Lyr ADD: Pancho and Lefty (Townes Van Zandt)

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 31 Dec 07 - 11:58 AM

Freightdawg-

What a video! Here's the link but have a neckerchief handy: Click at Your Own Risk!

Did I see Amos in that last clip, raising a beer with Willy?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: freightdawg
Date: 31 Dec 07 - 12:42 AM

check out the video on You Tube. I can't do the blicky thing with the You Tube address but go to You Tube and search for Pancho and Lefty Willie Nelson. The video is with Willie Nelson as Pancho and Merle Haggard as Lefty, and there is a cameo of Townes Van Zandt at the end of the video. The interpretation of the video is quite interesting - kind of follows some of the suggestions posted above, with maybe a twist or two. It's good stuff.

Freightdawg

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 10:12 PM

Seems to me he is telling a tale, just as vividly as an Childs ballad does. Mexican bandido gets double crossed by good for nothing gringo who thereby gets his airfare home.

A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 09:47 PM

"So how do you feel about Townes dick? He sang it after writing it and he had no idea what it was about!"--Spaw

    I don't think about Townes very much, obe way or t'other. IMy lack of comprehension hasn't changed.
   


"Geeziz, Dick, that means you couldn't sing a ton of trad songs, dunninit?"--Big Mick

       No. With a very few exceptions, traditional songs are straightforward and to the point.


"Of course you'd need to have an idea of what any song you sing is about, Dick.

"But, with some songs anyway, that needn't necessarily be the same idea as a listener has, or as whoever you learnt the song from, or as whoever made it up in the first place or those who changed it along the way..." --McGrath of Harlow

      True. But a song that seems to tell a story should, IMO, tell a story; not vaguely suggest one. I"m not attacking TvanZ; I just don't understand what he's doing.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 06:20 PM

Of course you'd need to have an idea of what any song you sing is about, Dick.

But, with some songs anyway, that needn't necessarily be the same idea as a listener has, or as whoever you learnt the song from, or as whoever made it up in the first place or those who changed it along the way...

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Big Mick
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 05:51 PM

Geeziz, Dick, that means you couldn't sing a ton of trad songs, dunninit?

Mick

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 05:46 PM

So how do you feel about Townes dick? He sang it after writing it and he had no idea what it was about!

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 04:55 PM

I guess that I'm hopelessly old-fashioned, but I find it difficult to comprehend why one would sing a song when one doesn't have the faintest idea of what it's about.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 03:18 PM

I remember, in a story telling workshop, the man running it (Dan Keding, perhaps?)talking about how it was often best to leave out stuff, so the listeners could fill it in themselves, and make the story more vivid and personal. So you don't say "A tall dark-haired man with a bemused expression, wearing a trench-coat...", you say "A man".

It's not the only way, but it's a good way, and it's the way of the old ballads, and of this one too. And it can apply to more than just details like that, it can be motivations and even the actual events. The storyteller gives the bare bones,and the listeners put flesh on the bones and clothes on the body, and what they make of it will be different for all of them.
.................

I'd read it pretty well the same way as Amos did (five years ago - doesn't time fly in these revived threads!) - except that "He only did what he had to do" I'd see as referring to (maybe) selling out Pancho, playing the role of Judas or little Robert Ford, a necessary role in a legend where "poets sing how Pancho fell". But that's just me.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Big Mick
Date: 30 Dec 07 - 01:05 PM

Spaw, you are a man of rare genius. It is simply a good bit of yarn spinning. Amen.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 10:45 AM

I agree Jeri and Charley.

But negative space for interpretation seems different to me than trying to do analysis finding meaning in every nuance which always sorta' gives me a chuckle..........especially when you later find out that the songwriter had put far less thought into it. We ran a long thread on "Don't Think Twice" but its hard to say what Dylan was actually thinking. And I guess that's what makes some songs great.......they lend themselves to a broad range of interpretations.

But its so enjoyable to find out in this case that Townes didn't have a clue himself. I'd love to see the day where Don McLean comes out and says that "American Pie" was really about the cold winter day his sister broke his record player and trashed his 45 collection while he was out on his paper route.

