Pancho and Lefty

"Pancho and Lefty"
Song by Townes Van Zandt
from the album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt
Released1972
GenreCountry, folk
Length3:40
LabelTomato
Songwriter(s)Townes Van Zandt
Producer(s)

"Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty",[a] is a song written by American country singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Perhaps his most well-known song, Van Zandt recorded his original version of this song for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt.[14] The song has been recorded by several artists since its composition and performance by Van Zandt, with a 1983 version by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard reaching number one on the Billboard country chart. In 2021, Van Zandt's version was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Music and lyrics

The song is composed as a ballad of four stanzas which use the two-verse refrain: "All the Federales say they could've had him any day/ They only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose." The first two stanzas are sung back-to-back with the refrain being sung only after the second stanza. The verses of the first stanza introduce Lefty as a restless young soul who leaves home and his loving mother to seek his fortune south of the border. The verses of the second stanza introduce Pancho as a Mexican bandit, who "wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel". The third stanza tells of Pancho's eventual death in "the deserts down in Mexico" and implies that he was betrayed to the federales by Lefty in exchange for being allowed to return to the United States. Lefty spends the rest of his life in a motel in Cleveland, apparently regretful of his actions. The fourth stanza poetizes Pancho's life and appears to evoke sympathy for Lefty's attempted homecoming.

While Van Zandt did not intend for Pancho to be Pancho Villa, he did not rule out the idea. In an interview, he recalled, "I realize that I wrote it, but it's hard to take credit for the writing, because it came from out of the blue. It came through me and it's a real nice song, and I think, I've finally found out what it's about. I've always wondered what it's about. I kinda always knew it wasn't about Pancho Villa, and then somebody told me that Pancho Villa had a buddy whose name in Spanish meant 'Lefty.' But in the song, my song, Pancho gets hung...and the real Pancho Villa was assassinated."[15]

Background and reception

Like much of Van Zandt's output, the song went largely unnoticed at the time of its release on the album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt in 1972. Neither it nor its parent album made any music charts. In 1973, Lonnie Knight played with Van Zandt for a week at the Rubaiyat in Dallas, Texas. He brought this song back to Minneapolis with him and recorded it on his first album, Family In The Wind, in 1974.

In 1977, Emmylou Harris covered the song on her album Luxury Liner. Harris says she feels it is "her song",[16] and it was this recording of the song that Willie Nelson first heard.[17]

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard recorded a version for their July 1983 duet album Pancho & Lefty. In the documentary Be Here to Love Me, Nelson states that when he asked Van Zandt what the song was about Van Zandt replied that he didn't know. Nelson also recalls how his album with Haggard was nearly completed but he felt they didn't have "that blockbuster, you know, that one big song for a good single and a video, and my daughter Lana suggested that we listen to 'Pancho and Lefty.'[18] I had never heard it and Merle had never heard it." Lana Nelson returned with a copy of the song and Nelson cut it immediately with his band in the middle of the night but had to retrieve a sleeping Haggard, who had retired to his bus hours earlier, to record his vocal part.[18]

The vocals were recorded in one take that night.[19] The next day, Haggard wanted to rerecord his part, but Nelson told him the song had already been sent to New York.[19] Haggard later stated that the song was the only one he had ever recorded before "he really knew it".[20]

Van Zandt appears in the video for the song, playing one of the federales.[21] "It was real nice they invited me," Van Zandt told Aretha Sills in 1994.[21] "They didn't have to invite me and I made I think $100 a day. I was the captain of the federales. And plus I got to ride a horse. I always like that. It took four and a half days and that video was four and a half minutes long...The money goes by a strange life, or elsewhere."[21]

When released as a single, this version of the song topped the Billboard country chart. The royalties would provide Van Zandt with some badly needed income, though by all accounts he remained impervious to the song's success. One story involving the song that Van Zandt loved to tell was when he got pulled over for speeding in Berkshire, Texas, by two policemen, the first a blue-eyed white man with a crew cut, and his partner a bronze, dark eyed Mexican.[21] Although his driver's license was up-to-date, the inspection sticker had expired, and the bedraggled singer found himself in the back of the police cruiser.[21] As Van Zandt recounted on Austin Pickers, "We got stopped by these two policemen and...they said 'What do you do for a living?', and I said, 'Well, I'm a songwriter,' and they both kind of looked around like "pitiful, pitiful," and so on to that I added, 'I wrote that song Pancho and Lefty. You ever heard that song Pancho and Lefty? I wrote that', and they looked back around and they looked at each other and started grinning..." The policemen explained that their police-radio code names were Pancho and Lefty and they let Van Zandt off with a warning.

