Rear View Mirror

Rate It! Avg: 4.5 (185 ratings)
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Rear View Mirror album cover
Album Information

Total Tracks: 17   Total Length: 57:35

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Andy Beta

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Andy Beta has written about music and comedy for the Wall Street Journal, the disco revival for the Village Voice, animatronic bands for SPIN, Thai pop for the ...more »

04.22.11
Stripped-back versions of Van Zandt classics
Label: TVZ Records / Fat Possum

Ever since a heart attack on New Year's Day in 1997 (44 years to the day of his idol Hank Williams'death) laid Townes Van Zandt in his grave, a steady stream of archival tapes continues to surface. Some reveal the Texas singer-songwriter was already among the walking dead, pickled from alcohol abuse and other unmentionables (see the doc Be Here to Love Me for the lurid escapades), while 1969's Live at Carnegie Hall found him downright frisky. Rear View Mirror stems from 1990, when Townes was re-addressing the often stilted studio performances of his best-known songs, stripping standards like “Lungs” and “Flyin'Shoes” back down to guitar and voice in front of a rapt audience. Guitarist Danny Rowland and fiddler Owen Cody back Van Zandt to varying effect. While Cody deftly emphasizes the harrowing phrases on "Tecumseh Valley," his sawing all but overshadows "Pancho & Lefty," burying both singer and song in the mix.

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One of my top 5

DjayBuddha

This album is undoubtedly in my all time top 5 Townes at his best..Singing his songs live and from a deep place within his tortured soul. Only 2 songwriters I know come before Townes IMHO Martin Stephenson and Steph Macleod very different styles from Townes but they both have that magic that Townes had..

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Must be Missing Something

chanthing

After reading all the rave reviews of this legendary singer-songwriter, I figured I'd start with this sample. For whatever reason, I don't see what the fuss is all about. In my opinion, nothing here even comes close to the best of Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Glen Hansard, James McMurtry... I'll never try to argue someone out of loving the work of an artist they admire, but the allure of Townes Van Zandt will remain a mystery to me.

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Got Me Hooked

Cubbies4e

This is the first Townes album i had ever heard. And I was shocked when I heard it. Shocked that I had never heard this amazing song writer before. In short time, he became my all time favorite artist. Get this album if you're remotely interested in folk, country, or anything in between. One side note- though i can't confirm it, the review states this is from 1990. I have some of his records from that time and his voice on this record sounds nothing like that period. This seems like closer to being recorded in the mid 70's i'd say.

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GREAT! But not his best...

pcahern

This is a pretty damn great. I prefer a good live Townes recording to most of his studio stuff, and this is one of the better ones for sure. However Live At The Old Quarter is still FAR AND AWAY his best recording in my opinion. I'd put that recording in the top few country albums ever put to tape (and yes, I consider Townes to be 100% pure country, even though they stick him in the Folk section at the store.)

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Outstanding! You need this!

arntzville

This is my favorite Townes Van Zandt record, hands down, and that's really saying something considering his consistent high-quality output. The sound is much more rounded out, and the performances stronger, than on his more famous double-disc "Live at the Old Quarter." Van Zandt was an amazing songwriter and an outstanding performer, and this is an excellent place to start checking him out. His live shows were always stronger than his studio stuff, and this one is the best! If you want to check out a few tracks first, try "To Live Is To Fly," "Pancho & Lefty," "Dollar Bill Blues," and "Tecumseh Valley."

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Go to Townes on this one

Addict

There are many cases where the reviewer hype has more to do with thirst for new material than objective assessment based on repeated listening, but this has all the qualities of "Old Quarter" but with more interesting arrangements, and a certain undefinable touch which transcends the music above most other recordings of TVZ. Get It.

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the best Townes album

grimli

I do not know why the quality of the live performances are so good on this disc. Whereas on other Townes discs finding the genius of the man sometimes requires some imagination (although I always like him), this recording blows me away. You can't help but be moved. There is a stillness and a strength in Townes' presentation of what have always been great songs.

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Songwriters' songwriter

NW-Yankee

This live album showcases TVZ's unique strengths, without any of the fake hoopla or banter of your typical live album. The feel of this album is that of one of the era's best songwriters just out there working his craft, and the effect is both simple and timeless.

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you need this

Verdunguy

Townes Van Zandt is a legend, and when there's a legend you haven't heard, it's easy to write it off as hype. This man was everything his fans say he was. He had a strangely lonesome voice that could take an ordinary song and make it affect you (a voice very different from Johnny Cash, but as moving). Only these songs aren't ordinary country. Combine the voice with his superb songwriting and you have this recording - a must-have.

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The best Townes album you can get

redunderwear

This was the first TVZ record I heard and nothing since has been able to match it. These live recordings capture the power of Townes' songs in a way that his studio recordings couldn't. This is one of my top five albums of all time without a doubt so download it and give Townes the respect he deserves.

Recommended Albums

They Say All Music Guide

In 1990, Townes Van Zandt was working on a three-CD retrospective for which he was re-recording much of his repertoire. That album never appeared, but in 1993, the tiny Austin-based Sundown label released Rear View Mirror, a 17-track album running nearly 58 minutes and containing newly recorded versions of Van Zandt songs dating back to 1968. Though a cover note claims “unique instrumentation,” that seems to consist of only of an occasional second guitar and a fiddle. (Sparse applause indicates the recording had been made in a club.) Many of Van Zandt’s best-known songs are included — “Pancho & Lefty,” “If I Needed You,” “To Live Is to Fly,” “Tecumseh Valley,” and others — and while this is not the best set of recordings of those songs, the tendency of Van Zandt’s albums to go out of print might mean this is the only one you would find in your nearest record bin, in which case the album is highly recommended. – William Ruhlmann

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