Townes Van Zandt's 'Sky Blue' Offers Insight Into A Mercurial Mind At His Prime

Townes Van Zandt's 'Sky Blue' Offers Insight Into A Mercurial Mind At His Prime Enlarge this image toggle caption John Lomax III/Courtesy of the artist John Lomax III/Courtesy of the artist Note: NPR's First Listen audio comes down after the album is released. Lots of people would have loved to take a peek inside Townes Van Zandt's head for a moment, if only to understand the workings of the troubled songwriting genius' mind. After 1972's milestone The Late Great Townes Van Zandt, he wouldn't release another record for six years and his output would trickle worryingly close to a halt thereafter, until his death in 1996. Van Zandt reprises two diametrically opposed tunes from his then-recent record The Late Great Townes Van Zandt: "Silver Ships of Andilar" and "Pancho and Lefty."