The song is probably Van Zandt's most recognizable and is often covered. Steve Earle told John Kruth in 2004, "You won't find a song that's better written, that says more or impresses songwriters more."[22] In the film Be Here To Love Me, Kris Kristofferson recites the opening lines of the song and then marvels, "And I could think, 'That was me!'"[23]

Bob Dylan, whose album The Times They Are A-Changin' had a major impact on Van Zandt,[citation needed] performed the song as a duet on television with Willie Nelson at Nelson's 60th birthday concert in 1993, which Andy Greene of Rolling Stone remembers as "the highlight of the night".[citation needed]

Video release

A music video was released for the song in 1983, depicting Willie Nelson as Pancho, and Merle Haggard as Lefty. Townes Van Zandt also appears in a supporting role. Nelson's daughter Lana directed the video, the first for Nelson and second for Haggard, the first being for "Are the Good Times Really Over?" a year prior.

Reception

The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart dated July 23, 1983. The Willie Nelson release has sold 648,000 digital copies in the United States as of October 2019 since becoming available for download.[24]

"Pancho and Lefty"
Single by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
from the album Pancho & Lefty
B-side"Opportunity to Cry"
ReleasedApril 30, 1983
Genre
Length4:44
LabelEpic
Songwriter(s)Townes Van Zandt
Producer(s)
Merle Haggard singles chronology
"You Take Me for Granted"
(1983)
"Pancho and Lefty"
(1983)
"What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest of My Life)"
(1983)
Willie Nelson singles chronology
"Little Old Fashioned Karma"
(1983)
"Pancho and Lefty"
(1983)
"Why Do I Have to Choose"
(1983)

Legacy

"Pancho and Lefty" was covered by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson; it was the title track of their duet album Pancho & Lefty, and a number one country hit[26] that entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2020.[27]

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as the 17th-greatest Western song of all time.[28]

In June 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "Pancho and Lefty" 41st on its list of the "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time".[29]

In 2021, the original version was listed at #498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[30]

Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

Weekly charts

Chart (1983) Peak
position
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[31] 21
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[32] 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1983) Position
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[33] 6

Notes

  1. ^ When originally released in 1972 as a single by Townes Van Zandt[1] and on his The Late Great Townes Van Zandt album that same year,[2] the song title was spelled "Poncho and Lefty".[3][4] Emmylou Harris's 1977 album Luxury Liner[5] included a version of the song also spelled "Poncho".[6] Initial releases of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson's 1983 album were also called "Poncho & Lefty",[7][8] but the title spelling was mixed (some labels read "Pancho", while liner notes read "Poncho"[9][10]) and changed in the years following the release of the title track as the albums's second single with the spelling "Pancho and Lefty".[11] The "Pancho" spelling has persisted and even some later releases of Van Zandt[12] and Harris's[13] albums on CD have been altered to match the Haggard and Nelson hit.

