Pancho and Lefty
Pancho and Lefty was written by the late great Townes Van Zandt. He is a story, or more like an epic all 
unto himself. In the song he tells the story of Pancho Villa who was betrayed by a sidekick whose name in Spanish means lefty.
Then again, he might have written the song about two police officers who stoppen him on a road near Brenham, Texas. At any rate, the song was recorded in 1972 by Townes Van Zandt who was a magician as a songwriter. He has said in interviews the song came to him out of the blue. That is probably true as it is inconsistent with historical facts. But, what a gift! A song like that, right out of the blue…..
It became a big hit for Emmylou Harris on her Luxury Liner album, and later it was a #1 hit for the duo of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson who titled their album appropriately, Pancho and Lefty.
It’s one of my favorites and I like it as sung by all these artists…..
And here is Willie and Merle’s version:
Emmylou sings as sweetly as any bird….Here she is younger and brown headed.
And here is a version by Steve Earl…..it’s possible only Steve Earl led as much as a drug, booze filled, interesting, creative life as Townes Van Zandt.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Steve Earl leads in the ex-wife category
Love this! Marfa had a Townes Van Zandt event of some kind a few years ago, and that was the first time I was aware of him. Gosh, he wrote some great songs, covered by lots of artists.
This is interesting. My favorite version is Wille and Merle’s. Townes VanZandt wrote a masterpiece with Panch and Lefty.