed for home Back to high Colorado Never more for to roam So friends, when my time comes As surely it will You just carry my body Out to some lonesome hill And lay me down easy Where the cool rivers run With only my mountains 'tween me and the sun Yeah my home is Colorado
1) "Be Here To Love Me" Your eyes seek conclusion in all this confusion of mine Though you and I both know it's only the warm glow of wine That's got you to feeling this way, but I don't care, I want you to stay And hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today The children are dancin', the gamblers are chancin' their all The window's accusing the door of abusing the wall But who cares what the night watchmen say The stage has been set for the play So just hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today The moon's come and gone but a few stars hang on on to the sky Well the wind's runnin' free though it ain't up to me ask why But the poets are demanding their pay And they've left me with nothin' to say 'cept hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today Just hold me and tell me you'll be here to love me today
0:00 Be Here to Love me 2:38 Kathleen 5:25 She Came and She Touched Me 9:28 Like a Summer Thursday 12:32 Our Mother the Mountain 16:54 Second Lovers Song 19:10 St John the Gambler 22:16 Tecumseh Valley 27:11 Snake Mountain Blues 29:50 My Proud Mountains 34:54 Why She's Acting This Way
5) "Our Mother The Mountain" My lover comes to me with a rose on her bosom The moon's dancin' purple All through her black hair And a ladies-in-waiting she stands 'neath my window And the sun will rise soon On the false and the fair Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o She tells me she comes from my mother the mountain Her skin fits her tightly And her lips do not lie She silently slips from her throat a medallion Slowly she twirls it In front of my eyes Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o I watch her, I love her, I long for to touch her The satin she's wearin' Is shimmering blue Outside my window her ladies are sleeping My dogs a gone hunting The howling is through Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o So I reach for her hand and her eyes turn to poison And her hair turns to splinters, And her flesh turns to brine She leaps across the room, she stands in the window And screams that my first-born Will surely be blind Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o Then she throws herself out to the black of the nightfall She's parted her lips But she makes not a sound I fly down the stairway, and I run to the garden No trace of my true love Is there to be found Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o So walk these hills lightly, and watch who you're lovin' By mother the mountain I swear that it's true And love not a woman with hair black as midnight And a dress made of satin All shimmering blue Sing a-too a-loor-a-lie-o Oh my lover comes to me with a rose on her bosom The moon's dancing purple all through her black hair And a lady's in waiting, she'll stand 'neath my window And the sun will rise soon on the false and the fair
7) "St. John The Gambler" When she had twenty years, well she turned to her mother Saying mother, I know that you'll grieve But I've given my soul to st john the gambler Tomorrow comes time to leave For the hills cannot hold back my sorrow forever And dead men lie deep 'round the door The only salvation that's mine for the asking So mother, think on me no more And winter held high round the mountains' breast And the cold of a thousand snows Lay heaped upon the forest's leaf But she dressed in calico For a gambler likes his women fancy Fancy she would be And the fire of her longing would keep way the cold And her dress was a sight to see But the road was long beneath the feet She followed her frozen breath In search of a certain st john the gambler Stumbling to her death She heard his laughter right down from the mountains And danced with her mother's tears To a funeral drawn of calico 'neath the cross of twenty years To a funeral drawn of calico 'neath the cross of twenty years
This is the album I picked out the trash can at my college radio station in Seattle in the early 1970s. I connected with the man and his messages. Nice to hear it again today.
9) "Snake Mountain Blues" Mr ten dollar man Let me tell where you're bound Drink your green liquor, lord You'll roll to the ground But you come around here With your money in your hand Taste of my woman Well, you die where you stand Snake mountain blues They got me down low I could die in the morning But no one would know When my woman come around My body she'd find Go down to dundee Have her a time Snake mountain's gonna crumble, lord And fall from the sky Before that woman of mine Stops tellin' her lies If I'd die, lord, she'd weep She'd weep and she'd mourn Soon as I is buried Forget I'd been born Love a blackskin woman She won't do you no wrong Slow to start moaning She don't moan for long Oh yellow headed woman Brings nothing but pain Takes all you give her Well she leaves only shame Oh my daddy, lord, he rides On a long holy train First winds of winter I'll see him again And it's farewell to this Yellow headed misery I've known Snake mountain's calling Calling me home Well the Snake mountain blues Got me down low I could die in the morning Ain't no one would know Aw my woman come around My body she'd find Go down to dundee Have her a time
