lefty frizzell

GiftThe name Lefty Frizzell probably doesn't mean too much too many folks today. And really, if not for The Pizza Tapes from Garcia and Grisman, I'd probably have come upon the songbook of Frizzell much later. But that aside, the contributions to the stack of country standards from Frizzell is on par with songs from Hank Williams and the like.

During the '40s and '50s Frizzell was a part of the blossoming of country's initial commercial period. At that time, as opposed to now, songs weren't nonsensical retreads masquerading as stories from real life - they were real to life. To hear Merle Haggard sing about going to jail meant that he'd gone to jail. But the enormous catalog of Frizzell influenced a generation being raised on the radio, the Grand Ole Opry and traditional songs. Read more