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Jeri
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 08:48 AM

On the deserts down in Mexico

According to the YouTube thing, should be a singular 'desert'.

Dick does a decent version. It's a bit strange with the accent, but I guess it's no stranger than Americans singing Scots songs. I can't remember who I first heard sing it - Maybe Gaughan, maybe Nancy Griffith - but it's one of the first songs I tried figuring out on guitar.

I like songs that leave 'negative space' for a listener to interpret their own way. I know this drives some people nuts, but I like it because the listener gets to exercise their creativity.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Dec 07 - 08:43 AM

Spaw-

The artist is frequently clueless about what the song or other creative work really means. That's why there are critics and fans!

I think it was Bob Franke who explained that as a songwriter he was "mining the collective unconcious." Hmmm, that sounds like the title of a new song!

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Janice in NJ
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 10:52 PM

I have heard Panchita used as a diminutive for Francesca. More common is Chita.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Barry Finn
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 08:16 PM

"Dick Gaughan does a fine version of 'Pancho and Lefty'"

That's a matter of personnal opinion & taste. After hearing him do this, if it were me that wrote it & was dead I'd be spitting out dirt in Dick's face & he'd be bitin dust instead of singing about it.

Barry

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 08:11 PM

This was one of the very first threads I ever read here back in '98 and let me say I have always loved TVZ but the subsequent times this thread appeared I seemed to be in one of my numerous near death experiences. So now it appears once more and I get the chance to read all of the posts........and laugh my ass off!

Though I loved his work, I always had the feeling that he was a supreme wordsmith who was also pretty whacked out.   I still think that's true. For all of you who have tried to provide context, meaning, history, or whatever else to this song.........y'all are fucked up! That's because TVZ himself was fucked up! I saw this show once a few years back on television and now some of it is on YouTube. You'll think twice about doing any analyzing of this song or any of his others afterwards......kinda' hopeless and pretty wasted........much like poor old Townes himself.

Spend 10 minutes here!

Spaw

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 08:06 PM

Yah, thanks from me as well for refreshing this thread. It's another "commercial" song that has haunted me for years, and which I never had seen all the words.

I enjoyed much of the discussion above but I have to acknowledge that Amos has nailed the interpretation, and may even be "Lefty" or the son of "Lefty." I mean, why is he so sure he's right?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: gecko
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 07:58 PM

Dick Gaughan does a fine version of 'Pancho and Lefty' on his CD Redwood Cathedral, though the song notes for this track are restricted to "I record this as a small personal homage to a fine songwriter" with no printed lyrics - permission could not be obtained to print.

fox4zero: the only thing funnier than reading 'Quasimodo' is to hear Stewie recite it! It's a tradition at all Top Half Folk Festivals in the Northern Territory often accompanied by Stewie's recital of 'The Bastard from the Bush' Onya Stewie!

YIU

gecko

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 06:37 PM

Attaching van Zandt's Pancho to Francisco Villa is nonsense, of course. Anyone named Francis, Francisco Franklin or variations always ends up as 'Pancho' in New Mexico, northern Mexico, south Tejas or Arizona. Dunno when that started, but I think it was before Villa. It is also a surname.
As an anglo named F-, raised in that area, non-anglo schoolmates called me Pancho. When I went to university in Texas, I thought I had shed the name, but an old mate out of my home town also went there, and when he spotted me, he shouted "Pancho!" Well, I didn't get rid of Pancho until I went to gringo country and joined a multinational. My Pancho didn't die in Cleveland, but nearer Chicago.

Guest and Joe, thanks for bringing the song up top again.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Dec 07 - 05:34 PM

Dave T's transcriptions are usually pretty good. His is the second post in this thread. Any corrections, or can we call it a "definitive" version of the lyrics?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,Just another Townes fan
Date: 02 Nov 05 - 09:57 AM

Hello everyone, I'm just looking for Townes lyrics and ran across mudcat dot.

Anyway, Townes Van Zant, on his live album, explains in length to the crowd where and how Poncho and Lefty was written. I'll let y'all enjoy the recording yourselves but will say it was written in a motel in Texas, according to Townes himself.

