High, Low and In Between
1971 studio album by Townes Van Zandt
High, Low and In Between is the fifth studio album by country singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, released in 1971. The album was recorded in L.A. and showcases what Van Zandt himself considered to be one of his most well-written songs: "To Live Is To Fly".
Recording
High, Low and In Between was cut at Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles with Kevin Eggers returning in the role of producer. The session players included guitarist Larry Carlton, guitarist David Cohen, and bassist Harvey Newmark, while organist Don Randi arranged the music for Van Zandt's eleven new creations. Unlike Van Zandt's previous album Delta Momma Blues, which features very sparse arrangements, High Low and in Between incorporates a folk-rock edge.
Composition
Many of the themes on High, Low and In Between deal with moral dilemmas, with songs that celebrate both the pleasure of sin and the joy of salvation. In the comical "No Deal" the drunken narrator falls in love with a girl who has "barely turned fifteen" and declares if Heaven has no whiskey and women, "I'm gonna take my chances down below and of that you can be sure", while "Highway Kind" is a dark minor key ballad that explores the resigned loneliness of a drifting troubadour, something Van Zandt knew about all too well. These tunes contrast markedly with "Two Hands" and "When He Offers His Hand", a couple of Gospel-infused numbers that celebrate Jesus and the guiding light of God. However, Van Zandt appears to contradict these sentiments again in "You Are Not Needed Now" when he sings, "Heaven ain't bad but you don't get nothin' done." The life-affirming "To Live Is To Fly" is one of Van Zandt's most celebrated works, one that the songwriter himself singled out for praise; in the book To Live's To Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt, biographer John Kruth quotes the singer who confessed, "It's impossible to have a favorite song, but if I were forced at knifepoint to choose one, it would be 'To Live Is To Fly.'" Some have speculated that several of the songs on High, Low and In Between were informed by the murder of Van Zandt's girlfriend Leslie Jo Richards, who was stabbed after being picked up hitchhiking back to Houston from Van Zandt's recording sessions. Although the relationship had nearly run its course, Van Zandt's guitarist Mickey White told biographer John Kruth that the sudden shock of her death left the singer "devastated.
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