Free the Poet

Jim Kirlin/www.taylorguitars.com/discovering the indies
One of the compelling qualities of Danzig and Woolley is the distinctive, articulate voice they breathe into each tune.

Product Description:
The Key, (2001) a collaboration of Kevin Danzig & Cat Woolley. Of the three CD's the duo has recorded together, this one is the first under the name "Danzig & Woolley". The evocative power of their music is fueled by warm, impassioned vocals, the crisp rhythmic interplay of Danzig's full bodied guitar with Woolley's bright mandolin, and a vivid lyrical style that delivers tales with twists, coloring them with allegory, humor, and an upbeat spirit.

Free the Poet

Free the Poet,Kevin Danzig,Kevin Danzig,Contemporary Folk,Folk & Traditional,Pop

Average customer rating: sheesh 3-5 stars really, depending on if you are a TVZ fanatic A Great Tribute to America's Poet of Loss and Longing One of the Best I Own! ... that you don't know what you've got 'til he's gone ?

Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt Various Artists Manufacturer: Free Falls Ent. ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music General | Country | Styles | Music Outlaw & Progressive Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Traditional Country | Country | Styles | Music General | Compilations | Country | Styles | Music Contemporary | Bluegrass | Country | Styles | Music General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Compilations | Folk | Styles | Music Singer-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music General | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music Country Folk | Country | Indie Music | Stores | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Similar Items: Live at the Jester Lounge: Houston, Texas 1966 Rear View Mirror, Vol. 2 At My Window A Gentle Evening with Townes Van Zandt Legend ASIN: B00005NT3S Release Date: 2001-09-11

Tracks:

1. To Live's To Fly - Guy Clark
2. Tower Song - Nanci Griffith
3. White Freightliner Blues - Billy Joe Shaver
4. Highway Kind - Cowboy Junkies
5. Snake Song - Emmylou Harris
6. If I Needed You - Ray Benson
7. Loretta - John Prine
8. Nothin' - Lucinda Williams
9. Blue Wind Blew - The Flatlanders
10. Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold - Robert Earl Keen
11. Two Girls - Steve Earle And The Dukes
12. Marie - Willie Nelson
13. Pancho & Lefty - Delbert McClinton
14. Waitin' 'Round To Die - Pat Haney
15. My Proud Mountains - John T. Van Zandt

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

The songs of Townes Van Zandt are destined to be for folk artists what the works of Gershwin are to saloon singers. The likes of "Pancho & Lefty," "If I Needed You," and "To Live's to Fly" are the quintessence of troubadour music, thanks to the somber grace of the late Lone Star legend's language and the engaging simplicity of his melodies. Poet gathers a talented assortment of Van Zandt contemporaries and apostles to pay tribute to the man by lovingly reinterpreting his songs. Steve Earle electrifies "Two Girls" while Billy Joe Shaver tackles "White Freightliner Blues" with similar fervor. "Tower Song," one of the most poignant breakup songs ever written, is revived by Nanci Griffith, and Willie Nelson provides a conversational version of "Marie." Stalwart fans of these gems will always prefer hearing the originals and live versions performed by their composer, but they'll find plenty to respect and enjoy in this lovingly compiled salute. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

sheesh.......2007-06-21

Somebody stole mine and I just came back online to get it again and it's out of print and expensive as all get out. OK, it's also worth it, but . . .

3-5 stars really, depending on if you are a TVZ fanatic.......2006-04-10

If you have listened to TVZ do his own music exclusively, nothing really will ever compare, and this album may never rise to those expectations. But it will still be a good album for you, one to have for your collection.

But if you like a lot of these other artists from previous work as well as TVZ, this is a great album. After a couple of listens, I have come to like the Cowboy Junkies interpretation the best. It is the most different from the original, but I don't buy these kinds of albums to hear karaoke. The best way to do cover songs is through your own interpretation, not imitation. This is a very good album on those terms.