Personally, I got to hear stories about Townes while in Nashville. I'll spare you the details and get to the story teller's point; Mr. Van Zant was a prolific writter of extrodinary talent and a style to himself, and music row (as they call it in Nashville) knew it. Moreover, again according to the teller's POV, when the large corporations and or people like Harlen Howard need songs they often could get them by finding Townes, usually on the street somewhere, and putting him up in a cockroach motel and provide alchohol until he was finished writing. Then they would forget about him, again. Now I don't know how true this story is, but I do know the look in this fellows eyes as he told the story and I accept his words as true.

Coincidently, Townes died a week later in Nashville (at one of his former girlfriend or wives home). The paper had a fine bio on Townes and I recall them saying that no one expected much more than a pine box and a few people to say farewell. Amazingly, all types of musicians from all genres attended his funeral. So much so that music row was shut down as dozens, perhaps hundreds of people stood in line to pay their final respects to Townes while three prominent names in the business (I only remember Lyle Lovette, sorry) played alongside. Truly a beautiful goodbye.

Thanks for taking the time, Townes. Your music continues to live in our hearts.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,Kernow John
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 02:35 PM

Thanks
I'm going looking. KJ

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 01:55 PM

Har! Har! Getting a bit testy there Amos... A day job wouldn't be a bad idea at this point, but do you know what the employment scene is like in this town? Even chicken-sexers can't find work here. There is Tim Hortons and McDonalds, but they're looking for teenagers mostly.

I find your analysis of the song to be bang-on. A pity you didn't launch it right at the beginning of this thread, and you could have saved us all a lot of time and trouble, eh? :-)

- LH

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 02:53 AM

Geeze you guys!.

"What he had to do" was get the hell out of Mexico, to get back to his own culture, where he was still a loser! The dust is a fucking METAPHOR. Pancho bit the dust. Lefty had to live with the guilt. The reason they let Lefty go was not out of kindness -- that's ramapnat sarcasm -- it is because they had them a paid informer. That's where Lewfty got the bread to go... oh, fuggit...I MUST have something better to do.

The first verse is about Lefty splitting from home (Cleveeand, Cincinnatti, alla same me!). It introduces the character. Then another character gets introduced. Then ... oh, never mind. The song is as plain as the nose on your face. You guys pursuing college degrees or somp'n, trying to make everything other than it is and complicate the universe? Tell ya what -- get a day job, you'll be much happier!

A.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 01:03 AM

I got carried away on that "guru" rap, mainly cos it's a subject that just happens to interest me a lot...and I have apologized in a PM to Stewie for so doing...it was really off topic, anyway.

Getting back to the Ballad of Pancho and Lefty...I wonder if the line about the Federales letting Pancho get away "out of kindness, I suppose" is a bit satirical...a wry or sarcastic comment on the Federales themselves?

I have NEVER heard of the Federales letting anyone get away out of kindness...it's not a quality they were know for. Sounds more to me like they were making empty boasts, and that Pancho was simply too smart for them...till his luck finally ran out.

He was too smart for Pershing and the US Army (assuming it was Villa the song refers to). Their incursion into Mexico caused Villa's opponents in the Mexican government great damage, but did no harm whatsoever to Villa. He was one clever bandit.

- LH

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 11 Nov 01 - 12:08 AM

Oh, bugger.  Worth saying once, I thought, but twice; probably not. We seem to have been having trouble with the inter-dimensional gateways between here and the rest of the world (or even the top of the street) just lately...

>grumble<

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 11:34 PM

If we have to get into minutiae, I'd guess that

The day they laid old Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go...(etc.)

suggests that we're dealing with two separate people; evidently, the locals knew Lefty and couldn't work out where he got the money for his train-fare from; Pancho, having bit some serious dust, was in no position to comment.  Had they been the same person, somebody local would have known.  We're not talking about Zorro, after all.

Damn good song, mind; been playing backup fiddle on it for years over here in Yorkshire, where we have our fair share of outlaws and biteable dust (though we have moors instead of deserts, and only farmers are allowed to carry guns, inside or outside of their trousers).If we have to get into minutiae, I'd guess that

The day they laid old Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go...(etc.)

suggests that we're dealing with two separate people; evidently, the locals knew Lefty and couldn't work out where he got the money for his train-fare from; Pancho, having bit some serious dust, was in no position to comment.  Had they been the same person, somebody local would have known.  We're not talking about Zorro, after all.

