#1 resource for Cigar Box Guitars, Free Plans, How-To, Parts & More!

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.

6 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on June 11, 2012 at 12:38pm

That sound brilliant, Thorsten. I'm excited beyond words to hear these tracks come together. This collaborative musical sharing has been a wonderful experience, long may it continue.

I've finally got some free time tomorrow, so I'll see if I can lay down a vocal for Pancho.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 11, 2012 at 9:13pm

Excellent!

Have I told all of you lately that you are awesome, talented, expressive, gifted, and otherwise incomparable? Because you are! (I know, I sound like a first grade teacher... but I mean every word of it.)

Y'all are teaching me so much with this experience; I can't thank you enough.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by turtlehead on June 12, 2012 at 10:50am

Sounds good. I'm working on it right now and have tonight and tomorrow to devote to it. After that, I'm out of town through the weekend. Could give everyone time to submit tracks and I'll finish it up Monday night if that's OK with Oily.

I've worked out a little slide part, but if you want to go for it, be my guest Thorsten. Your slide playing is much better than mine. If time is a factor and you want to concentrate on the bass part that works too...

For now, I'll do my vocals and slide part and see where we stand.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 12, 2012 at 5:56pm

Turtle,

That works for me. Admittedly, I'm torn between wanting to hear what you guys will do, whcih I know will be outstanding, and wanting toget this finished, packed up, and out the door. I tend to err on the side of "Go ahead, do a little more. But only some." Do your best over the next few days, and try to remember this is just one part of your life, not the whole thing ;-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on June 11, 2012 at 7:56am

um poppa um poppa um poppa mouw mouw Ron were you in the Oak Ridge Boy's. That should cover the low end. Well done Sir. I'll try and do P&L tonight Turtle. Ron is there a song not done yet you want on here, I'm gonna do another one?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 11, 2012 at 7:09pm

RTZ,

Thanks. I used to sing Elvira to my mom (Maria Elvira Andrade y Sprague) just to annoy her.

I always wanted to be the guy in the doo wop groups who sang low end; I was never gonna be a tenor screamer. So I always learned the bass harmonies when I was a kid. Gave me no end of heartache when I had to double for the kid who played Charlie Brown in our 5th grade production of A Charlie Brown Christmas - sucker was a tenor, and our pianist couldn't transpose down, so I had to falsetto my way through it. Agony, both physically and socially. So I'm a big fan of Jim Reeves, the Oak Ridge Boys, barbershop quartets, doo wop, the Four Seasons, Howard Keel, Johnny Cash, Elvis, Jim Morrison, and Crash Test Dummies.

Yeah, go ahead and do another one. Try to pick something from Townes' later period, as we seem to have covered his early-middle stuff pretty well; there's some great songs on his 1995 "comeback" release, No Deeper Blue. Then again, we don't have any of Townes' humorous talking blues numbers yet, either...

That said, I'm kinda gettin' concerned about Voodoo Highway submitting Waitin' Around To Die. I promised it to 'em; but I think any number of y'all could do a cracking great version of it, too.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jim Morris on June 11, 2012 at 1:35pm

Can we listen to any of the submissions? Or do we have to wait for the release party. I just wanta hear if my humble rendition of "Loretta" is close to being up to standards.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Vinylhed on June 11, 2012 at 2:37pm

Jim, if you go back through this forum's pages you'll find all of the songs that that have been submitted so far, apart from those contributions that were sent directly to Oily. I've been putting together an iTunes playlist as folks have submitted their songs,and it sounds great.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 11, 2012 at 6:52pm

Jim,

Yep, I've done the same as Vinyl (kinda have to, since I gotta compile it all ;-) ). We don't have standards, as such (this is Townes we're talkin' about, after all). We do have a wide variety of talent and sounds, and it's all good. I'm not saying that to be kind. It really is all good. Goodness comes in different forms; some of it sounds as slickly produced as anything from a commercial studio, and some of it sounds as raw as yesterday's paper cut. But it's all good.

So submit yer song already, and don't worry about the comparisons. I treasure every single version I've heard so far.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by RTZGUITARS on June 12, 2012 at 11:23am

hey Swampwitch I mean Oily, I could do No Deal I don't know it but that would fill Townes funny side and talkie its a bit close to home for me. Highway Kind and Waiting Round To Die should be on this if voodoo don't show let me know the night before the deadline and i'll get one to you.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on June 12, 2012 at 6:02pm

Just call me Oily Swamp >:-E

Yeah, No Deal is a good one, gofer it if you have time. I'll keep Waitin' Round open for VooDoo until the last minute, then call you.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Letha Allen on June 12, 2012 at 4:16pm

Hi Strat,

I just wanted to get back to you. I really wanted to send in a part or two for Two Hands, but it looks like I just cant seem to find the time this week. Got that new grandson and daughter to take care of, and now a friend is having an operation. I just wanted to let you know...I'll get in there on other projects when things get back to normal. It sounds great, you all keep up the good work!