A Great Tribute to America's Poet of Loss and Longing.......2003-12-12

This tribute to Townes Van Zandt could not be more accurately titled: POET. The songs selected for this compilation prove as thoughtfully chosen as the artists who contribute, each emphasizing the power and beauty of TVZ's verse. He is America's greatest poet of loss and longing, as this recording makes apparent. There are few and very minor disappointments here: Cowboy Junkies and Robert Earl Keen offer interesting but ultimately uninspired versions of HIGHWAY KIND and MR. MUDD & MR. GOLD, versions that pale when compared to the originals. Billy Joe Shaver and Pat Haney, on the other hand, virtually seem to channel TVZ on WHITE FREIGHTLINER BLUES and WAITIN' 'ROUND TO DIE respectively, failing, perhaps, to make the songs their own, but capturing the spirit and heart of the originals beautifully. As I write, I listen to Steve Earle's terrific rendition of one my favorite TVZ songs, TWO GIRLS. It occurs to me that Earle gets the balance of this great tune just right, making it his own, while honoring the original. For my tastes, the stand-outs here are by Guy Clark, John Prine, Lucinda Williams, and Willie Nelson. Each of these artists, much like TVZ himself, have voices that could break your heart just reading the phone book. Clark's lovely TO LIVE'S TO FLY, in particular, can leave me blubbering with just a casual listen: "It's goodbye to all my friends/It's time to go again/But think on all the poetry/And pickin' down the line." The respect and love each of these artists feels for both Townes and his work proves evident in every line, every chord. A brief introduction by Susanna Clark (excerpted from the book, SONG BUILDER) reads like a great American short story. Nothing could be more appropriate for a collection like this. With an ouvre like that of Townes, of course, there are bound to be omissions, songs that we know should have but didn't make the cut; let's hope for a sequel.

One of the Best I Own!.......2003-10-11

This is one of the all-time best CDs I own. I discovered Townes through other artists and through soundtracks -- smatterings here and there that lead me to the gradual realization that he was one of my favorite songwriters. Frankly, I think he's a better songwriter than almost anyone, but a better songwriter than he is a performer as well -- and this album may prove me right. From John Prine's sweet, lazy cover of "Loretta" to Emmy Lou's chilling rendition of "Snake Song" -- pure folky golk. Guy Clark's cover of "To Live's To Fly" beats the Cowboy Junkies' cover (and I LOVE when they do it). There isn't a single track on this album that I don't jones for when I leave it out of the CD changer for a few days. There's a reason the used copies are so expensive!

... that you don't know what you've got 'til he's gone ?.......2002-08-29

I suspect -- and hope -- that this CD will bring the powerful songs of TVZ to a wider audience. While Townes was the quintessential "songwriter's songwriter", his recordings never reached the wider audience enjoyed by some of the artists represented on 'Poet' .

Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and John Prine -- all heard here-- are household names by comparison. If you like these artists, I would encourage you to give this album a listen. In the past several years I have been fortunate to hear these three artists in live performance, as well as Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith, Delbert McClinton, Steve Earle, and the Flatlanders. Besides being on 'Poet', what do all of these terrific artists have in common ? Each one of them at some point in their performance said (more or less), "Now we're going to play one for Townes." Anyone who commands that degree of respect in this company deserves a wider audience.

Notable cuts: If there was ever a blacker song written than "Marie", I've never heard it. (Who else could write, "she just rolled over and went to Heaven, with my little boy safe inside" ?) Willie Nelson gives it a powerful, minimalist treatment here. Nanci Griffith sometimes sets my listening ear on edge, but she absolutely nails "Tower Song" here. Maybe I have heard Guy Clark too often in live performance to be objective, but the emotional undercurrents in "To Live is to Fly" are quite moving. Bravo to Lucinda Williams for "Nothing".

Not so notable: Townes' most widely known song, "Pancho and Lefty", is covered frequently, often badly. Delbert McClinton continues that tradition here. Cuts by the Cowboy Junkies and Robert Earl Keene are forgettable.

If you're not familiar with the music of TVZ, this is a terrific introduction by some artists you probably do know. Then treat yourself to the original with "Live at the Old Quarter" (young Townes) and "Rear View Mirror" (Townes sounding nearly bone-tired).

... and if you appreciate TVZ's music, then start listening to Guy Clark, Townes' longtime friend and traveling partner. He's another songwriting master who is still with us. Let's not let another treasure slip away under-appreciated.

