MERLE HAGGARD & WILLIE NELSON
PONCHO AND LEFTY
Epic FE-37958
January/1983
Produced by Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson
Merle Haggard - vocal/guitar
Willie Nelson - vocal/guitar
Grady Martin, Reggie Young - lead guitar
Lewis Talley, Chips Moman, Johnny Christopher - guitar
Mike Leech - bass
Gene Chrisman - drums
Johnny Gimble - fiddle/mandolin
Bobby Emmons, Bobby Wood - keyboards
Mickey Raphael - harmonica
Don Markham - sax/trumpet
Recorded:
Nov/1982, Pedernales Recording Studio, Spicewood, TX
1.
PONCHO AND LEFTY
(Townes VanZandt)
« © '72 Bughouse, ASCAP / Katie Bell Music, ASCAP »
Living on the road my friend was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you were your skin like iron and your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy but her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye and sank into your dreams
Poncho was a bandit boys his horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel
Poncho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin' words but that's the story goes
All the Federals say could've had him any day
We only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose
Lefty he can't sing the blues all night long like he used to
The dust that Poncho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth
Day they laid poor Poncho low Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go there ain't nobody knows
All the Federals say could've had him any day...
[ guitar ]
The poets tell how Poncho fell and Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold and so the story ends we're told
Poncho needs your prayers it's true but save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do and now he's growing old
All the Federals say could've had him any day...
A few Federals say could've had him any day
We only let him go so long out of kindness I suppose
**********
2.
IT'S MY LAZY DAY
(Smiley Burnette)
« © '65 Golden West Melodies, BMI »
Well I might have gone fishin' I got to thinkin' it over
The road to the river is a mighty long way
Well it must be the reason ano rhyme or no reason
I'm takin' it easy it's my lazy day
I never mind callin' cause I ain't comin'
Just get you on by me and stay out of my way stay out of my way
A little bit thinkin' drives me to drinkin'
Hey I'm a takin' it easy it's my lazy day
[ piano - guitar ]
Well I might have gone fishin'...
**********
3.
MY MARY
(Stuart Hamblen - Jimmie Davis)
« © '48 Hamblen Music, ASCAP »
I take a trip every evening scrolling down memory lane
I'm walkin' again those familiar paths dreaming those dreams again
And I can always see my sweetheart just as she used to be
Waiting for someone at the garden gate and I know that someone is me
Big brown eyes and pearly hair and you'd tell that's Mary
Rosy cheeks and ruby lips can't you tell that's Mary
Ofttimes in the evenings we'd go scrolling
Hand in hand together beneath the pepper tree
And I can feel her hand in mine as I sit alone tonight
Dreaming of the times I spent with Mary
[ fiddle - guitar ]
Ofttimes in the evenings we'd go scrolling...
Oh gee wouldn't it be wonderful to open up the doors of the past
And live again as yesterday
But you know no matter where I wander no matter where I roam
There'll always be a place in my heart boys
Fofr a girl away back for a girl that I used to call Mary
**********
4.
HALF A MAN
(Willie Nelson)
« © '59 Tree Publishing, BMI »
If I only had one arm to hold you better yet if I had none at all
Then I wouldn't have two arms that ache for you I'd have one less mem'ry to recall
If I only had one ear to listen to the lies that you told to me
Then I would more closely resemble the half a man you've made of me
And if I had been born with but one eye then I only have one eye to cry
And if half of my heart turned to ashes maybe have my heartaches died
And if I only have one leg to stand on
Then how much how much truer picture you'd see
But then I'd more closely resamble the half of man you've made of me
[ guitar ]
And if I only have one leg to stand on...
**********
5.
