On this day (July 24) in 1983, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard were at the top of the Hot Country Songs chart with “Pancho and Lefty.” Nelson found the song at the last minute. Then, they recorded it during an early-morning session that he insisted couldn’t wait. Haggard was so exhausted when he stepped into the studio that he didn’t remember recording it the next day.
According to Songfacts, Pancho and Lefty was one song away from being finished. Nelson was looking for something to fill the final slot when his daughter, Lana, arrived at the studio with a copy of Emmylou Harris’ Luxury Liner. The tracklist included her cover of this Townes Van Zandt tune. He knew he wanted to record it. Furthermore, Nelson knew he wanted to get the song on tape as soon as possible. This was unfortunate for the utterly exhausted Haggard.
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard Worked Nonstop
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard didn’t eat or sleep for nearly a week while working on Pancho and Lefty. They were on a fast except for drinks made with cayenne pepper. By the time they recorded the title track, Haggard was exhausted.
“I’d been up for five days and nights working on this album,’ Haggard recalled. “The fifth day, I went to sleep on my tour bus.” That didn’t last, though. At about five o’clock in the morning, Nelson came knocking on the tour bus door.
When Haggard opened the door, Nelson told him, “I think I found us a song.” He had written the lyrics on a paper bag. “There was more words than I’d ever seen in my life,” Haggard said.
He suggested that he could look over his part of the song and record it in the morning. That wasn’t what Nelson had in mind, though. “The band’s about got it. Let’s go in and cut it,” he told Haggard. So, they did, and he went back to sleep.
After getting some rest, Haggard went into the studio, prepared to rerecord whatever he’d done the night before. It was too late, though. The album was on its way to New York. “I had no idea what I’d done. I didn’t know whether I was in key, if it made sense, or anything,” he recalled.
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The post On This Day in 1983, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard Were at No. 1 With a Song Haggard Doesn’t Remember Recording appeared first on American Songwriter.
Author: Clayton Edwards
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