Damn good song, mind; been playing backup fiddle on it for years over here in Yorkshire, where we have our fair share of outlaws and biteable dust (though we have moors instead of deserts, and only farmers are allowed to carry guns, inside or outside of their trousers).

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 10:47 PM

Amos - Cleveland!

So how did the dust that Pancho bit get into Lefty's mouth, anyway?

Who's the first verse about? Who is it that the federales could have had any day? Pancho or Lefty? Who the heck is he talkin' to?

How come if Pancho "met his match" and was "laid low," "no one heard his dying words?" Whoever killed him should have heard his dying words. Oops, it never actually says he was killed. Sounds like nobody was there when he was laid low.

Pancho needs your prayers, it's true
But save a few for Lefty, too
He only did what he had to do...

So what is it he had to do?

And if there are two separate guys, what was their relationship? Partners, or did one kill the other? What in the lyrics makes you think so?

I still think it's one guy with a secret identity, sort of like Cleveland's own Batman. (No, Jeri - don't think about a parody...)

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 10:16 PM

Larry, I just remembered that I have posted it to the forum previously. You'll find it here:

Quasimodo

Cheers, Stewie.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 10:03 PM

Larry, rather than thread creep further, I'll PM you the whole thing - it's one of Barker's best.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Amos
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 09:58 PM

Naw -- it wasn't the same guy. It was a payoff. "Left the taste of dust in his mouth" and "bit the dust" are two cliches being brilliantly combined in a new line. There is no way the line implies identity of the two people. The mystery of where he got the bread to go is obviously due to the fact that he was on the bum in Mexico, a shiftless gringo, and suddenly got his palm crossed with thirty peices of silver -- enough for a one-way ticket – to Cincinnatti, for crying out loud!! Why would he go there?? THAT's the mystery.

A

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: fox4zero
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 09:43 PM

Stewie

That is the funniest f'cking thing I have read since the Magna Carta....I really LOL! Larry

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Stewie
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 06:49 PM

Larry, I'm right for bandaids, thanks. Your 'open mouth' reference brings to mind the opening lines of Les Barker's classic 'Quasimodo':

An unlucky man that Quasimodo
The local people said
He used to be six foot three
But a bell fell on his head
Pigeons used to crap on his hat
Quasimodo was bound to lose
He'd look up open-mouthed, in dismay
But his pigeons all flew round in twos

Cheers, Stewie.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: X
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 01:47 PM

To fox4zero, The .38 super is a fantastic round, just short of being a .357 in an auto. To bad the US didn't switch to that one. Shooting a big man with a 9mm P just might make him mad.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 12:20 PM

GUEST's "Pancho and Lefty as the same person" idea is very interesting. If you look at the song in that way, a lot of the confusing aspects make sense. That dust-biting line for one. Also, the mystery of where Lefty got the bread to go. And "And all the federales say they could have had him any day" - which "him?" There is not ONE reference to the relationship between the two - it's all implied very vaguely. When not naming names, van Zandt seems to be talking to/about one person - see first verse in particular. Maybe Lefty just got too old to continue the outlaw life as Pancho...

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: fox4zero
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 10:48 AM

The only version that I have heard was Willie Nelson when he did a concert in Torrington CT about 6 months ago. He sand it very clearly 'cause I could make out most of the words, which was not true of most of the rest of the concert.

As to the "guns outside of his pants"...when I was stationed in Alaska in the mid 50's it was illegal to carry a handgun concealed. It was perfectly legal to wear a handgun in a holster on your hip (exposed). As a matter of fact, I once traded a shotgun for a brand new Colt Super .38 Auto that a Deputy US Marshal took off a seaman who had a "bulge" under his jacket.(I wish I kept that gun, it was a beauty). I believe that the same was true in the "old West"....that it was illegal or against the "ethical" code to carry a concealed gun. I believe the implication is that Lefty (the cowardly lowlife) carried a hideout gun.

