And so this thing reaches that last letter of the alphabet... 

Townes van Zandt (no relation to the Skynyrd boys BTW) wrote and released what has come to be known as “Pancho & Lefty” (his song was originally titled “Poncho And Lefty”) in 1972. It has become a Country music standard. It has become a Country music standard. I have versions of it by Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, Steve Earle and Jason Isbell. I know of other versions by Roseanne Cash, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Frank Turner and many others. It’s a fabulous story song in the great Country tradition, the tale of two outlaws, Lefty sells Pancho out to the federales and lives out his life up North in the cold of Ohio. I don’t now remember whose version I heard first but once I found out it was written by Townes van Zandt I made a mental note to find out about him.

TvZ was a singer and songwriter from Fort Worth, Texas. Much of his career was spent playing bars and living in motels, for a time he lived in a shack with no electricity or telephone. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had issues with drugs and alcohol throughout his life. He died in 1997, from heart problems bought on by drug and alcohol abuse, at the age of 52. He never had any great success himself in his lifetime but Steve Earle, who met van Zandt in 1978 and regarded him as a mentor, said of him “<he's> the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that” (Dylan is a fan BTW).

In 1981 Emmylou Harris and Don Williams had a #3 Country hit with Townes song “If I Needed You”. In 1983 Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard recorded an album together which not only included “Pancho & Lefty” but that’s what they titled the album. Steve Earle recorded an album of 15 TvZ songs in 2009 titled “Townes” (it’s part of a series including “Guy” the songs of Guy Clark, “Jerry Jeff” the songs of Jerry Jeff Walker and “J.T” the songs of his son Justin Townes Earle, spot what he did there ?). This guy obviously knew how to write a song and people love to keep recording ‘em.

“Rear View Mirror” is a live recording (a sparesly attended performance by the sound of things) of 17 of Townes best known songs including the two we’ve already talked about alongside “Our Mother The Mountain”, “Tecumseh Valley”, “Waiting Around To Die”, “Colorado Girl” and many more. It was originally released in 1993 with the recording apparently made in Oklahoma in 1978 (this issue is on Pink vinyl too). He’s accompanied by Danny Rowland on second acoustic guitar and Owen Cody on fiddle, a very simple setting for some quite beautiful songs. From what I’ve read and been told about other TvZ performances he is on fine form for this one, sober and engaging. These may not be the best recordings of these songs but they are honest, graciously performed and show what a great writer Townes van Zandt was. An American Folk music giant in the great Texas Troubadour tradition.

Pancho & Lefty - https://youtu.be/cOctHMWoYyc?si=ruiolfMCH1m4CoHA