Average customer rating: Essential

Voices, Vol. 3: The Gift to be Free Manufacturer: Black Box Classics ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD All Works by Copland | Copland, Aaron | ( C ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Chamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music Vocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music General | Keyboard | Instruments | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music ASIN: B0000AHEBE Release Date: 2003-09-23

Tracks:

1. The Boatmen's Dance
2. The Dodger
3. Long Time Ago
4. Simple Gifts
5. I Bought Me A Cat
6. Nature, The Gentlest Mother
7. There Came A Wind Like A Bugle
8. Why Do They Shut Me Out Of Heaven?
9. The World Feels Dusty
10. Heart, We Will Forget Him
11. Dear March, Come In!
12. Sleep Is Supposed To Be
13. When They Come Back
14. I Felt A Funeral In My Brain
15. I've Heard An Organ Talk Sometimes
16. Going To Heaven!
17. The Chariot
18. NIGHT (Aaron Schaffer)(1918)
19. POET'S SONG (EE Cummings)(1927)
20. PASTORALE (Translated From The Kafristan By E Power Mathys)(1921)
21. Freely Poetic
22. Soft And Languid
23. Muted And Sensuous
24. With Bounce
25. The Little Horses
26. Zion's Walls
27. The Golden Willow Tree
28. At The River
29. Ching-A-Ring Chaw

Customer Reviews:

Essential.......2004-02-02

Everything about this album is wonderful -- Copland's music, the fruity and enormously moving soprano voice of Susan Chilcott, the exquisite performance by accompanist Iain Burnside, the ample and resonant acoustic of the recording itself. This is probably the best recording the Copland's songs ever made. Chilcott's death from cancer a year after this recording was made make the experience of listening to it even more poignant than it already is on its own terms. But on its own terms it is astonishingly beautiful. Recommended reading: Judith Malafronte's marvelous account of the wonders in this recording, in the February 2004 issue of "Opera News."

Average customer rating:

Free the Poet Kevin Danzig Manufacturer: Kevin Danzig ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Styles | Music Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music Folk Rock | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music ASIN: B00002EPW7 Release Date: 1999-12-14

Tracks:

1. You're Gonna Love Me Again
2. Thick
3. The Great Mississippi
4. Free The Poet
5. Vagabond
6. Crow's Feet
7. Purgatory
8. Communion
9. Troubadour
10. I've Got a Crazy Life
11. Full Speed Ahead
12. Yo-Yo
13. Beatle Bob
14. Peace To Us All
15. Birds of Paradise

Album Description

The Key, (2001) a collaboration of Kevin Danzig & Cat Woolley. Of the three CD's the duo has recorded together, this one is the first under the name "Danzig & Woolley". The evocative power of their music is fueled by warm, impassioned vocals, the crisp rhythmic interplay of Danzig's full bodied guitar with Woolley's bright mandolin, and a vivid lyrical style that delivers tales with twists, coloring them with allegory, humor, and an upbeat spirit.

Average customer rating:

Funky Teacher Manufacturer: Stan Williams ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General | R&B | Styles | Music General | Soul | R&B | Styles | Music ASIN: B000CA3MVW Release Date: 2004-05-04

Average customer rating:

Music from Vienna Manufacturer: Novalis ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Polkas | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music Waltzes | Ballets & Dances | Classical | Styles | Music General | Lehár, Franz | ( L ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Strauss Jr., Johann | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music All Works by Josef Strauss | Strauss, Josef | ( S ) | Featured Composers, A-Z | Classical | Styles | Music Romantic | Symphonies | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music General | Classical | Styles | Music ASIN: B000059QBD Release Date: 2004-05-25

Tracks:

1. Overture to the Operetta "Poet and Peasent"
2. Hereinspaziert - Waltz from the Operetta "Der Schmeister"
3. Jagd-Galopp
4. Gold and Silver, Waltz Op.79
5. Donauwellen - Waltz
6. Flieger - Marsch
7. Dorfkinder - Waltz
8. Florentiner March
9. Skaters - Waltz Op. 183

Tracks:

1. Schatz - Walzer Op. 418
2. Gruss Aus terreich - Polka Mazurka Op.359
3. Auf Ferienresisen - Polka Schnell Op.133
4. Accelerationen - Waltz Op.234
5. Aus Der Ferne - Polka Mazurka Op.322
6. Freikugeln - Polka Schnell Op.326
7. Im Krapfenwald'l - Polka Franse Op.449
8. Transactionen - Waltz Op.184
9. Neue Pizzikato - Polka - Polka Franse Op.449
10. Adamira - Polka Schnell Op.76
11. Stadt und Land - Polka Mazurka Op.322
12. Dynamiden - Waltz Op. 173

Music Album:

1. Further Along
2. Further Horizons
3. Glow
4. God's Love
5. Hands Hearts & Voices
6. Haneirot Halalu: A Home Celebration Of Chanukah
7. Harbour
8. Heartbreak Hill [Original recording remastered] [Import]
9. Heavy Petting [Import]
10. High Mileage Soul

Music Album