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In The Beginning is a posthumous album by American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. The album consists of ten recordings he made in Nashville in 1966 with producer Jack Clement, two years before the release of his debut album, For the Sake of the Song.^[1]

The album consists of studio demos recorded in 1966, in Townes' first sessions in Nashville. None of these songs appeared on Townes' later albums; however, "When Your Dream Lovers Die" and "Big Country Blues" are each reminiscent of "All Your Young Servants" and "Waitin' Around To Die", which were first released on For the Sake of the Song.^[2] Almost all of the songs feature sparse instrumentation from Townes and his acoustic guitar; the exceptions are "Black Widow Mama" and "Hunger Child Blues", which feature full-band instrumentation.

According to his wife Jeanene, Townes requested that she find these recordings, with only the lyrics being available.^[3] In 2002, five years after Townes' death, they were rediscovered by Jack Clement, who had previously produced Townes' albums For the Sake of the Song, Our Mother The Mountain, The Late Great Townes Van Zandt and At My Window.

In The Beginning was released on April 22nd, 2003 through Compadre Records and TVZ Records. The front cover artwork depicts Townes aged 2 years old with a B.B. gun, with a picture of Townes in the studio taken by Ann Amendolagine on the back cover. The packaging features paintings by Townes' son, Will Van Zandt, and Melene Marie Brown, as well as photographs of Townes from his childhood and adult life. In 2010, the album was reissued through Fat Possum Records.

Reviews have praised Townes' singing, songwriting, and fingerpicking abilities, whereas the songs with full-band instrumentation have been criticized in some instances. A review from No Depression argued that the full-band songs on this album were an exception to full-band songs on other albums, which they suggested were often obtrusive.^[3][4][5][6]

All songs written by Townes Van Zandt.

Side A (18:13)

1. Black Widow Mama (2:23)
2. Maryetta's Song (5:33)
3. Hunger Child Blues (3:13)
4. Gypsy Friday (2:50)
5. Waitin' for the Day (4:14)

Side B (14:42)

1. Black Jack Mama (3:13)
2. When Your Dream Lovers Die (2:10)
3. Colorado Bound (2:49)
4. Big Country Blues (3:28)
5. Black Crow Blues (3:02)

• Townes Van Zandt - vocals, guitar

• Jack Clement - producer
• Jeanene Van Zandt - executive producer
• Jerry Tubb - mastering
• Stew Urbach - mastering
• David Waddell - executive producer, remixing
• John Sheppard - remixing ("Colorado Bound")

• Marc Harkness - art direction
• Ann Amendolagine - photography
• Bill Dibble - photography
• Will Van Zandt - artwork
• Melene Marie Brown - artwork