The final Townes Van Zandt studio record before a nine-year-long mid-"70s recording drought, Flyin" Shoes has the advantage of Van Zandt"s usual stellar songs, a famed producer (Chips Moman), and a boatload of first-class sidemen, including Jimmy Day, Randy Scruggs, and Spooner Oldham. The production is reasonably spare, allowing the quality of the songwriting and Van Zandt"s creaky voice to shine through. There aren"t any clunkers here, but neither is there an archetypal Van Zandt tune. "Snake Song," "No Place to Fall," and "When She Don"t Need Me" are solid, likable mid-career Van Zandt. A cover of Bo Diddley"s "Who Do You Love" is a genuine oddity. A number of songs here were first recorded in earlier sessions that were released in 1993 under the title The Nashville Sessions. --Robert Baird