Jonell Mosser – Around Townes
Lacking the flamboyant vocal range of Jonell Mosser, Townes Van Zandt couldn’t sing his own songs like this if he tried. And since his laconic restraint is such an integral trait of his artistry, he likely wouldn’t if he could. Even so, my guess is that Van Zandt will get a kick out of hearing his material performed in such dynamic fashion, and that, if the project serves its intended purpose, he will appreciate seeing both his fan base and his bank balance grow.
With Townes’ wife Jeanene Van Zandt serving as executive producer, the original impetus for the project reportedly was to have Nashville singer Mosser demonstrate the mainstream potential of this material, to show the likes of Wynonna and Bonnie Raitt how suitably these songs could be adapted to their own styles. In her album notes addressed to Townes, Mosser professes the deepest admiration for the man and his music, but admits that “I know these tracks aren’t exactly how you would have them (too much ‘stuff’).”
On first exposure, the results might shock the nervous system of Van Zandt’s devout following. Where Townes gets under the skin of a song, Jonell goes over the top; where he broods, she belts. On the opening cuts, “Be Here To Love Me” and “Where I Lead Me”, the exuberance of the arrangements — particularly the call-and-response between the singer and guitarist Bob Britt on the latter — makes Van Zandt’s material sound disconcertingly frisky. However promising a duet with Delbert McClinton on “If I Needed You” might seem, the results skirt the surface of the song’s emotional depth.
Within this album, less is more, as the project ultimately finds its groove through the stately gospel piano of Johnny Neel, whose accompaniment helps Mosser achieve the grandeur that songs such as “No Place to Fall” and “You Are Not Needed Now” deserve. Imagine a singer with the chops of Janis Joplin, backed by a band that revives the sound of Muscle Shoals, interpreting the songbook of an undersung American master. It ain’t Townes, but it ain’t bad.