While Townes Van Zandt may not be a household name (we are of the opinion that he should be), his work is known by music fans from every genre. After the release of Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos 1971-1972, 5 star reviews from American Songwriter and Mojo, coupled with a 10 out of 10 piece from Uncut proved the world was ready to rediscover not only Van Zandt, but the studio albums those sessions came from.

Omnivore is proud to offer reissues of Townes’ two seminal releases, High, Low And In Between and The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. Both on CD and—for the first time in decades—on high quality, 180-gram vinyl!

High, Low And In Between was Townes Van Zandt’s fifth album, originally released by Poppy Records in the fall of 1971. It was a release that saw Townes becoming the songwriter revered today. An album full of brilliant original material including “You Are Not Needed Now,” Blue Ridge Mountains,” and “To Live Is To Fly,” it opened eyes and ears to his abilities. His backing band included folks like Larry Carlton—who would play on Joni Mitchell’s Court & Spark, accompany Steely Dan on The Royal Scam (playing that solo we all know and love on “Kid Charlemagne”), and who was a member of Jazz’s elite Crusaders.

High, Low And In Between is—in the end—a classic Townes Van Zandt album. And one that should be reexamined. This gloriously remastered edition will be available on CD, in a digipak with liner notes from award-wining scribe Colin Escott, as well as on 180-gram vinyl—with the first 1,000 pressed on orange colored stock. (Future pressings will be on standard black vinyl).

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt was Townes Van Zandt’s sixth release—hitting the shelves in 1972. It built on the previous year’s High, Low And In Between, adding texture in both song and production. The album is probably best known for “Pancho & Lefty”—the song Emmylou Harris covered for 1977’s Luxury Liner and which Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings would take to the top of the charts in 1983. Full of originals, as well as covers like Hank Williams’ “Honky Tonkin’,” the album was Van Zandt’s perfect storm. With every element in place, it’s arguable that Townes would ever hit this creative height again.

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt might be his masterwork. And, it is a release that should be in every collection of great American music. This beautifully remastered edition will be available on CD, in a digipak with liner notes again from award-wining scribe Colin Escott, as well as on clear, 180-gram vinyl for the first 1,000 pressed. (Future editions will be on standard black vinyl).

 

 
 

Sunshine Boy: The Unheard Studio Sessions & Demos 1971-1972

 
28 previously unissued tracks all drawn from Van Zandt’s most prolific and great period 1971-1972

Unheard Versions of Legendary Songs by One of Our Most Treasured Songwriters!

Great songs and great albums refract you back at yourself. You remember where you were… and who you were… when they inhabited your life. To melodies spun from ancient cloth, he set words that resonate on many levels. He had the storytelling ability of a novelist, the imagery of a poet, and the easy conversationalism of a late-night DJ. In his laconic drawl, it all sounded so effortless, as if the songs were sitting in the ethers waiting to be retrieved. Townes liked to reinforce the idea that his songs were simply waiting for him to raise the antenna, but much of his work is too craftsmanlike to take that seriously.

The art of Townes Van Zandt reveals itself a little at a time. Every hearing brings forth something you can’t believe you missed all the other times, or something that rings even truer today than back when. The alternate versions add an entirely new dimension, like seeing someone you thought you knew so well in a new light. The new songs are simply good to have when it seemed as if the barrel was empty. And so here are more than two hours of Townes Van Zandt—music unheard since the engineer peeled off a little splicing tape to seal the box around forty years ago.