The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (studio album)
by Townes Van Zandt

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt by Townes Van Zandt
Year: 1972
Overall rank: 4,322nd   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 81 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1972 (76th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (733rd)
Award Best albums of all time (4,322nd)

Listen on Spotify Spotify
Product Details
Availability

eBay
eBay
Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt [New CD]
Condition: Brand New


eBay
eBay
Townes Van Zandt - The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Condition: Brand New


eBay
eBay
Townes Van Zandt The Late Great Townes Van Zandt Promo (Punched) CD 2003 Tomato
Condition: Good


  My favourite store:  

Townes Van Zandt bestography

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is ranked 4th best out of 33 albums by Townes Van Zandt on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Townes Van Zandt is Townes Van Zandt which is ranked number 730 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,391.

Townes Van Zandt album bestography « Higher ranked (2,564th)
Live At The Old Quarter, Houston, Texas
This album (4,322nd)
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Lower ranked (9,255th) »
High, Low And In Between

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

Upcoming concerts

Dec
10
Wed
20:00
Out of the Dawg House
Howard L. Schrott Center for the Ar, Indianapolis, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
10
Wed
19:00
A Charlie Brown Christmas Tour Live On Stage
Shea's Performing Arts Center, Buffalo, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
12
Fri
19:30
Heart: Royal Flush Tour 2025
Toyota Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to The Late Great Townes Van Zandt on YouTube

Loading content from YouTube...

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

Sort by
#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Rating: 83 (23 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
2.
Rating: 82 (20 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
5.
Rating: 77 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
6.
Rating: 81 (19 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
7.
Rating: 77 (17 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
8.
Track pick
Rating: 86 (31 votes)Comments: View 2
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify
9.
Rating: 84 (24 votes)Comments: View 0
  • Amazon Music
  • iTunes
  • Spotify

Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt rankings

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt collection

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 81 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 81 ratings for this album.

Sort ratings
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
75/100
 Report rating
10/03/2025 15:47 Tamthebam  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 22,82569/100
 
85/100
 Report rating
08/11/2025 19:30 Toffuey  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 47679/100
 
85/100
 Report rating
08/05/2025 09:28 slimharpo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,48169/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
03/25/2025 00:12 Moondance  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 19,63472/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
12/04/2024 16:59 boppare  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,82978/100

Rating metrics: 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 78.2/100, a mean average of 77.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.8.

Please log in or register if you want to be able to leave a rating

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt favourites

Showing all 4 members who have added this album as a favourite

The Late Great Townes Van Zandt comments

Showing all 4 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
95/100
From 01/09/2021 19:35
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
#264110 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/31/2016 14:02
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.
#158285 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 08/19/2015 15:08
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
#148009 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 01/29/2015 02:00
A songwriter for songwriters... One of the most underrated albums ever released...
#132865 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Please log in or register if you want to be able to add a comment

Your feedback for The Late Great Townes Van Zandt

Anonymous
Let us know what you think of this album by adding a comment or assigning a rating below!
Log in or register to assign a rating or leave a comment for this album.
Best Albums of 1972
1. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
2. Exile On Main St. by The Rolling Stones
3. Pink Moon by Nick Drake
4. Close To The Edge by Yes
5. Harvest by Neil Young
6. Transformer by Lou Reed
7. Machine Head by Deep Purple
8. Thick As A Brick by Jethro Tull
9. Ege Bamyası by Can
10. Foxtrot by Genesis
11. Clube Da Esquina by Milton Nascimento / Lô Borges
12. #1 Record by Big Star
13. Can't Buy A Thrill by Steely Dan
14. Super Fly by Curtis Mayfield
15. Acabou Chorare by Novos Baianos
16. Talking Book by Stevie Wonder
17. Eat A Peach by The Allman Brothers Band
18. Neu! by Neu!
19. Vol 4 by Black Sabbath
20. Argus by Wishbone Ash
Back to Top