References

  1. ^ "Poncho and Lefty" (Media notes). Townes Van Zandt. United Artists Records, Inc. 1972.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (Media notes). Townes Van Zandt. United Artists Records, Inc. 1972.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. ^ Donald Clarke. The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Penguin Books, 1990. pp. 518. ISBN 9780140511475
  4. ^ Richard Carlin. The Big Book of Country Music: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Penguin, 1995. p. 472. ISBN 9780140235098
  5. ^ Luxury Liner (Media notes). Emmylou Harris. Warner Bros. Records Inc. 1977.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Nathan Brackett and Christian David Hoard. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster, 2004. p. 366. ISBN 9780743201698
  7. ^ "'Poncho And Lefty' Push." Billboard. 95.5. 12 February 1983. p. 42. ISSN 0006-2510
  8. ^ "Hot Country LPs." Billboard. 95.13. 26 March 1983. p. 48. ISSN 0006-2510
  9. ^ Poncho & Lefty (Media notes). Merle Haggard / Willie Nelson. 1982.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ Poncho & Lefty (Media notes). Merle Haggard / Willie Nelson. 1982.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ "Pancho And Lefty" (Media notes). Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. CBS Inc. 1982.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ The Late Great Townes Van Zandt (Media notes). Townes Van Zandt. The Tomato Music Works Limited. 2003.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Luxury Liner (Media notes). Emmylou Harris. Warner Bros. Records Inc. 2004.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Beviglia, Jim (April 30, 2012). "Townes Van Zandt, "Pancho and Lefty"". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
  15. ^ 1984 PBS series, "Austin Pickers". Ed Heffelfinger. (0:00:32)
  16. ^ Margaret Brown (director). Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (motion picture). 2004. (1:10:30)
  17. ^ Graeme Thomson (2006). Willie Nelson: The Outlaw. Random House. ISBN 9781448133413.
  18. ^ a b Margaret Brown (director). Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (motion picture). 2004. (1:09:25)
  19. ^ a b Blase S. Scarnati. "Chapter 7: Shifting Time and Cinematic Images: Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson. Merle Haggard, and "Pancho and Lefty"." For the Sake of the Song: Essays on Townes Van Zandt. Ann Norton Holbrook and Dan Beller-McKenna. eds. University of North Texas Press, 2022. pp. 131. ISBN 9781574418705
  20. ^ Blase S. Scarnati. "Chapter 7: Shifting Time and Cinematic Images: Townes Van Zandt, Willie Nelson. Merle Haggard, and "Pancho and Lefty"." For the Sake of the Song: Essays on Townes Van Zandt. Ann Norton Holbrook and Dan Beller-McKenna. eds. University of North Texas Press, 2022. pp. 136. ISBN 9781574418705
  21. ^ a b c d e Aretha Sills. "Muddy Waters and Mozart: Remembering Townes Van Zandt." Los Angeles Review of Books. 1 January 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  22. ^ John Kruth. "Townes Van Zandt: The Self-Destructive Hobo Saint." Sing Out. 48.2 (Summer 2004). (pna)
  23. ^ Margaret Brown (director). Be Here To Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt (motion picture). 2004. (0:07:14)
  24. ^ Bjorke, Matt (October 8, 2019). "Top 30 Country Digital Singles Chart: October 7, 2019". RoughStock. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  25. ^ Sheffield, Rob (February 24, 2023). "The 100 Best Songs of 1983, the Year Pop Went Crazy". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 4, 2023. Two great country outlaws team up for a classic outlaw ballad: "Pancho and Lefty," by Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt.
  26. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 148.
  27. ^ "The Grammy Hall of Fame". Grammy Awards. Retrieved 7 Feb 2022.
  28. ^ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010.
  29. ^ "100 Greatest Country Songs of All Time - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. June 2014.
  30. ^ "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-16.
  31. ^ "Willie Nelson Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  32. ^ "Willie Nelson Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2021.
  33. ^ "1984 Talent Almanac" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 95, no. 51. December 24, 1983. p. TA-24. Retrieved June 20, 2021.


Read other articles:

Wilayah Chūgoku 中国地方WilayahWilayah Chūgoku di JepangLuas • Total31.921,87 km2 (12,325,10 sq mi)Populasi (Oktober 1, 2015) • Total7.438.037 • Kepadatan233,0/km2 (603/sq mi)Zona waktuUTC+09:00 Wilayah Chūgoku (中国地方 Chūgoku-chihō) terletak di bagian barat dari Honshū, pulau terbesar di Jepang. Secara harfiah berarti Negara Pertengahan, hasil pembagian dari Negara Dekat (近国 Kingoku). Negara Pertengahan dan Nega...

 

رابطة جنوب آسيا للتعاون الإقليمي رابطة جنوب آسيا للتعاون الاقليمي‌ رابطة جنوب آسيا للتعاون الاقليميشعار رابطة جنوب آسيا للتعاون الإقليمي   الدول الأعضاء   الدول المراقبة الاختصار (بالإنجليزية: SAARC)‏[1]،  و(بالأوكرانية: АРСПА)‏،  و(بالفرنسية: ASACR)‏،  �...

 

1950 film by Reginald Le Borg Wyoming MailTheatrical release posterDirected byReginald Le BorgScreenplay byHarry EssexLeonard LeeStory byRobert Hardy AndrewsProduced byAubrey SchenckStarringStephen McNallyAlexis SmithCinematographyRussell MettyEdited byEdward CurtissColor processTechnicolorProductioncompanyUniversal International PicturesDistributed byUniversal PicturesRelease date October 18, 1950 (1950-10-18) Running time87 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish Wyoming M...

