Don Williams Covers Townes Van Zandt’s “I’ll Be Here In The Morning”
For eight lonely years in the oughts we traversed the long, dark gulf between Don Williams releases, when country music’s “Gentle Giant” retired to his farm to live the same warm, reflective life referenced in many of his songs with such soothing presence. A Don Williams song is like being young again and wrapped in the loving, reassuring arms of a grandparent. Sure, there’s a few other country music artists that can play songs in the mid tempo and sing so quietly to where their voice is as delicate as the sides of a soap bubble. But nobody can do it while being as cool as Don Williams.
After releasing And So It Goes through Sugar Hill records in 2012, Don Williams has all of a sudden become downright prolific in the new decade, and his latest release Reflections is due out on Sugar Hill March 11th. Ahead of the release Don teases us with a new song, an adaptation of Texas songwriting legend Townes Van Zandt’s beautiful, disarming tune of love triumphing over freedom, “I’ll Be Here In The Morning.”
Released on Van Zandt’s first official studio record, 1968’s For The Sake Of The Song, “I’ll Be Here In The Morning” was counter to the popular “Ramblin’ Man” notions prevailing at the time in music with male musical characters issuing warnings to their lovers to not expect them to be around for long. The poetic ear the young Van Zandt displays in the song is highly worthy of recognition, even if the theme wasn’t popular or resonant in 1968. However “I’ll Be Here In The Morning,” just like Townes and Don Williams, proved to be timeless.
Recorded live (as can be seen below in the video), Don’s version does what Don Williams does, which is approach a song with such a gentle touch, it revives memory like the sunlight and the feel of the air at the change of seasons. Tasteful instrumentation, including light entrances by banjo, steel guitar, and harmonica embellish the recording, while a two-tone Waylon-esque bass beat drives the song and lead electric guitar indicative of a Mark Knopfler style, and classical acoustic guitar offer a break to Don’s effortless, caramel-swirled vocal tones, holding the words of Van Zandt’s work like a proud father holds his child for the first time.
Two guns up.
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Pre-Order Don Williams’s Reflections
You can also listen to another new Don Williams song “Talk Is Cheap” on Engine 145.
March 4, 2014 @ 7:37 pm
Thanks Trig. That is some excellent stuff. One of the best concerts I have ever been to was Don Williams a few years ago.
March 4, 2014 @ 8:09 pm
I fucking loved it!! When he has something to say, there’s no better voice than Don Williams. In my opinion, ‘And So It Goes’ lacked song writing substance to sustain my attention. The fact that he’s getting right back in the ring and a Townes song is included in the project make me happy!
Great review, Trig. I loved the take how the theme of the song was counter culture at the time.
No love for the wonderful banjo plucking in the video!! They should have at least put it on a stand to represent!
March 4, 2014 @ 9:14 pm
Really great news. A voice that’s silky smooth yet still manly. Listening to him is definitely like getting a hug from grandpa.
One thing about Don Williams that always amazes me is there are a lot of people out there in the 30+ range that don’t listen to country at all but know and love his songs. My own wife shocked me like that several years ago. It just took me off guard one day when I left one of his CD’s my truck. When I started it up to go somewhere with her, the Don Williams CD started playing where I left off and she started singing along knowing all the words. There are a lot of people that grew up riding around in the truck with grandpa listening to country and Paul Harvey, or had exposure to country in some other way even though they aren’t really fans of country as adults. Don Williams just touches people and sticks with them if they’re exposed to him.
March 6, 2014 @ 11:53 pm
What a nice post son. You must have a real good wife who loves her some fine music…you ought a be real lucky.
March 5, 2014 @ 6:44 am
That was great, thanks for posting this. A Don Williams song is always a great way to start the morning.
March 5, 2014 @ 9:55 am
I really like Don’s voice anyway (his recording of “Lord, I Hope This Day Is Good” just kills me every time), but that was such a sweet performance. 🙂
March 5, 2014 @ 9:59 am
There’s just something about Don Williams that sets him apart from everyone else. Authentic and refreshing.
