DELTA MOMMA BLUES

Recorded at Century Sound Studios, New York, New York. Includes liner notes by Andrew Dansby.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
The soul-shattering darker songs are contrasted more than usual here by some light-hearted country/bluesy tunes like the traditional "FFV," the Hank Williams-styled title tune and the good-humored honky tonker "Turnstyled, Junkpiled." Van Zandt saves the harder stuff for later. The album closes with a trio of uncompromisingly bleak masterpieces. "Where I Lead Me" is probably his first recorded "rock" tune, with Van Zandt surveying the grievous situation of the hapless folks around him as well as himself, over an effective, driving beat. "Rake," written in classic folk ballad form with elegant poetic language, chronicles the tragic decline of a former ladies' man over minor-key acoustic strumming and haunting string section. The album closes with one of Van Zandt's best tunes, the anti-anthem to existential-tinged depression "Nothin'." Not recommended to impressionable depressives.

• RSD Release Date: DDD
• Genre: Folk, World, & Country
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 10/14/2008