Our Mother The Mountain (LP)

Our Mother The Mountain was Van Zandt's second album, and is widely acknowledged as his first classic. Recorded in California in the Spring of 1969, once again produced by Jack Clement, it featured a stellar cast of West Coast session musos, notably James Burton, Charlie McCoy, Don "Richie" Frost and Don Randi. Also released on Egger's chronically under-funded Poppy label, it once again received no marketing support and was subsequently doomed to cult status, making minimal commercial impact. However, this time around the arrangements and production values complemented the songs pretty much perfectly, and the album was critically well-received. Standouts were the muchcovered title track; Townes' epic re-recording of 'Tecumseh Valley' from his first LP - here, retitled simply 'Tecumseh' - which added a couple more verses and took it at a slower, more melancholic pace; 'Second Lovers Song'; 'Kathleen' and 'Be Here To Love Me', the latter two titles also attracting plenty of cover versions.