Sky Blue (Townes Van Zandt album)
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| Sky Blue | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 7, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | Atlanta, Georgia, 1973 | |||
| Length | 34:11 | |||
| Label | TVZ Records, Fat Possum Records | |||
| Townes Van Zandt chronology | ||||
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Sky Blue is a posthumous album by Texas singer and songwriter Townes Van Zandt, recorded in 1973 but not released until 2019.[1] 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.[2] 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.[1]
Sky Blue consists of 11 previously unreleased recordings, including two tracks which had never been released, "All I Need" and "Sky Blue."[3] The album also features three covers, the traditional folk song "Hills of Roane County", Richard Dobson's "Forever For Always For Certain", and Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind".[4] There are three original tracks which had been released on previous albums; a version of "Blue Ridge Mountains Blues (Smokey Version)" titled simply "Blue Ridge Mountains" first appeared on Townes' 1972 album High, Low, and in Between.[5] Recordings of "Pancho and Lefty" and "Silver Ships of Andilar" had initially appeared on his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt. A recording of "Rex's Blues" was included in Van Zandt's 1977 live album Live at the Old Quarter[6] and on 1978's Flyin' Shoes.[7] "Snake Song" was also released on Flyin' Shoes. "Dream Spider" (as "The Spider Song") would not be released until 1993 as part of The Nashville Sessions, a collection of recordings intended to be on his seventh album, Seven Come Eleven.[4]
Critical reception
Sky Blue received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 10 reviews.[8] Writing for Pitchfork, Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the release a 6.9 out of 10.[2] Jim Allen of NPR considers it a document of Van Zandt's best work.[4] Fred Thomas of the editorial staff of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, with reviewer Fred Thomas writing that "glimmers of brilliance" can be heard on it.[9] In Rolling Stone, Jonathan Bernstein gave the album 3.5 out of five stars.[10] Elisabeth Woronzoff of PopMatters gave it a positive review in light of the artist's enigmatic career,[11] as did Matt Mellis of Consequence.[12]
