Pancho & Lefty | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | January 1983 | |||
Recorded | November 1982 | |||
Studio | Pedernales Recording (Spicewood, Texas) | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 35:35 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Chips Moman | |||
Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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Pancho & Lefty by Townes Van Zandt (1972) became well-known through a honky tonk album by outlaw country musicians Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, released in 1983. Original vinyl copies from 1983 give the album's title as "Poncho & Lefty" on the cover, as well as on the inner sleeve and the record label; the album's title track is similarly rendered "Poncho & Lefty" on the cover, inner sleeve, and label. Later editions correct the title to the intended "Pancho & Lefty.” They are backed by Don Markham of The Strangers.
The title track was written by Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt and was recorded towards the end of the recording sessions. The song tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more mysterious character, his associate Lefty, and implies that Pancho was killed after he was betrayed by Lefty, who was paid off by the Mexican federales. In the Van Zandt documentary Be Here To Love Me, Nelson recalls how the 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'. 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.[ citation needed ] Van Zandt appears in the video for the song playing one of the Mexican federales. "It was real nice they invited me," Van Zandt told Aretha Sills in 1994.[ citation needed ] The song topped the Billboard country music singles chart. A second single, the sombre "Reasons to Quit," was another Top 10 hit. [1]
Haggard and Nelson would record another album together, Seashores of Old Mexico , in 1987.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Robert Christgau | B+ [3] |
Martin Monkman of AllMusic calls the album "an album by two legends that lives up to, and at one point exceeds, expectations... one gets the sense that this is a collaboration in every sense." [2] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote "Haggard hasn't sung with so much care in years, which is obviously Nelson's doing..." [3]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocal | Length |
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1. | "Pancho and Lefty" | Townes van Zandt | Willie with Merle on the last verse | 4:49 |
2. | "It's My Lazy Day" | Smiley Burnette | 2:50 | |
3. | "My Mary" | Stuart Hamblen, Jimmie Davis | Merle Haggard | 3:17 |
4. | "Half a Man" | Willie Nelson | Merle on first and third verse with Willie on second | 4:13 |
5. | "Reasons to Quit" | Merle Haggard | 3:32 | |
6. | "No Reason to Quit" | Dean Holloway | Merle Haggard | 3:15 |
7. | "Still Water Runs the Deepest" | Jesse Ashlock | Willie Nelson | 2:46 |
8. | "My Life's Been a Pleasure" | Jesse Ashlock | 3:25 | |
9. | "All the Soft Places to Fall" | Leona Williams | 3:34 | |
10. | "Opportunity to Cry" | Willie Nelson | 4:01 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead Vocal | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Half a Man" (alternate version) | Willie Nelson | Willie | 3:35 |
12. | "My Own Peculiar Way" | Willie Nelson | Willie | 2:59 |
Total length: | 42:16 |
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 1 |
U.S. Billboard 200 | 37 |
Year | Single | Peak chart positions | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US Country | US AC | CAN Country | ||
1983 | "Reasons to Quit" | 6 | — | 7 |
"Pancho and Lefty" | 1 | 21 | 1 |
"Pancho and Lefty", originally "Poncho and Lefty", is a song written by American country music 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. The song has been recorded by several artists since its composition and performance by Van Zandt, with the Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard version selling the most copies and reaching number one on the Billboard country chart. In 2021, the Townes Van Zandt version was ranked number 498 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Chicago Wind is the fifty-eighth studio album by American country singer and songwriter Merle Haggard, released in 2005. It peaked at number 54 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. A video was made for the track "America First".
A Taste of Yesterday's Wine is a duet studio album by American country music artists George Jones and Merle Haggard, released in 1982. They are backed by Don Markham and Jimmy Belken of the Strangers. The album includes the song "Silver Eagle", written by Gary Church, also of the Strangers. This was their first album together; their next album together, Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again, did not come until 24 years later in 2006.
The Late Great Townes Van Zandt is a 1972 studio album by American singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. It was the second album that he recorded in 1972, and a follow-up to High, Low and In Between.
Last of the Breed is a two-disc album by American country music artists Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price, released in 2007. It debuted at number 64 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 13,000 copies in its first week. The album has 100,000 copies in the U.S. as of May 2015. The album was ranked number 33 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.
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Always on My Mind is the 27th studio album by country singer Willie Nelson. It was the Billboard number one country album of the year for 1982, and stayed 253 weeks on the Billboard Top Country Albums charts, peaking at number one for a total of 22 weeks, as well as spending 99 weeks on the all-genre Billboard 200, peaking at number two for 3 weeks.
Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album is the seventeenth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1974. Contrary to the album's title, this was his 17th studio album; however, the number 30 included his six collaborative albums, three live albums, one 'live' gospel album, one Christmas album, and two greatest hits compilations up to that point.
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That's the Way Love Goes is the thirty-eighth studio album by the American country music singer Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1983.
If I Could Only Fly is the 50th studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard, released in 2000. The album reached number 26 on the Billboard Country albums chart. The title song is a cover of a 1979 song written and recorded by Texas songwriter Blaze Foley. Haggard had previously recorded the song as a duet with American country singer Willie Nelson on their 1987 album, Seashores of Old Mexico, peaking at number 58 on the 1987 Billboard Hot Country Songs singles chart.
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Amber Waves of Grain is a live album by American country music artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1985. It was Haggard's third live album in four years and was recorded at the Hollywood Star Theater. It features a mix of Haggard's big hits and other, more obscure tracks. The title cut, written by Freddy Powers, is a paean to the American farmer, in keeping with the spirit of the Willie Nelson-spearheaded Farm Aid benefit, as does "Tulare Dust" and "The Farmer's Daughter." The LP peaked at number 25 on the Billboard country albums chart.
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Blue Jungle is the forty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard, with backing by his band, The Strangers, released in 1990. The album peaked at number 47 on the Billboard country albums chart. It was co-produced by Mark Yeary, the honky tonk piano player of Merle Haggard's band, 13 consecutive years awarded the ACM Band of the Year, The Strangers.
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