The Flatlanders played precious few gigs in their early-’70s heyday, and all thoughts that live recordings existed of those honky-tonk and living-room sessions had been dismissed. But here it is?the 1972 Flatlanders, in all their glory, plus musical saw-player Steve Wesson, playing extraterrestrial honky-tonk before a couple of dozen souls at Austin’s legendary One Knite club. Save for a couple of Butch Hancock originals, the band hew out a Texas roots primer, but it’s still an unexpected, fly-on-the-wall delight. The sound quality is ragged but serviceable, like an AM signal beamed from another galaxy. The musical and historical value, though, is priceless.
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