My interpretation (for what it's worth) is that Lefty (the cowardly Gringo) either shot his pal Pancho (definitely not Villa) in the back, or set him up for the Federales who did the shooting). The bread which enabled him to flee to Cleveland (serves him right) was his 30 pieces of silver. [I concur with ddw on this]

Troll, I concur: The Federales "we could get him any ol' time" was, I agree, sour grapes.

Guest Frankie, Itis a beutiful poetic line: The shared "dust in the mouth" bit represented Lefty's eternal guilt over his betrayal of a buddy.

Stewie, do you need any bandaids as a result of the avian attack of a small raptor? I guess it's better than being shit upon by pidgeons. My father always said (among many other sage quotes) "Never look up with your mouth open" and "It's a good thing that cows can't fly". I believe that the latter was lifted from the classic:

Little birdie in the sky You dropped something in my eye. I won't swear and I won't cry, But I'll be glad that cows can't fly.

Regards to all, Larry Parish

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Jack The Lad
Date: 10 Nov 01 - 07:01 AM

I bought the Double album "Townes Van Zandt- Anthology 1968-1979" in the UK- in a record shop- can't remember which. It cost 15.99 and is on the Charly label CDGr 207-2. It was in the Country section- Lots of his best including P&L and Tecumseh Valley, Lungs etc Cheers, Jack The Lad

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 09 Nov 01 - 07:43 AM

The song appears on several of Van Zandt's records: "Rear View Mirror"; "The late great Townes Van Zandt"; "Live at the old quarter"; "Live and obscure:" "Rain on a conga drum"; "The masters"; "Documentary", and "A far cry from dead".  There may be even more by now.  Most of them are listed at amazon.co.uk, which might be your best bet.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,Kernow John
Date: 09 Nov 01 - 04:13 AM

The words have got me hooked. Where can I get to hear this in the UK? The record shops over here when I mention Townes say who?
Regards KJ

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Uncle Steve
Date: 09 Nov 01 - 02:20 AM

Apropos of absolutely nothing... my fried Jerry Rau, a folk singer in Minnesota, tells the story of sitting across a cafe table from Townes when he was scratching down those words. That's the way it was. Anybody know of Jerry? He's been kicking around for plenty a year, used to hang out with Bill Staines and Nanci Griffith.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,VanGo
Date: 09 Nov 01 - 12:19 AM

Is it possible that the story behind Poncho and Lefty is not a tale of two friends, but of one man. It never states that the federales got him, only that he met his match, and noone heard his dying words... Perhaps this is because he hung up his guns, retiring from his outlawry.

It seems to me that all the signs point to this.. The dust that Poncho bit ends up in Lefty's mouth.. meaning Poncho's "death" gave life to Lefty

Add to that Lefty's leaving on the day Poncho was "laid low", and the federales saying they could've taken him anytime...this sounds like someone who never did something, but still wants to sound important.

Just my 2 cents

VanGo

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Nov 01 - 07:48 PM

Lighten up, Little Hawk. I didn't mean to offend you. I should have put 'young gurus' in quotes because that is how Townes put it - he was telling a funny story about how he came to write a song.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Nov 01 - 07:39 PM

Stewie - a Guru does not attract 250,000 "young gurus" to his meetings. The word Guru means a fully developed spiritual teacher, one who has achieved Self-realization. There are a tiny number of such people in this world at any given time. If there were 250,000 of them in the world, the world as we know it would be transformed beyond anything most of us can presently imagine. The word "Guru" means "dark-light"...e.g. the light that shines in the darkness. (Generally, I might add, the darkness does not comprehend it at all...if it even notices it...the dark is generally far too busy accumulating money and seeking worldly gains of one kind or another...or satisfying basic physical desires. Those are the things the ego just naturally does. Not that it's evil, it's just very limited in its viewpoint.)

Hence, a Guru does not attract young gurus, he attracts spiritual seekers, spiritual students, that type of thing. In time, through study and discipline, a tiny handful of those people attain to the point where they themselves can be termed a "guru". I'd say less than 1/100 of 1 per cent of them make it that far in a given lifetime, which is not to say that the others are wasting their time, as long as they progress part way along the path. Any progress is still progress and will not be wasted or lost.

