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| Flyin' Shoes | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | May 1978 | |||
| Recorded | January 1978 | |||
| Studio | American Studios, Nashville, Tennessee | |||
| Genre | Folk, country | |||
| Length | 33:24 | |||
| Label | Tomato | |||
| Producer | Chips Moman | |||
| Townes Van Zandt chronology | ||||
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Flyin' Shoes is an album by the American musician Townes Van Zandt, released in 1978. [1] It was his first album of original material in five years and was produced by Chips Moman.
Many of the songs that appeared on Flyin' Shoes were originally recorded in 1973 for an album with the working title 7 Come 11. The album was not released, however, due to a dispute between producer Jack Clement and Poppy Records founder Kevin Eggers. As Van Zandt's former manager John Lomax III explains in the 2004 biopic Be Here To Love Me, "That was the sort of missing link in his career. If that had come out right on top of the Late Great, it would've really been a whole other thing but I think Kevin lost the deal so Jack Clement just held on to the tapes."
In the same documentary, Steve Earle confirms that the tapes "got put back into the tape pool because Kevin Eggers didn't pay for them." According to John Kruth's 2007 biography To Live's To Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt, the bad feelings had been festering ever since Clement had requested that Van Zandt alter a potentially offensive line in the song "Tecumseh Valley" for the singer's debut album For the Sake of the Song back in 1968, and that by 1974 Clement and Eggers "had come to a final parting of the ways. Between Kevin's unpaid bills and some of the Cowboy's more questionable production decisions...there was some bad blood behind them. And Van Zandt's dual Jekyll and Hyde personality could turn a shaky situation volatile in a heartbeat."
By all accounts, Van Zandt was extremely frustrated that 7 Come 11 had been held up, with guitarist Mickey White telling director Margaret Brown in 2004 that any hopes they had that the album would come out "were just about gone. Every time we'd try to call Kevin to find out what was going on with it, or try to communicate with him, it was just clear." A short time after the split with Clement, Poppy Records went under, further isolating Van Zandt from the music business.
By 1978, Van Zandt had released no new original material in five years and was living with his second wife Cindy in a cabin in Franklin, Tennessee where, as Earle recalls in Be Here To Love Me, the troubadour spent most of his time listening to Paul Harvey every morning and watching Happy Days. However, the stagnation worsened Van Zandt's drug and alcohol problems, with the singer's son J.T. telling John Kruth in 2007 that his father openly did drugs in front of him when he visited his dad as a boy." 7 Come 11 would finally be released as The Nashville Sessions in 1993.
Flyin' Shoes was recorded at American Studios in Nashville. It was produced by Chips Moman. [2] Moman brought several top session musicians in for the recording, including Gary and Randy Scruggs, Muscle Shoals pianist Spooner Oldham and Irish guitarist Philip Donnelly , who had worked with The Everly Brothers. Van Zandt arrived at the sessions nursing a broken strumming hand from a car wreck. There is a perceptible change in Van Zandt's vocal delivery, which sounds less animated than on his earlier albums. The sessions were delayed for a time when Moman left to be with his wife after she delivered a baby.
The song "Dollar Bill Blues" contains one of the most violent lines Van Zandt ever wrote – "Mother was a golden girl, slit her throat just to get her pearls" – and is one of just a handful of new songs the singer brought to the sessions; the album is composed predominantly of re-recordings of songs initially attempted during the 7 Come 11 sessions. Several of the songs (including "Loretta," "No Place To Fall," "Rex's Blues" and a cover of the Bo Diddley classic "Who Do You Love") initially appeared on Van Zandt's critically acclaimed Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas, which was recorded in 1973 and released in 1977. AllMusic describes "No Place To Fall" as "a teary waltz, a love song that pleads for connection and tries to be seductive, but ultimately succumbs to its own pessimism." The line "Leave these Texas blues behind and see Susanna and Guy" in "Pueblo Waltz" refers to Van Zandt's friends Guy Clark and his wife Susanna. According to biographer John Kruth, "Flyin' Shoes" was written while Van Zandt sat by the Harpeth River, where the Battle of Franklin took place, and the author speculates that he might have been influenced by the nineteenth century gospel tune "Golden Slippers." In the Be Here To Love Me documentary, Van Zandt's second wife Cindy believes the line, "Baby it won't be long till I'll be tyin' on my flyin' shoes" was written about the singer having to leave her to go out on the road.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |   [3] |
Although it was not a commercial success at the time of its release in 1978, Flyin' Shoes has since come to be considered one of Van Zandt's strongest collection of songs, with AllMusic calling it "another stalwart collection from Townes Van Zandt, and not a dud in the bunch. The melodies here are strong, the lyrics full of Van Zandt's razor sharp insight, and the production is sparse and to the point, bringing to mind the inconspicuous polish of High, Low and In Between ." [4] The Boston Globe noted that "Loretta" "is one of the most heartfelt songs ever written about a barmaid." [5] Biographer John Kruth writes in To Live's To Fly that "Townes's delivery is laconic at best. Throughout the album the playing and arrangements are solid, while Van Zandt appears to be lost in a fog of vodka."