6) "Second Lovers Song" You're wakin' next to me Tears splash across the sun You whisper soft to me That I ain't the only one To breathe your yellow hair Caress your bosom fair Do you think I really care? Do you think it matters? What do your feelings mean? Do you think I'd love more If you stood pure and clean Of those you'd known before Would your words be sweeter then Upon November's wind If you began again Could your smile be softer? Would your eyes more brightly shine? Would your laughter be so tender? If you'd been only mine For as long as you remember? I don't want tears from you Don't build your love on shame All that we've done is through And all we can do remains My lady can't you see I love not jealously But for all you are to me And all you'll be tomorrow
11) "Why She's Acting This Way" Like silent she stands Like laughter she falls From a castle of sand Like a memory she calls And the mockingbirds grieve 'cause they can't make her cry And they'll soon start to believe That the lady has died Oh what it all goes to show It ain't my job to say For who am I to know Why she's actin' this way Oh once again turn away If you're sure that it's done Tell your prophets to pray Tell your bandits to run Take your eyelids of stone They won't do you no harm And take your cross made of bones Take your your fly-paper arms And when everything's placed In your coffin of gold Throw a scarf 'round your face 'cause the subway gets cold Pack up your sunflower smile And your bandana blues Take your worthless denials They're all you've got left to lose Take your tinkerbell lies And your weary desires Take the tears in your eyes Take your cup full of fire Ah give your lover a call If your legs start to fail And he'll come break your fall With a bed full of nails No need to glance back again There ain't nothin' to see Just this drunken old man And this woman and me And you've made it quite plain That we're just wastin' time And you say it seems strange That I'm staying behind But don't you worry 'bout me I can make it alone 'cause I got no place to be And I ain't far from home
3) "She Came And She Touched Me" She came and she touched me With hands made of heaven Reflections sent spinnin' Through a face laced in mist Now I stand where she left me Buried deep 'neath her shadow And the mirror pleads sadly Has it all come to this? And I wonder, will she call my name? Well the wind careens madly Through wide windows paneless Fragrancies mingle In a room full of shade The peons pick partners And waltz 'cross the ceilings But the violins whisper That I've been betrayed Tryin' not to look ashamed Well the drunkards drink deeply From cups full of nothingness Ghost lovers laugh At the games that they play While the moments do somersaults Into eternity Cling to their coattails And beg them to stay Saying I got nothing to hide Well Illusions projected On walls made of Tiffany Mad minuets to A sad satin song A harlequin mandolins Harmonize helplessly Hoping that endlessly Won't last for long Praying that their God ain't dying Then I turn and I see her In a dress made of moonlight Teardrops like diamonds Run slow down her face And her arms surround me Like chains made of velvet And the demons fall faithfully Into their place And the river runs with jewels Now the morning lies open The night went quite quickly Memory harmlessly Fractures and fades All the poets do push-ups On carpets of rubber foam Loudly they laugh At some joke that's been made And the wise men speak like fools
4) "Like A Summer Thursday" Her face was crystal Fair and fine And her breath was morning And her lips were wine And her eyes were laughter And her touch divine And her face was crystal And she was mine If only she Could feel my pain But feelin' is a burden She can't sustain So like a summer Thursday I cry for rain To come and turn The ground to green again If only she Could hear my songs 'bout the empty difference 'tween the rights and wrongs Then I know that I Could stand alone As well as they Now that she's gone Her face was crystal Fair and fine And her breath was morning And her lips were wine And her eyes were laughter And her touch divine And her face was crystal And she was mine
Townes Van Zandt - - Our Mother the Mountain - -From Wikipedia - - -Our Mother the Mountain is the second album by country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1969. It is considered to be one of his greatest recordings and features some of his best known works, including "Be Here To Love Me", "Snake Mountain Blues" and "Our Mother The Mountain". Recording and reception The basic tracks for Our Mother the Mountain were recorded in Los Angeles with overdubs recorded in Nashville. The album was produced by Jack Clement and Jim Malloy, who produced Van Zandt's first album For the Sake of The Song, and Kevin Eggers, who ran Poppy Records and also managed Van Zandt. Several big name musicians played on the album, including James Burton (famed for playing behind Ricky Nelson and Elvis Presley) and renowned session player Charlie McCoy. "Tecumseh Valley", which had appeared on the singer's debut album, was re-recorded for Our Mother the Mountain as a result of Van Zandt's dissatisfaction with the garish production employed on For the Sake of the Song. Although the tracks on Our Mother the Mountain were sweetened in Nashville, there was a somewhat simpler, light-handed approach taken production-wise on his follow-up LP. Like most albums released during his lifetime, Our Mother the Mountain did not sell in great numbers but reinforced his reputation as a "songwriter's songwriter". In the 2004 biopic Be Here To Love Me (its title taken from the opening track on Our Mother the Mountain), musician Joe Ely recalls first hearing the album after Van Zandt had given him a copy when they first crossed paths in Lubbock, Texas when Ely picked the singer up hitchhiking back to Houston from San Francisco in 1971. Van