A Far Cry From Dead

Before his ’97 death, the fabled Texas-born bard Townes Van Zandt made private solo recordings of some of his best songs, which appear here with posthumously recorded backup. Though the dead-star-fronts-living-band concept usually stiffs, it works on A Far Cry From Dead, giving fans inspired new versions of classics (”Pancho and Lefty,” ”Dollar Bill Blues”), plus a previously unreleased gem, the terrifying ”Sanitarium Blues.” The best introduction yet to this master craftsman’s dour magic. A