The Indian tradition regards the life of the soul as eternal, although physical life is transitory. The soul returns again and again to physical existence until it attains Self-realization (God made real in an individual consciousness...the original Self that lies beneath the outer temporary ego brought forth into full conscious awareness and expression...the Divine fully manifested in a living being...those are ways of expressing it).

A follower of a guru can be termed a Sadhak (spiritual seeker, worker and student)...but he is not himself a guru at that point.

I've met exactly one fully fledged guru in my whole life so far, among the uncountable thousands of people who have crossed my path...and I've met a handful of people who were clearly progressing reasonably well toward a higher consciousness, but had a way still to go.

And, yes, there are some phony gurus out there, just like there's counterfeit money out there. I've heard of more than a few of those and I've seen how they misuse their influence on the credulous who follow them.

Like I said, I've met exactly one real one. How did I know he was real? It was plainly obvious. Period.

- LH

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Nov 01 - 06:50 PM

Townes tells an amusing story about how he came to write 'Pancho and Lefty' in the live version released on 'Rain on a Conga Drum' Torn and Frayed Records, Frayed CD1. It involved him having a 3-day gig in Dallas but being forced to stay at a rundown motel 50 miles from Dallas because all hotel rooms within 50 miles of Dallas were filled as a result of Billy Graham and an Indian guru both 'playing' Dallas on the same 3 days. He said Graham attracted about 500 thousand young Christians and the guru about 250 thousand young gurus and he had '7 winos from downtown'. There was nothing to do in the motel so he vowed not to move from a chair until he had written a song. Fortunately, 'Pancho and Lefty' came floating in the window. He said he always thought of Graham and the guru as co-writers, but he never heard from them. No mention of Pancho Villa. The recording was made at a live concert in Berlin on 25 October 1990.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST
Date: 08 Nov 01 - 04:20 PM

Redundantly, I agree w/ Amos et al.

Aside to Roger in Balt.--as Melani explained, the 'or something' is Chapultepec (=Grasshopper Hill) Castle, which during the Mexican War was fortified and is now a museum, very worth seeing by visitors to Mexico City.

The problem with a lot of the labored interps is this. MAYBE P. Villa was the inspiration for Pancho in "P&L." Very extremely maybe, the Seven Child Heroes (Ninos Heroes) were inspiration for "7 Spanish Angels." Even if they were, the resulting songs were so completely reshaped by Willie, Townes et al that there's no point trying for one-to-one correspondences.

If anyone mentioned Emmylou Harris' cover of P&L, I missed the mention. I think it was on "Luxury Liner."

CC

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Trapper
Date: 08 Nov 01 - 03:51 PM

The URL for the chords are listed in the THIRD post in this thread....

- Al

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,peter cyril
Date: 08 Nov 01 - 03:11 PM

how about the chords to pancho and lefty....I would love to have them...

peace, Peter

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Tedham Porterhouse
Date: 06 Oct 01 - 02:27 PM

I haven't seen/heard it yet, but the two buddies are Guy Clark and Steve Earle. Guy Clark was talking about it with the Mike Regenstreif on Folk Roots/folk Branches last Thursday.

There is also another "new" one called "Texas Rain," an album of duets with Townes and a bunch of others. As I said in an earlier post, Mike played the version of "Pancho & Lefty" from it with Freddy Fender.

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: Mudlark
Date: 06 Oct 01 - 01:04 PM

I just heard on NPR this morning that 2 new TVZ albums have been released....one a collection of his work by various artists, including Nancy Griffith, and the other a live club recording with his buddies (who were in the radio studio talking to Scott Simon about VanZ), who's names I've suddenly drawn a blank on. Anyway, both albums sound well worth having...

Subject: RE: The Ballad of Pancho and Lefty
From: GUEST,frankie
Date: 05 Oct 01 - 04:34 PM

"The dust that Pancho bit down south,
Ended up in Lefty's mouth."
One of the best lines I ever heard anywhere. I love E.L. Harris' version but I think Van Zandt did the best one on a live album somewhere, at Gruene Hall I think. f