Zandt was carrying only his guitar and a backpack stuffed with records and, as a means of thanking Ely, gave him a brand-new copy of Our Mother the Mountain. "I'd never met anybody who'd actually recorded an album before," Ely remembered, "and I take the record back to Jimmie Gilmore. We put the record on and we're just mesmerized by it. Ends up we played that record over and over for weeks. It made us rethink what we were doing and what a song was all about." In the book To Live's To Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt, John Kruth describes the title track as "otherworldly. Like the best of Van Zandt's dark sagas, this tale of a bewitched lover is a minor-key waltz that limps along like foreboding footsteps approaching in the hall, coming closer, closer, closer, as the song slowly envelops you." AllMusic writes that, "'St. John the Gambler' is the kind of hopeless, poetic love ballad Van Zandt does so well, with an aching melody that would have sounded better without the sappy strings," and notes that the best tracks "are bunched up at the end of the album and only add minimal touches to Van Zandt's moaning delivery and sparse picking." Mark Lager, on the album's 50th anniversary in 2019, wrote that Our Mother the Mountain and Townes Van Zandt's self-titled album are "the strongest of his entire career since they contained compositions written solely by Van Zandt himself, whereas his later albums would frequently feature multiple covers of older blues and country singers. “Tecumseh Valley” is a heartbreaking reminiscence of a miner’s daughter in Depression-era Oklahoma who earns low wages at a bar and, after the death of her father, is forced into prostitution and an early demise. “Our Mother the Mountain” is a dark ballad of a sinister and spooky Lorelei, a siren, accompanied by the forlorn flute of Jules Jacob. Bergen White’s shivering strings accent the atmospheres in the autumnal and wintry desolation of the songs “Kathleen“, “Second Lovers Song”, and “St. John the Gambler”." Artwork The artwork for Our Mother the Mountain was designed by Milton Glaser and the album cover features an arresting shot of Van Zandt taken by Allen Vogel. Glaser explained to John Kruth in 2007, "The album cover...was about provoking people's interest. To get them to ask, 'What the hell is that?' Either they got it or they didn't. If they didn't know who Townes was, his name wouldn't mean anything if they were compelled to buy it. These were basically cult records bought by a small group of passionate people." In the liner notes to the Charly Records reissue of the album, it is noted that, "In a way, Vogel's camera-created image sums up the contents of this album: eleven original songs of survival and sorrow, whose main lyrical focus is the pursuit of that elusive commodity, love that will endure." Cover versions Many of the songs on Our Mother The Mountain have been covered by other artists. Karl Broadie recorded "Like a Summer Thursday" on his 2004 album Everybody's Gold. Dick Curless first recorded "Be Here to Love Me" on his 1965 LP Tombstone Every Mile and the song appears on the 2006 album Dust to Shake by Corazon. Paul Flaata covered "Second Lover Song" on his album In Demand in 2002. A rendition of "Our Mother the Mountain" performed by Great Lake Swimmers was included on the 2009 album Introducing Townes Van Zandt Via The Great Unknown. "Tecumseh Valley" has been recorded by Bobby Bare, Nancy Griffith, Matthew Cook and Van Zandt disciple Steve Earle. The Walkabouts recorded "Snake Mountain Blues" on their 1993 album New West Motel and Colter Wall recorded it on his 2017 self-titled album. "Kathleen" has been recorded by Rhonda Harris on their 2006 tribute album Tell The World We Tried; Van Zandt re-recorded the song in the early 1990s with The Chromatics providing vocal harmonies, this version was released posthumously on the 2001 album Texas Rain. "Kathleen" was also covered and released as a non-album single by Tindersticks in 1994.[4] Norah Jones covered "Be Here to Love Me" on her Feels Like Home LP. The Wainwright Sisters covered "Our Mother the Mountain" on their 2015 album Songs in the Dark. Track listing All tracks written by Townes Van Zandt Side one No. Title Length 1. "Be Here to Love Me" 2:38 2. "Kathleen" 2:47 3. "She Came and She Touched Me" 4:03 4. "Like a Summer Thursday" 3:04 5. "Our Mother the Mountain" 4:22 6. "Second Lovers Song" 2:16 Side two No. Title Length 7. "St. John the Gambler" 3:06 8. "Tecumseh Valley" 4:55 9. "Snake Mountain Blues" 2:39 10. "My Proud Mountains" 5:04 11. "Why She's Acting This Way" 5:24 Total length: 40:18 Personnel Townes Van Zandt - vocals, guitar Ben Bernay - harmonica James Burton - Dobro, guitar John Clauder - drums David Cohen - guitar Chuck Domanico - bass Jack Clement - guitar Charlie McCoy - bass, guitar, harmonica, organ, recorder Lyle Ritz - bass Don Randi - keyboards Harvey Newmark - bass Mike Deasy - guitar Donald Frost - drums Jules Jacob - flute Bergen White - string arrangements -
Our Mother the Mountain & Townes Van Zandt's 1969 self-titled are my favorites of his albums, I wrote about them for their 50th anniversary in 2019 on Vinyl Writers. Townes Van Zandt is one of the greatest and most poetic songwriters, my favorite American songwriter, alongside Scott Walker & Gene Clark.
All Music Review of Townes Van Zant album Our Mother the Mountain indicates that the reviewer thought the album less than mediocre. So why did he grant it 4 stars? His words equaled 2 star. What is 2 star for? Does AllMusic ever use 2 star? Maybe AllMusic should go with 1,2,3 star system. Since they don't have the conviction to use a 5 star system properly.
