"Mister Can't You See" is a song written by

Mickey Newbury Milton Sims "Mickey" Newbury Jr. (May 19, 1940 – September 29, 2002) was an American songwriter, recording artist, and a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Early life and career Newbury was born in Houston, Texas, on May 19, ...

and

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

that first appeared on Newbury's 1968 debut album '' Harlequin Melodies''. Newbury's original version was slow and dominated by strings and a very simple drumbeat, with his voice telling a tale of nature's power and beauty. The actual title of the song comes from the line "can't you see the river flowing".

Buffy Sainte-Marie Cover

*"Mister Can't You See" is best known, however, as recorded by

Buffy Sainte-Marie Buffy Sainte-Marie, (born Beverly Sainte-Marie, February 20, 1941) is an Indigenous Canadian-American (Piapot Cree Nation) singer-songwriter, musician, composer, visual artist, educator, pacifist, and social activist. While working in these are ...

on her 1972 album '' Moonshot'', where it was the final track and second single. Sainte-Marie's version is much shorter than Newbury's original and is more straight-ahead rock with the

Memphis Horns The Memphis Horns were an American horn section, made famous by their many appearances on Stax Records. The duo consisted of Wayne Jackson (November 24, 1941 – June 21, 2016) on trumpet and Andrew Love (November 21, 1941 - April 12, 2012) on ...

especially prominent. Owing to a major promotional campaign by

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

, eager to make up for losses incurred with past Sainte-Marie albums, the label promoted the single vigorously and as a result it became Sainte-Marie's only single ''or'' album to reach the Top 75 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''. It peaked at #38 on the Pop Singles chart and #29 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

References

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Mister Can't You See "Mister Can't You See" is a song written by Mickey Newbury and Townes Van Zandt that first appeared on Newbury's 1968 debut album '' Harlequin Melodies''. Newbury's original version was slow and dominated by strings and a very simple drumbeat, wi ...

Songs written by Mickey Newbury 1972 songs Vanguard Records singles