For the Sake of the Song was Townes Van Zandt’s first album and the first release on Kevin Eggers’s Poppy Records (PYS-40,001), issued in 1968. Eggers had signed Van Zandt after the producer “Cowboy” Jack Clement played him a 1966 demo of “Tecumseh Valley” recorded in Houston. Clement produced the album with Jim Malloy, and Van Zandt, who had been working coffeehouses and small clubs, travelled to Nashville to make it.
The basic tracks were recorded at Bradley’s Barn in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, on a three-track recorder, with Van Zandt singing and playing live. Overdubs of organ, medieval recorders and harpsichord were added afterwards. Van Zandt later said he was taken off guard by the studio and by the musicians around him, and he re-recorded about four of the eleven songs, among them “Waitin’ Around to Die,” “(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria” and the title song, for his next albums. Clement allowed in later years that he might have overproduced the record. At Clement’s suggestion Van Zandt softened one line of “Tecumseh Valley,” a song about a miner’s daughter named Caroline, because the original might offend. Mickey Newbury wrote the liner notes and Milton Glaser was credited with the art direction and cover design.
The record found little response when it came out, and some of Van Zandt’s friends disliked the production. It was reissued in 1993 as First Album on Tomato through Rhino, and Fat Possum Records brought it back under its original title in 2007.
Tracklist
- 1 For the Sake of the Song 4:47
- 2 Tecumseh Valley alt version 2:43
- 3 Many a Fine Lady 3:53
- 4 Quicksilver Daydreams of Maria 3:41
- 5 Waitin' Around to Die 2:26
- 6 I'll Be Here in the Morning 2:47
- 7 Sad Cinderella 4:43
- 8 Velvet Voices 3:15
- 9 Talkin' Karate Blues 3:07
- 10 All Your Young Servants 2:59
- 11 Sixteen Summers, Fifteen Falls 2:35
