Van Zandt, Townes / Guy Clark / Steve Earle / John Hiatt / Steve Young

Vinyl Records and Rare LPs:

Heartworn Highways
New - LP - DIV 016
Sealed 2009 2LP 180gm Gatefold Vinyl. “The Breathtaking Sound Quality Is A Credit To Restoration Engineer Alan Silverman. What Is Here Is A Vintage Treasure Trove Of The Then-Emerging Singer/Songwriter Movement From The (Mostly) American South. What Is Most Important To Note Is That These Performances Were Recorded For The Documentary; They Are Not Licensed Recordings From A Catalog. Some Of The Artists Included Here Are No Longer With Us, But Their Performances (E.G., Townes Van Zandt's "Waitin' 'Round To Die" And "Pancho And Lefty," Gamble Rogers' "Charlie's Place" And "The Black Label Blues") Are Chilling And Top-Notch. Yet, They Are In Context Because These Infromal Performances Are Stunning Throughout. Some Of The Truly Notable Ones Are By Songwriters Who Are Not Well Known Even Now Among The General Populus — For Example, The Great Steve Young, Who Decided On Deeply Moving Covers Of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" Along With His Own "Alabama Highway". Young Is The Guy Who Wrote "Seven Bridges Road," "Lonesome, On'ry And Mean" (The Anthem Of Waylon's Outlaw Movement That Didn't Include Him—Though, Who Was An Outlaw Long Before It Became A Marketing Concept)—And His "Montgomery In The Rain." Guy Clark Is Heard On Five Cuts, Three Of Them Well Known, But "Ballad Of Laverne And Captain Flint" Makes It Too. Other Writers Here Include David Allan Coe And John Hiatt, Both Of Whom Originally Hailed From The Midwest. Hearing Coe In This Setting Is Especially Rewarding, Almost Separated From His Bullshit Image, Just Playing And Singing His Utterly Moving Songs, Especially "I Still Sing The Old Songs," Done With Only An Acoustic Guitar. This Is A Timeless Collection That Truly Stands On Its Own Whether Or Not You Saw The Film In 1981 (Now On DVD). It's A No-Jive Set Of Songwriters Doing What They Do Best Away From The Hype, The Myth-Making, And The Self-Destructive Impulses That Have Plagued Many Of Them.” – Thom Jurek, All Music Guide more