“I Just Think Of It As Kind Of My Song” – Emmylou Harris On Not Getting Recognition For “Pancho & Lefty”

It's always a strange thing when the artist most known for singing a song isn't the original artist, but stranger still when there's a few legendary artists who've recorded it for an album. "Pancho & Lefty" is one of the most iconic songs in country music history. It was written and first released by Townes Van Zandt for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt but most fans recognize it thanks to Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard teaming up for a version in 1983 which became a certified smash, topping the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and peaking at 21 on the US Adult Contemporary chart. But somewhere in the middle of those two renditions, Emmylou Harris performed it and she's always felt like she deserves more credit for doing so. Emmylou included "Pancho & Lefty" on her 1977 album titled Luxury Liner , and though it was never released as a single, it was actually her version that got Willie Nelson interested in making his own version with Merle. Side note, Merle Haggard was black-out drunk while recording the song and didn't exactly like it when he woke up in the morning. You can hear Eric Church tell that story in all its detail here . In the 2004 documentary about Townes Van Zandt's life, Be Here To Love Me , Emmylou was interviewed and said the following about the song: "Even though Willie and Merle went on to do it and have a hit with it later and it's sort of recognized, because I did it first I just think of it as kind of my song. But I get the sustenance from it when I sing it and people still request it and I pretty much do it every night." I have to say, she does have a point. Townes Van Zandt remains a criminally underrated artist in country music but Emmylou Harris is as well. Much like John Prine, Emmylou fits solidly in the category of "your favorite artist's favorite artist" and while her name will pop up in discussions about major influencers in the scene, it's probably true that the commercial success from "Pancho & Lefty", in a perfectly just world, would have gone to her and Townes. That's not how things worked and she did very well for herself by consistently sticking to the sound and direction that she wanted and nothing more, a characteristic that deserves enormous praise, but the fact that "Pancho & Lefty" isn't a major piece of her resume seems to be one of those things that will never sit quite well with her. This interview piece takes place at 1:10:28 of the documentary below. https://youtube.com/watch?v=BADaK_1VfnI&t=3106s And here's her version of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MtvnZ2LvsM