For the Sake of the Song Townes Van Zandt Artist

{|Townes Van Zandt|} wrote songs with an uncommon grace and poetic clarity, and he sang them with a voice that was at once straightforward, eloquent, and mindful of the arid beauty of his images. A decade after {|Van Zandt|} released his first album,... Read more

{|Townes Van Zandt|} wrote songs with an uncommon grace and poetic clarity, and he sang them with a voice that was at once straightforward, eloquent, and mindful of the arid beauty of his images. A decade after {|Van Zandt|} released his first album, there would be dozens of singer/songwriters following his example, but he was a rather unusual commodity when {|For the Sake of the Song|} was released in 1968, and the album's production and arrangements occasionally suggest that {|Jack Clement|} and {|Jim Malloy|} didn't always know what to make of what he brought them. The 11 songs on {|Van Zandt|}'s debut are all fine stuff (even the throwaway novelty {|Talkin' Karate Blues|} at least brings a chuckle), and the emotional force with which {|Van Zandt|} delivers {|(Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria,|} {|Tecumseh Valley,|} and the title tune belies the fact this was his first album. But on several tracks {|Clement|} and {|Malloy|} attempt to match the elusive mystery of {|Van Zandt|}'s music with overblown accompaniment and deeply echoey recording, especially the cheesy chorus on {|The Velvet Voices,|} the cliched {|Western|} accompaniment of {|I'll Be Here in the Morning,|} the tinkling keyboards on {|Sad Cinderella,|} and the rattling percussion of {|Waitin' Around to Die.|} In spite of the occasionally misguided production, {|For the Sake of the Song|} remains a classic debut. These songs make clear that {|Van Zandt|}'s genius was already fully formed, and as both a composer and a performer he was a man of rare gifts; even when the backing threatens to drown him out, his gifts come shining through, and {|For the Sake of the Song|} was an auspicious debut offering from a talent of the first order. ~ Mark Deming Less