Townes Van Zandt 1976 Austin City Limits

New West Records is keeping unreleased some of the best work in existence by Townes Van Zandt: video of his performance on Austin City Limits in 1976, just three years after his career defining performance at Old Quarter. The clip below is from ACL but the rest of the show is not in the public domain.

If anyone else out there wants this to see the light of day, write to them, or contact them by phone. The contact information is -

Clare Surgeson - clare at newwestrecords.com
New West Records - (310) 246-5766

Appealing to their financial interest if not artistic integrity is probably the way to go, and here is the argument I made in my email to New West:


"...I've written about once a year since 2007 in hopes you will make available the Townes Van Zandt Austin City Limits show. Just to be clear I'm not talking about the tribute show, I'm talking about the episode he did in 1976. I do think the market is there for a release to be successful, judging by sales of his early vinyl on ebay
prompting re-release of several albums, his numbers of listeners on lastfm and the limited availability of his early live audio and especially video recordings. It should also be considered that he is known for having a particularly devoted fan base. Aside from monetary reasons, getting the best work of this gifted songwriter in the public domain is also really important to a lot of people. If you can't give me a specific response on this can either of you please direct me to another person who can?"