REASONS TO QUIT
(Merle Haggard)
« © '82 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Reasons to quit the smoke and booze don't do me like before
And I'm hardly ever sober and my old friends don't come around much anymore
Reasons to quit below it always lower than the high
And the reasons to quit don't out number all the reasons why
So we keep smokin' and we keep drinkin' havin' fun and never thinkin'
Laughin' at the price tags that we pay
And we keep rollin' down the fast lane like two young men feelin' no pain
And the reasons for quittin's gettin' bigger each day
Reasons to quit I can't afford the habit all the time
I need to be sober I need to write some new songs that will rhyme
Reasons to quit they have no rhyme or reason when you're high
And the reasons to quit don't out number all the reasons why
[ guitar ]
We keep smokin' and we keep drinkin'...
And the reasons for quittin's gettin' bigger each day
**********
6.
NO REASON TO QUIT
(Dean Holloway)
« © '71 Tree Publishing, BMI »
There's a circle of people where I'm no longer welcome
I'm ashamed to say that I'm no longer fit
I could sober up tomorrow and face my friends again
But I've got no reason to quit
No I've got no reason for living right
And there's no other way to forget
I could sober up tomorrow and face my friends again
But I've got no reason to quit
[ guitar - mandolin ]
I've got no reason for living right
And there's no other way to forget
I know down deep inside me I'm man enough to change
But I've got no reason to quit
**********
7.
STILL WATER RUNS THE DEEPEST
(Jesse Ashlock)
« © '77 Unichappell Music, BMI »
Still water runs the depest like a love complete and through
So peaceful and dependable I can't say the same about you
Your love is cold and selfish and it never could be true
One time I loved you truly I can't say the same about you
I'm leaving and I won't be back I'm goin' to where I belong
Too long we've been together and too long you've done me wrong
Still water runs the depest...
[ guitar - mandolin ]
Well I'm leaving and I won't be back...
Still water runs the depest...
**********
8.
MY LIFE'S BEEN A PLEASURE (I STILL LOVE YOU AS I DID IN YESTERDAY)
(Jesse Ashlock)
« © '81 Peer International, BMI »
I still love you as I did in yesterday
Many years have gone by though it seems just like a day
It's no wonder that I love you you have been so kind and true
There will never be another it will always be just you
We've come along the way together when you've proved your love is true
My life's been a pleasure and it's all because of you
And to me you'll always be just as sweet as flowers in May
And I'll still love you as I did in yesterday
[ guitar - violin ]
I still love you as I did in yesterday...
And to me you'll always be just as sweet as flowers in May
And I'll still love you as I did in yesterday
**********
9.
ALL THE SOFT PLACES TO FALL
(Leona Williams)
« © '82 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Most of my lfe I've been runnin' around playin' and havin' a ball
And maybe I've been on a party too long these mem'ries are fond to recall
You see we've got thise thing about women smokin' and good alcohol
Now I'm lookin' for a homelife and clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall
The women we've known have been many but they don't understand us at all
Though we've spent amny a long hours hopin' some old love would call
Surely somebody somewhere still wants us or don't nobody wants us at all
We're lookin' for a homelife and clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall
Most of our lives we've been outlaws slept with our backs to the wall
I'm a rambler I'm a seeker and we're gettin' weaker a whole lot more likely to fall
We're tired of the rocks and brambles those barbed wire fences at all
We're lookin' for a homelife and clean smellin' sheets and all the soft places to fall
[ guitar ]
Most of our lives we've been outlaws...
**********
10.
OPPORTUNITY TO CRY
(Willie Nelson)
« © '63 Tree Publishing, BMI »
Just watch the sunrise on the other side of town
Once more I've waited and once more you've let me down
This would be a perfect time for me to die
So I'd like to take this opportunity to cry
You gave your word now I return it to you
With this suggestion as to what you can do
Just exchange the words I love you for goodbye
While I take this opportunity to cry
I'd like to see you but I'm afraid that I don't know wrong from right
And if I saw you would I kiss you or want to kill you out of sight
It's been a long night so I think I'll go home
And feed my nightmares they've been waiting all night long
They'll be the last ones to tell me goodbye
They'll give me many opportunities to cry
[ guitar - trumpet ]
Well I'd like to see you but I'm afraid....
**********