Many of the songs on Flyin' Shoes have been covered by other artists. "No Place To Fall" has been recorded by Willy Mason, Steve Earle, Rhonda Harris and Steve Young. A duet of the song featuring Van Zandt and Willie Nelson can also be found on The Best of Townes Van Zandt. Richard Dobson included three songs from Flyin' Shoes for his 1994 tribute album Amigos: Richard Dobson Sings Townes Van Zandt. Ramblin' Jack Elliott recorded "Rex's Blues" as a duet with Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffith for his 1998 album Friends Of Mine, while Guy Clark recorded the song for his 2002 album The Dark. "Snake Song" has been recorded by Fatal Shore on their 1997 self-titled LP; Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan on their 2010 album Hawk; and Emmylou Harris on Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt. "Loretta" was covered by John Prine (on the album Poet: A Tribute to Townes Van Zandt), Jesse Dayton, Will Dupuy, Fort King, Michael Fracasso, and John Guliak, the Stray Birds and the Lougan Brothers. Glory Fountain recorded "Flyin' Shoes" for the album The Beauty of 23 in 2002, and Lyle Lovett covered the song on his 1998 album Step Inside This House.
All songs written by Townes Van Zandt, except where noted.
John Townes Van Zandt was an American singer-songwriter. He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "For the Sake of the Song", "If I Needed You", "Snake Mountain Blues", "Our Mother the Mountain", "Waitin' Round to Die", and "To Live Is to Fly". His musical style has often been described as melancholic and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability.
"Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty", is a song written by American country music singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps his most well-known song, Van Zandt recorded his original version of this song for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. The song has been recorded by several artists since its composition and performance by Van Zandt, with the Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard version selling the most copies and reaching number one on the Billboard country chart. In 2021, the Townes Van Zandt version was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
David Charles Olney was an American folk singer-songwriter. Olney recorded more than twenty albums over his five-decade career. His songs have been covered by numerous artists, including Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, Linda Ronstadt and Steve Earle.
Susanna Talley Clark was an American artist and country/folk songwriter. She was married to Texas singer-songwriter Guy Clark and had a close personal friendship with fellow singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt.
Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas is a double live album by Texas singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. The recording captures Van Zandt in a series of July 1973 performances in an intimate venue Old Quarter. There is a strong critical consensus that this recording is among the most exemplary of Van Zandt's career.
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is a 1972 studio album by American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. It was the second album that he recorded in 1972, and a follow-up to High, Low and In Between.
For the Sake of the Song is the debut album by country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1968. The majority of the songs, including the title track, "Tecumseh Valley", "(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria", "Waitin' Around to Die", and "Sad Cinderella", were re-recorded in more stripped-down versions for subsequent studio albums.
Our Mother the Mountain is the second album by country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1969. It is considered to be one of his greatest recordings and features some of his best known works, including "Be Here To Love Me", "Snake Mountain Blues" and "Our Mother The Mountain".
Townes Van Zandt is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in September 1969 by Poppy Records. It includes re-recordings of four songs from his 1968 debut album, including the first song he ever wrote, "Waitin' Around to Die".
Delta Momma Blues is the fourth album by the country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1971. Unlike his previous albums, which were influenced by Appalachian folk and country music and recorded in Nashville, this album was blues influenced and recorded in New York City.
High, Low and In Between is an album by country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1971. The album was recorded in L.A. and showcases what Van Zandt himself considered to be one of his most well written songs: "To Live Is To Fly".
Together at the Bluebird Café is a live recording of an "in-the-round" concert by three critically acclaimed Texan singer-songwriters, Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. Each alternates between solo performances.
At My Window is an album released by folk/country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt in 1987. This was Van Zandt's first studio album in the nine years that followed 1978's Flyin' Shoes, and his only studio album recorded in the 1980s.
No Deeper Blue is a 1994 studio album by American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. This was Van Zandt's first studio album of original songs in seven years following At My Window and the last to be widely released before his death on New Year's Day 1997.
Live and Obscure is a live album released by folk/country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt in 1987. It was recorded at Twelfth and Porter in Nashville, Tennessee in April 1985.
Townes is the 13th studio album by American singer-songwriter Steve Earle, released in 2009. It is an album on which he pays tribute to his friend and mentor, the late singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt by covering his songs. According to a New West Records press release, "The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to. Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career and others he had to learn specifically for recording.
The Nashville Sessions is an album by American singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, recorded in 1973 but not released until 1993. The tracks were originally recorded for what would have been Van Zandt's seventh album, but was not released until twenty years later due to a dispute between producer Jack Clement and Poppy Records founder Kevin Eggers.
A Far Cry from Dead is a posthumous album by Townes Van Zandt, released two years after the singer's 1997 death. It contains overdubbed instrumentation added to vocal and guitar recordings made by the late singer. It was Van Zandt's first album on a major label.
Sky Blue is a posthumous album by Texas singer and songwriter Townes Van Zandt, recorded in 1973 but not released until 2019. All tracks were recorded in early 1973 at the Atlanta, Georgia, home studio of Bill Hedgepeth, a journalist, musician, and longtime friend of Van Zandt. Its 2019 release was conceived by Townes' surviving family—his wife and literary executor Jeanene, along with his children, J.T., Will, and Katie Bell.
Philip Donnelly was a guitarist, songwriter and producer born in Clontarf, Dublin. Known as the Clontarf Cowboy, he gained international recognition touring and recording with artists such as the Everly Brothers, Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Townes Van Zandt, John Prine and Donovan.
