Tag Townes Van Zandt

“Pancho and Lefty” (Townes Van Zandt/Emmylou Harris/Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard)

Pancho and Left, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard

“Pancho and Lefty” is today’s classic song of the day. Written by singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt, it’s a story song about a Mexican bandit named Pancho and his pal Lefty, who eventually betrays him to the Federales. Some people think that “Pancho and Lefty” is about real Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. Mr. Van Zandt said that wasn’t the case, but…

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“Tecumseh Valley” (Townes Van Zandt/Nanci Griffith)

Today’s classic sad song of the day is “Tecumseh Valley,” a real tear-jerker written by Townes Van Zandt and best remembered as performed by Nanci Griffith. Townes wrote this one in 1968 and first released it on his For the Sake of the Song album. It was always a staple of his live sets but didn’t get widespread airplay at…

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