Townes Van Zandt
by Townes Van Zandt

Overall rank: 701st | 1960s rank: 79th | 1969 rank: 22nd
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).(Last updated: 1 hour ago)

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Year	Source	Chart	Rank	Rank Score
2026	DriftingOrpheus	Top 39 Greatest Music Albums	16/39	61
2026	Wasinski	Top 70 Music Albums of 1969	58/70	1
2026	matterhornrider	Top 81 Music Albums of 1969	37/81	3
2026	Cheboygan74	Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	42/100	55
2026	Jakor	Top 100 Music Albums of 1969	90/100	1
2026	LedZep	cool stuff	22/100	-
2026	henrygreen0203	Top 100 Greatest Music Albums	32/100	68
2026	machiaj	Top 20 Music Albums of the 1960s	13/20	8
2026	jdizzle123456	Greatest Folk Albums of All Time	13/50	-
2026	baystateoftheart	Top 80 Music Albums of 1969	5/80	5
		Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in.		304
		Total Rank Score: The total rank score.		2,465

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Townes Van Zandt collection

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Townes Van Zandt ratings

Average Rating:

81/100 (from 290 votes)

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Rating	Date updated	Member	Album ratings	Avg. album rating
50/100 !	07/05/2026 01:57	ilovelctr	552	76/100
85/100 !	06/26/2026 08:44	ASOARE	2,325	76/100
90/100 !	06/15/2026 00:17	AvalancheGrips	779	85/100

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 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 81.0/100, a mean average of 80.1/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 81.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.

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Forum mentions

This album has been referenced 141 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.

From

BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements

“The overall chart is ever changing, and it's difficult to keep up with the detail of what's happening. So, for those people who are interested, this post attempts to show the latest movements - biggest climbers, movers, new entries and leavers for the top 100, 250, 500 & 1000 over the past month,…”

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From

BestEverAlbums 08/14/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5404): By pctrooper

“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by pctrooper () 1. (1975) 3. by (2008) 4. by (2000) 5. by (1974) 6. by (1978) 7. by (1979) 8. by (1971) 9. (1994) 10. by (1973) 11. by (1977) 13. by (1976) 14. by by (2019) 16. by (1973) 18. by (1969) 19. by (1974) 20. by (2015) 21. by (1996)…”

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From

BestEverAlbums 08/11/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5401): By Repo

“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by by by (1963) 4. by (1981) 5. by (1970) 6. by (1969) 7. by (1971) 8. by (1983) 9. (1986) 10. by (1965) 11. by (1984) 12. by by (1963) 14. by (1978) 15. by (2009) 16. by by (1969) 18. by (1941) 19. by (1977) 20. by (1951) 21. by (1956)…”

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Townes Van Zandt comments

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Rating:

85/100

From

Jboy56 07/29/2022 12:13 | #287933

A hidden gem for me at least. Beautiful songwriting.

Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:

90/100

From

seb7 05/07/2022 03:16 | #285067

what beauty

Helpful? (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

Rating:

80/100

From mv3k 05/05/2022 13:20 | #284968

Great country folk, he has beautiful voice.

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Rating:

100/100

From henrygreen0203 01/07/2021 20:56 | #264004 | TOP COMMENT

Townes van Zandt's self-titled album, along with Mickey Newbury's "Looks Like Rain," is a masterpiece of the country folk genre.

While Newbury wrapped his candy melodies in dreamy studio sounds, Van Zandt presents himself acoustically, with the occasional drums, resonator guitar and harmonica. Van Zandt is front and center, with his guitar, his tender voice and his solemn songs.

Many of Van Zandt's early classics are here, including four new recordings taken from his debut album, which suffered from clunky, dated studio production.

Virtually unknown and alienated from mainstream success in his day, these recordings now fit comfortably in the Americana genre, which simply did not have a defined audience in his day. Had these recordings not been made, it would have been likely that his music would have remained in the coffee houses of Houston and in the fading memories of a generation of folk enthusiasts. Instead, his music has found an audience with new generations, who are looking for something that those early audiences were also seeking: honest, authentic country music, light on the twang and hearty on the heart.

Essential.

All songs written by Townes van Zandt.

Career Highlight: Waiting Around to Die
Gems: Lungs, Miss Carousel (Edited)

Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

From governor17 07/01/2020 04:40 | #254866 | TOP COMMENT

The first thing that stands out from a modern ear (2020) is that one imagines that very little sounded like this in 1969 and certainly not much on the pop charts. Van Zandt takes pieces of country, folk, and blues but without committing firmly to any of them. Townes exceptional finger picking style is immediately evident as is the strong narrative song writing. The vocals have a rich quality in their sound and the lyrical composition adds a great deal of personal introspection to what's being sung in the narrative-style lyrics. Because of the duality of the beautiful lyrics and the emotion in Van Zandt's voice, you are given enough space to process the words and paint a picture while the music is playing as a background piece. You can then go back to the album in a second listen and focus on the listen which is compelling in its own right. (Edited)

Helpful? (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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