The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
by Townes Van Zandt

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt by Townes Van Zandt
Year: 1972
Release date: 1972-00-00
Overall rank: 3,874th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 86 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1972 (68th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (651st)
Award Best albums of all time (3,874th)

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Townes Van Zandt bestography

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is ranked 4th best out of 34 albums by Townes Van Zandt on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Townes Van Zandt is Townes Van Zandt which is ranked number 699 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,480.

Townes Van Zandt album bestography « Higher ranked (2,793rd)
Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas
This album (3,874th)
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Lower ranked (7,639th) »
Delta Momma Blues

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Late Great Townes Van Zandt track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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The Late Great Townes Van Zandt rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,874th | 1970s rank: 651st | 1972 rank: 68th

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt collection

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 86 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 86 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !
05/02/2026 23:54 DriftingOrpheus  Ratings distribution  72981/100
 
80/100
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04/16/2026 19:31 AAL2014  Ratings distribution  4,01575/100
 
65/100
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02/20/2026 03:17 Proto  Ratings distribution  4,17533/100
 
75/100
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01/02/2026 19:25 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  14,32070/100
 
75/100
 !
12/21/2025 09:26 Imaybeparanoid  Ratings distribution  7,39671/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.1/100, a mean average of 77.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 78.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.5.

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The Late Great Townes Van Zandt favourites

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The Late Great Townes Van Zandt comments

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Rating:  
95/100
Contrary to the title of this album, Townes van Zandt was very much alive upon its release, but would remain critically unknown until his death in the late 1990s.

The Late Great is a typical excellent album from his heyday recordings of the 1960s and 1970s.

Two of his greatest songs are here: "Pancho and Lefty" and "If I Needed You." Also included is "Houseboat in Heaven," co-written with Susanna Clark, the wife of songwriter Guy Clark, who never recovered after the Van Zandt's tragic death. Van Zandt also covers Guy Clark's "Don't Let the Sunshine Fool Ya." More treats include the Lightnin' Hopkins inspired "German Mustard" and the orchestrated epic "Seven Ships of Altmar."

All but three songs written or co-written by Townes van Zandt.

Career Highlight: Pancho and Lefty
Gems: If I Needed You
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
A fantastic album. It's challenging, intelligent and unknown by most music fans. Mr. Van Zandt was a gifted songwriter that deserves to be heard.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
This album is criminally underrated in TVZ discography. If I Needed You, No Lonesome Tune, Sad Cinderella, are all standouts in his career. Not to mention the first appearance of Pancho and Lefty! Great great album title and cover too
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
A songwriter for songwriters... One of the most underrated albums ever released...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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