March 5, 2014 @ 12:28 pm
I look for him to be the new “go to” duet partner in today’s country scene to gain credibility since Jones and so many others have passed away. I’d say Luke Bryan and Eric Church already have studio time set up…oh and of course Darius too.
March 5, 2014 @ 10:55 pm
I wish you were right, but I’d bet you Luke Bryan has no clue who’s Don Williams. Church might.
March 5, 2014 @ 10:02 pm
I’ve been lucky enough to see Don three times, the last being on October 17, 2013. Personally I think he sounds as good as the first time I saw him about 10 years ago. Real excited for this release too. “I’ll Be Here In The Morning” is a Don Williams style song. Perfect for his voice.
March 6, 2014 @ 6:10 am
Let me just say, I think the best Valentines Day gift you can give to some special friends is play Don Williams Infinity, in my opinion the best love song that doesn’t have to involve just one person but 15 people all at once. Also in terms of Townes Van Zandt I’ve heard both his version of “To Live is To Fly” and Wade Bowen’s version and both are equally excellent in their own right.
March 6, 2014 @ 8:24 am
The guy is like a fine wine. Not to mention, I wish I could be as calm as Don appears. He’s like the Bob Ross of country music.
March 6, 2014 @ 9:31 am
Holy hell! That’s great! I wonder if we’ll ever hear it on the radio?
March 6, 2014 @ 10:40 am
That performance puts everyone currently on country radio completely to shame. Don is an original who understands how the understated can have the biggest impact on the listener. Listen to the lead rides from the classical guitar and the Fender Strat to hear what incredible sounds can be achieved with a spare few notes. It truly is a shame that commercial country radio listeners today cannot hear this kind of quality on their favorite station and probably won’t ever seek it out. Thank you for sharing this Triggerman and God bless Don Williams.
March 7, 2014 @ 11:50 am
Not enough Strats in country music, in my opinion. It’s an underated guitar for country music. Les Pauls and PRS’s are taking over from what I’ve seen in some of these music videos. These guitars are used for aesthetic purposes only.
March 7, 2014 @ 2:23 pm
I was just goofing around looking at some Don Williams videos and it really is astonishing how well he’s maintained his voice.
I think this is my favorite song from him (although he just sang this one and didn’t write it). It mellows me out and gives me good vibes.
1982
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWR78buhHbI
2013 (31 years later)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOZSiqsMlow
March 9, 2014 @ 10:33 am
THIS is what I want to hear on country radio.
March 9, 2014 @ 11:14 am
I was channel surfing and came across this song on a country music channel, not CMT. I used to be a country DJ and I’ve heard all of Don’s old songs. I’d never heard this one and I had to look it up on the web to see if it was a new song. I was surprised how well ole Don can still sing. He sounds like he did 30 years ago.
March 10, 2014 @ 12:34 pm
I’ve been looking forward to hearing Don’s version of this song since I read about it on the first press release for the new album, and I wasn’t disappointed. Don is smooth as always, and the classical acoustic guitar sound reminds me of another Texas country legend. (I’ll give you a hint: his guitar it’s named Trigger.) The depth and maturity of this song truly puts radio country to shame.
Speaking of Texas legends, this is one of more romantic selections from the Townes Van Zandt catalog, and as with “If I Needed You,” Don is perfectly suited to singing it. In fact, I liked “If I Needed You” so much that I’ve always wished Don had recorded an entire LP of Townes’ songs the way Bobby Bare did for Shel Silverstein and Bob McDill, or Waylon did for Billy Joe Shaver. It’s disappointing to me that more mainstream country artists didn’t cover TVZ’s songs during his lifetime (the ones that would be palatable for a mainstream audience, that is.) If Don had recorded this song in the 70’s, I guarantee it would have been a top ten hit. Nearly all of his singles released from the mid 70’s through the 80’s were.
Anyway, it is really great to see Don enjoying this second act in his musical career. He is one of the only musical artists my grandfather, my father, and I all like.