‘High’ Shows Van Zandt’s Talent, Vision

**** TOWNES VAN ZANDT

“High, Low and In Between”

EMI

Van Zandt is one of many excellent folk/country singer-songwriters from the ‘60s and ‘70s who still haven’t found a mass following but whose reputations among other artists is immense.

Leslie Berman’s liner notes for this album offer one colorful example: Steve Earle declaring he thinks so much of Van Zandt’s material that he would “stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots” and tell him that Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the world.

It’s a grand exaggeration, but Earle probably figures it’s worth it if it helps draw attention to Van Zandt’s work. Part of EMI Records’ new “Acoustic Highway” series, this single-disc collection, 22 songs from two of Van Zandt’s early-’70s albums, is a handy starting point.

Van Zandt, who now lives in Tennessee and still performs occasionally, had such an eclectic and original style when he started out in Texas in the late ‘60s that he variously was called a folk, a country and even a blues artist.

Though his melodies have a warm, seductive feel, the heart of Van Zandt’s artistry is his lyrics, which are characterized by imaginative images and a wholly personal perspective.

His classic “Poncho & Lefty,” included here, is about lost dreams and personal destiny and is as pure and seemingly effortless as the wind. Emmylou Harris sang it on her “Luxury Liner” album in 1977 and Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard’s duet version was a No. 1 country single in 1983.

Nothing else on this album quite matches the magic of that song, but there is something in almost every tune that makes you admire the range of Van Zandt’s talent and the wonder in his vision.

In “Greensboro Woman,” one of the few songs you’ll ever hear about a musician not accepting the favors of the road, Van Zandt explains gently that he is devoted to someone at home. In “To Live Is to Fly,” he sings about restlessness and desire in ways that reflect on the passage of time, and opportunities lost and found:

Days up and down they come

Like rain on a conga drum.

Forget most, remember some . . .

And nothing is too much to bear

Where you’ve been is good and gone.

All you keep is the getting there.

A striking artist.

*

** Gordon Lightfoot, “Sunday Concert--Live,” EMI. Lightfoot is a folk/country songwriter from the ‘60s and ‘70s who remains underrated even though he, unlike Van Zandt, has enjoyed considerable commercial success. Despite acclaim in his native Canada, Lightfoot was looked upon with suspicion by much of the folk crowd in this country because his music seemed a bit too polished amid the raw ‘60s folk aesthetic.

That’s partly because Lightfoot had some formal music training; his music, both in its structure and arrangements, often reflects that discipline and melodic purity. His best songs--both on United Artists, for whom this live set was recorded, and later on Reprise--are marvelously appealing exercises, some of which were recorded by such artists as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Waylon Jennings and even Barbra Streisand. Among the UA gems: “Early Morning Rain,” “For Lovin’ Me” and the epic “Canadian Railroad Trilogy.”

There is evidence of Lightfoot’s craft in this package, another in the “Acoustic Highway” series, but the song selection is spotty (of the three songs cited, only “Trilogy” is included). Better Lightfoot choices are available.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).