Persyaratan visa bagi warga negara Vatikan adalah pembatasan masuk administratif oleh otoritas negara lain yang dikenakan pada warga negara Kota Vatikan. Mulai Mei 2023, warga negara Vatikan memiliki akses bebas visa atau visa pada saat kedatangan ke 154 negara dan wilayah, menempati peringkat paspor Vatikan ke-26 dalam hal kebebasan bepergian menurut Henley Passport Index.[1] Peta persyaratan visa Persyaratan visa untuk warga negara Vatikan  Vatikan  Visa tidak di...

 

Este artigo ou se(c)ção trata de um conflito armado recente ou em curso. A informação apresentada pode mudar com frequência. Não adicione especulações, nem texto sem referência a fontes confiáveis.Editado pela última vez em 9 de abril de 2024. Invasão da Ucrânia pela Rússia Guerra Russo-Ucraniana Acima (sentido horário, do topo à esquerda) Veículo russo queima na estrada entre Kiev e Carcóvia; civis preparam Coquetéis molotov para ser usado contra os invasores russos; bomba...

 

Golf tournament2023 U.S. Women's OpenTournament informationDatesJuly 6–9, 2023LocationPebble Beach, California, U.S.36°34′05″N 121°57′00″W / 36.568°N 121.950°W / 36.568; -121.950Course(s)Pebble Beach Golf LinksOrganized byUSGATour(s)LPGA TourStatisticsPar72[1]Length6,509 yards (5,952 m)[2]Field156 players, 74 after cutCut150 (+6)Prize fund$11,000,000Winner's share$2,000,000Champion Allisen Corpuz279 (−9)Location mapPebble BeachGolf...

Australian politician The HonourableJames McGirrJP28th Premier of New South WalesElections: 1947, 1950 In office6 February 1947 – 2 April 1952MonarchsGeorge VIElizabeth IIGovernorSir John NorthcottDeputyJack BaddeleyJoseph CahillPreceded byWilliam McKellSucceeded byJoseph Cahill Personal detailsBorn6 February 1890Parkes, Colony of New South WalesDied27 October 1957 (age 67)Homebush, New South Wales, AustraliaPolitical partyLabor PartySpouse Valerie Armstrong ​(m. ...

 

Este artículo o sección tiene referencias, pero necesita más para complementar su verificabilidad. Busca fuentes: «Plana de Urgel» – noticias · libros · académico · imágenesPuedes avisar al redactor principal pegando lo siguiente en su página de discusión: {{sust:Aviso referencias|Plana de Urgel}} ~~~~Este aviso fue puesto el 30 de enero de 2024. Plana de UrgelPla d'Urgell ComarcaBanderaEscudo Coordenadas 41°38′40″N 0°54′46″E / 41.64...

 

2020年夏季奥林匹克运动会波兰代表團波兰国旗IOC編碼POLNOC波蘭奧林匹克委員會網站olimpijski.pl(英文)(波兰文)2020年夏季奥林匹克运动会(東京)2021年7月23日至8月8日(受2019冠状病毒病疫情影响推迟,但仍保留原定名称)運動員206參賽項目24个大项旗手开幕式:帕维尔·科热尼奥夫斯基(游泳)和马娅·沃什乔夫斯卡(自行车)[1]闭幕式:卡罗利娜·纳亚(皮划艇)&#...

Seiki DigitalCompany typeSubsidiaryIndustryConsumer electronicsHome appliancesFoundedOrange, California, U.S. 2010 (2010)HeadquartersDiamond Bar, California, U.S.Key peopleSung Choi, VPParentTsinghua TongfangWebsitewww.seiki.com Seiki Digital is a television manufacturer with its corporate headquarters at 1550 Valley Vista Dr., Suite 210, Diamond Bar, CA 91765, USA. Seiki Digital is wholly owned by the Chinese-based Tsinghua Tongfang Company.[1] The company is noted for manufactu...

 

American former professional basketball player Jeb IveyIvey in 2008Personal informationBorn (1980-11-07) November 7, 1980 (age 43)San Jose, CaliforniaNationalityAmericanListed height188 cm (6 ft 2 in)Listed weight198 lb (90 kg)Career informationHigh schoolBellarmine College Preparatory(San Jose, California)College West Valley (1999–2001) Portland State (2001–2003) NBA draft2003: undraftedPlaying career2003–2019PositionPoint guardNumber5Career history2003–...

 

City in Semnan province, Iran For the administrative division, see Bastam District. For other places with the same name, see Bastam. City in Semnan, IranBastam Persian: بسطامCityBayazid Shrine ComplexBastamCoordinates: 36°29′05″N 55°00′00″E / 36.48472°N 55.00000°E / 36.48472; 55.00000[1]CountryIranProvinceSemnanCountyShahrudDistrictBastam DistrictElevation1,450 m (4,760 ft)Population (2016)[2] • Total8,609Time...

