Live at the Old Quarter

Recorded over 5 steamy Texas nights in July 1973 at Wrecks Bell’s Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe in Houston, TX. (This location shut down and Wrecks moved down to Galveston to a “new” OQAC. Sadly, Hurricane Ike destroyed the uninsured saloon in 2008)

These two sets show a sober, lucid Townes playing his songs how they are best served… just the man and his guitar. The significance of these nights wasn’t lost on the crowd. They stood shoulder to shoulder in the small, sweltering bar (with the noisy air-conditioners shut off) in pin-drop silent admiration. Townes was even compelled to say that it was the quietest he’d ever heard it there.

Sprinkled with his dry-humor jokes and awkward stage banter, Townes delivers 26 songs in a clear, beautiful, stripped-down, way that showcases the poignant lyrical wizardry (and often profound sadness) of these compositions. He puts down definitive versions of some of his best tunes here. This album would be a great introduction to his work for the uninitiated. It has literally changed my life.