RARE 68 1st TOWNES VAN ZANDT SAKE OF SONG Cohen Dylan

$

47

 *** ATTENTION!***

Please carefully read our entire listing to answer any questions you may have,  including discount shipping rates at end of listing; then contact us directly with any other information you may need. 

RARE 1968 FIRST ALBUM                            

          Townes Van Zandt

     For The Sake Of The Song

                      ...USA - POPPY RECORDS - 40,001

Original 1968 first pressing vinyl of the very first album by Townes Van Zandt, labeled as a cult musician: though he had a small and devoted fanbase, he never had a successful album or single, and even had difficulty keeping his recordings in print. Because of his under achievements like these, the bulk of his life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms, backwoods cabins and on friends' couches.  Van Zandt was notorious for his drug addictions, alcoholism, and his tendency to tell tall tales. When young, he was diagnosed with manic depression, and insulin shock therapy erased much of his long-term memory...

For those of us who discovered Townes Van Zandt\ late, after he'd already reaped the damages of his life, the image is seared into our collective memory. In his latter days, Van Zandt's impossibly thin frame had weathered to the point that he looked like the fates had left him alive out of spite. Years of travelling, hard living, and an addictive streak had taken their toll, but he never lost touch with the crucible of experience and emotion that had fueled his songs from the beginning. His last performances were reportedly so full of emotion that several ended short with Van Zandt wracked by pain and emotion.

Right out of the gate with 1968's For the Sake of the Song, Van Zandt already held several signature songs in hand -- "Tecumseh Valley", "Many a Fine Lady", and "Waiting Around to Die", and the title track -- but it's a wonder he got the chance to record any more. For the Sake of the Song may be a product of its time, when a specific "Nashville Sound" was no less entrenched than it is today. The first half contains the original versions of tunes that would appear in re-arranged form on his second and third albums. "Sad Cinderella" would be re-recorded on 1973's THE LATE GREAT TOWNES VAN ZANDT. The balance of this recording features tunes that languished in limbo for decades until this reissue. The over-production that cropped up occasionally on Van Zandt's early albums reached its nadir early here (the opening of "The Velvet Voices" sounds for all the world like a grand Moody Blues arrangement), but it doesn't obscure the budding brilliance of the young singer-songwriter. "Talkin' Karate Blues" is the first recorded example of Townes' dry wit, and "Sixteen Summer, Fifteen Falls" is an effective, stately ballad. Anyone interested in the beginnings of one of America's finest songwriters will want this.

1. "For the Sake of the Song"
2. "Tecumseh Valley"
3. "Many a Fine Lady"
4. "(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria"
5. "Waiting Around to Die"
6. "I'll Be There in the Morning"
7. "Sad Cinderella"
8. "The Velvet Voices"
9. "Talkin' Karate Blues"
10. "All Your Young Servants"
11. "Sixteen Summers, Fifteen Falls"
    

CONDITION: The cover: overall solid, stiff on front & back cover.  The VG+ grade from only light shelf wear on front, more on back. There is a small delete drill at bottom left and light spine rub. Still the 42 year old relic is collectible and no soft from over use anywhere, the light shelf wear from being left in the bins, forgotten until the explosion of buer interest in recent years... 

The vinyl: shiny on both sides...visually VG+ as looking closely there are some few little small hairlines, but nothing at all strong, or that would cause listening distraction. Expect play grade (near excellent) to be enjoyable beginning to end.

keeper!

     A  GREAT ADDITION TO ANYONE'S COLLECTION !

SEE: SELLERS OTher items for similar cool sounds for "head" people...

EFFICIENT/CAREFUL GRADING

All imperfections are noted both cover & record