Failed pistol grab at June 2016 Donald Trump Las Vegas rally 2016 Donald Trump Las Vegas rally incidentPart of the protests against Donald TrumpDonald Trump addressing a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February 2016.LocationMystère Theater, Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States[1]Coordinates36°07′29″N 115°10′19″W / 36.12472°N 115.17194°W / 36.12472; -115.17194DateJune 18, 2016; 7 years ago (2016-06-18)...

 

Conflict fought during the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war Romanian War of Independence (1877–1878)Part of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78Romanian troops returning to Bucharest after the war, 8 October 1878.DateApril 24 [O.S. April 12] 1877 – 3 March 1878 (10 months, 1 week, 2 days)LocationBalkansResult Allied victory Treaty of San Stefano Treaty of BerlinTerritorialchanges Northern Dobruja passed from Ottoman Empire to RomaniaSouthern Bessarabia passed from Romania to Russ...

 

1975 non-fiction book by Lucy Dawidowicz The War Against the Jews First editionAuthorLucy DawidowiczLanguageEnglishSubjectThe HolocaustPublished1975 (Holt, Rinehart and Winston)ISBN0-03-013661-X The War Against the Jews is a 1975 book by Lucy Dawidowicz. The book researches the Holocaust of the European Jewry during World War II. The author contends that Adolf Hitler pursued his policies to eliminate Jewish populations throughout Europe even to the detriment of pragmatic wartime actions such ...

Lord Mayor of London (c. 1354–1423) For other people named Richard Whittington, see Richard Whittington (disambiguation). Dick Whittington redirects here. For other uses, see Dick Whittington (disambiguation). Richard Whittington, 19th c. engraving after original c.1590 by Reginald Elstrack (1570 – after 1625).Original engraving depicted a skull, changed to a cat by printseller Peter Stent to meet popular expectations. Arms: Whittington, FitzWaryn, Worshipful Company of Mercers, Merchant ...

 

2019 election of members of the European parliament for Sweden 2019 European Parliament election in Sweden ← 2014 26 May 2019 2024 → All 21 Swedish seats to the European ParliamentOnly top candidates on party ballots are shown.Opinion pollsTurnout55.27% ( 4.20 pp)   First party Second party Third party   Candidate Heléne Fritzon Tomas Tobé Peter Lundgren Party Social Democrats Moderate Sweden Democrats Alliance S&D EPP ECR Last election 5 seats,...

 

Pemilihan umum Gubernur Sumatera Selatan 2013200820186 Juni 2013Kandidat   Calon Alex Noerdin Herman Deru Eddy Santana Putra Partai Partai Golongan Karya Gerindra PDI-P Pendamping Ishak Mekki Maphilinda Boer Annisa Juwita Tatung Suara rakyat 1.447.799 1.389.169 507.149 Persentase 39,29% 37,69% 13,76%   Calon Iskandar Hasan Partai PKS Pendamping Hafisz Tohir Suara rakyat 341.278 Persentase 9,26% Peta persebaran suara Peta lokasi Sumatera Selatan Gubernur dan Wakil Gubernur...

Das Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche (LThK) ist eine christlich-theologische Enzyklopädie mit Schwerpunkt auf den Lehren und Institutionen der Katholischen Kirche. Alle Ausgaben sind im Verlag Herder in Freiburg im Breisgau erschienen; die gebräuchliche wissenschaftliche Abkürzung ist LThK (mit jeweils hochgestellter Ziffer der Auflage). Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Erste Auflage 1930–1938 2 Zweite Auflage 1957–1968 3 Dritte Auflage 1993–2001 4 Siehe auch 5 Bibliographische Angaben 6 Weblin...

 

Sarcolaenaceae Leptolaena multiflora Klasifikasi ilmiah Kerajaan: Plantae Klad: Tracheophyta Klad: Angiospermae Klad: Eudikotil Klad: Rosid Ordo: Malvales Famili: Sarcolaenaceae Genera lihat teks. Sarcolaenaceae adalah salah satu suku anggota tumbuhan berbunga. Menurut Sistem klasifikasi APG II suku ini dimasukkan ke dalam bangsa Malvales, klad euRosidae II. Wikimedia Commons memiliki media mengenai Sarcolaenaceae. lbsOrdo MalvalesPembagian familia (keluarga) menurut sistem klasifikasi APG I...