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Townes Van Zandt CBG Tribute Album - Your Submissions needed

Hey, y'all!

Townes Van Zandt (1944 - 1997) was a Texas singer-songwriter-poet, whose music has touched a deep chord (pun intended) amongst many of us here at CBN. No, he's not related, except perhaps very distantly, to those other musical Van Zandt boys many of us also love. Townes was hailed, back in 1985 by none other than another gifted songwriter, Steve Earle, as "the greatest songwriter in the world, and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that!" Whether or not you agree with ol' Steve, there is a deep knowledge of the blues, heartache, pain and melancholy in Townes' songs. For those of you unfamiliar with his work, please visit his estate's website to get to know him better (all proceeds go to support his children and his second wife, Jeanene):

https://townesvanzandt.com/

Several of us here at CBN (myself, Uncle John, Turtlehead, and maybe some others I haven't seen or heard - I know the owner of Diamondbackguitarshop and beStillroy are also huge fans) have done videos of us playing our versions of Townes' songs, many of which came out nearly 40 years ago. We realized that the CBG may be the perfect instrument on which to reinterpret and breathe new life into Townes' songs. In fact, we've been kicking the idea around in the Comment section of Uncle John's video rendition of "Flying Shoes" for the last coupla weeks (check it out), and came up with the idea for a tribute album, using only CBGs (I know, I know: Townes never played one, to my knowledge, and I and perhaps many others of you learned "Pancho and Lefty" on a 6-stringer, but still...).

So, if you're still with me, we're looking for MP3 submissions from those who play Townes' songs, wanna try 'em on CBG, may have never heard of him but like what they hear - any and all are welcome. His catalogue is pretty deep, so I'd like to lay claim to "If I Needed You" right here, right now! (hmmm. Jesus Jones...nah) ;-) We're also looking for someone willing to create some original cover art. The idea behind this is not to make money. We wouldn't want to charge for these songs or this album. We just wanna get 'em out to the larger CBN audience. As currently envisioned, it would be of a similar nature to the free download Robert Johnson tribute album, or the various CBN Christmas albums. It is not designed to detract from, or compete with, the Blues Album Dan Sleep is currently putting together for CBN, which many of us here are also contributing to. All we ask, like the judges on American Idol, is that you make your submitted TVZ song your own.

For those who are interested, you can add MP3 files using the Attach Files or Upload Files link at the bottom left to this Discussion. Record 'em however y'all feel comfortable: lo-fi, hi-fi, wi-fi, or in-fi, doesn't matter. You can PM me here at CBN for any offline technical or otherwise discussions. I will, eventually, get back to you.

Tags: CBGs, Townes, Van, Zandt, tribute

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 16, 2012 at 1:22am

RTZ,

The deadline's still there. We've just gone past it >:-E

Sure, go ahead. I know that you want your versions to sound as good as they can, because you truly care about how these songs make you feel, and how that comes across (I could say that about every submission so far, too). Thorsten and Turtle are still working on arrangements through Monday, anyway. I've gotta redo Billy, Boney and Ma because I came up with a kewl way to play it on 12-string acoustic yesterday, with some CBG slide overlaid; also I can get some mando riffs out of the 12 that seem to work.

Looking forward to your revised versions. But there is a hard deadline coming. With over 4700 page views, the natives are getting restless...

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten Hinrichsen on June 16, 2012 at 1:30am

And here it is - TWO HANDS.

Attachments:

TVZTribute-TWO_HANDS_Final Mix.mp3, 4.3 MB

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 16, 2012 at 1:48am

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Profane Heaters!

Thorsten, excellent work! Sounds like we're all at that great big backyard barbecue in the sky.;-) Nice additional riffage, and I really like the a capella refrain at the end.

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Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on June 16, 2012 at 9:11am

This was John's idea and it's fitting that he starts it off don't know if that was intentional or not Thorsten but good job you got everyone involved. With what you had to work with you did well. It does sound more like a Bar full of drunks then a Baptist Church which I'm sure we can all agree is fine . I like the ending too Thanks Thorsten.

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten Hinrichsen on June 16, 2012 at 3:21pm

I'm glad you like it. I had three singers for the verses so I gave every singer one verse (with some harmony). I left the "verse singers" out for the first chorus that people can here each voice once clearly (UJ left, Louise Center and Ron right). looking forward to the whole album now...

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Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on June 16, 2012 at 6:28pm

Yeah, that's how we roll. Ramshackle, but soulful.
Thank you,Thorsten, for putting the time into assembling the track, you've done an amazing job. I also love the a cappella bit at the end, it's a nice touch.

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Permalink Reply by Thorsten Hinrichsen on June 17, 2012 at 5:58pm

Thank you, Hedley - and thanks for the vocal tracks. Thanks to everybody who submitted parts for Two Hands - it was fun to make that puzzle.

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Permalink Reply by Cris Portillo Jr. on June 16, 2012 at 4:23pm

Oily,

I just wanted to make sure you got my email with the tracks

Thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 17, 2012 at 3:00am

Cris,

You mean these? >:-E

Attachments:

Don't Take It Too Bad.MP3, 2.9 MB
Fare Thee Well Miss Carousel.MP3, 4.8 MB

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 17, 2012 at 3:03am

And these? ;-)

Attachments:

Waitin' Around To Die.MP3, 3.7 MB
When She's Acting That Way 2.MP3, 4.5 MB

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Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on June 18, 2012 at 2:05am

These are all great, Waitin sound a little bit like Tom Waits version with a cleaner voice. All of them are cool

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 17, 2012 at 9:20am

Hey, y'all!

4 new late submissions, including a Waitin' Round To Die that is totally different from RTZ's (which iffen he does'nt get in a replacement soon, we'll just have to keep. >:-E I dig 'em both!).

Anyhoo, this is to announce the final final no-excuses-even-for-me submission deadline of June 25, 2012. It's whipcrackin' time!

Voodoo Highway, Mr. C, Turkeychicken, and anyone else out there thinking of submitting a Townes tune, if you're out there checking e-mails, pull up yer boots / underwear / fashionable sunglasses and git after it!

Otherwise, you'll miss out on the apre's-release kudos, awards shows, free beer / drugs / guitar porn, and gimme caps.