In Pain
Townes Van Zandt
Engineer: Luc Wouters,
Producer: Townes Van Zandt
Normal, 2002
1 CD
Catalogue #: 225
EAN: 0801925000621
UPC: 801925000621
You save: 20%
Personnel includes: Townes Van Zandt (vocals, guitar); Hans Theessink (guitar); Wolfgang Pracht (slide guitar, dobro).
Recorded live at the Bahnfof Langendreer Club, Bochum, Germany in November 1994 & November 1996; the Starclub, Dresden, Germany, Germany in November 1996; the Muffathalle Club, munich, Germany in November 1995; the Szene Wien Club, Vienna, Austria in November 1996.
The mid-to-late '90s found the walls closing in on renowned country/folk troubadour Van Zandt. As his physical and psychological travails took an ever greater toll on him, his performances became increasingly erratic, sometimes difficult to watch, as he often virtually self-destructed right before one's eyes. Fortunately, the too-appropriately titled IN PAIN--which features various European live performances from '94 to '96--cherry-picks the most intense, rewarding moments from Van Zandt's last haunted years.
The ghosts gaining on the singer's soul give the songs an added weight. The harrowing struggle against existential pain in "Nothin'," written early in Van Zandt's career, seems here like a self-fulfilling prophecy. "You Are Not Needed Now," Townes' ode to the late Janis Joplin, could be his own eulogy, eerily delivered in advance of his passing. Even the tender ballad "Katie Belle Blues," written for Van Zandt's daughter, gains in poignancy given the darkened context in which it appears. There are several live Van Zandt albums, but when it comes to the latter-day ones, IN PAIN is as good as any.
Tracklist
Townes Van Zandt
A songwriter of unprecedented depth, Townes Van Zandt brought to his country/folk offerings a lyrical grace that rivals the great poets. He's best known for dark, haunted imagery, but had his greatest success with others' versions of his gentler songs. His untimely death on New Year's Day 1997 robbed the world of one of its greatest troubadours.
