For fans, the release of a new Townes Van Zandt album is like finding one more Dead Sea Scroll or a third tablet with five more Commandments. It’s further guidance in the art of living.
Sky Blue drops on March 7, the date that would have been Van Zandt’s 75th birthday. Recorded in 1973, the 11 songs are lean, spare and soulful with fine displays of flat-picking and heartfelt lyrics. In other words, it’s classic Townes. Early drafts of “Pancho and Lefty” and “Rex’s Blues,” along with some obscure covers, make this an album of previously unreleased material worth owning. But the true gems are two never-before-heard songs—“Sky Blue” and “All I Need”—that add significantly to the singer/songwriter’s legacy.
“All I Need” is another examination of life by a troubled artist trying to make sense of things, while “Sky Blue” paints a lyrical picture of the natural world touched with the artist’s unique vision, summed up in the lyrics:
To me, livin’s’ to be laughin’
In satisfaction’s face
Like I said, classic Townes.
