Lefty Frizzell

Lefty Frizzell. . Country singer Merle Haggard said, "The impact Lefty Frizzell had on country music, and on me, is not even measurable." Many others have acknowledged Frizzell's influence, including George Jones, George Strait, Keith Whitley, Randy Travis, Roy Orbison and Willie Nelson. His hits included "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" and "Long Black Veil.", Although Frizzell's brand of honky-tonk country music originated in Texas and California, the majority of his recordings were made in Nashville, and he lived in Hendersonville for the last 13 years of his life., William Orville Frizzell was born in Corsicana, Texas, on March 31, 1928. A schoolyard fight earned him the nickname "Lefty." After several years working on small radio stations throughout the West, Columbia Records signed him in 1950, and his first single, coupling "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" with "I Love You a Thousand Ways," became one of the biggest country records of the 1950s. Several major hits followed, including "I Want to Be with You Always," "Always Late" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz." His nuanced vocal phrasing became very influential., Frizzell performed intermittently as a guest on Nashville's Grand Ole Opry in 1950 and 1951, but became a regular on "Town Hall Party," broadcast on radio and television from Compton, California. He and his family moved to Los Angeles., Until 1955, Frizzell's sessions were held in Dallas. From 1956 onward, though, he recorded almost exclusively in Nashville. After a career slump when country radio stations began orienting their programming toward Top 40, Frizzell made a comeback in 1959 with the pseudo-folk ballad "Long Black Veil." In 2019, it was selected by the U.S. Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.", In August 1962, after "Town Hall Party" had gone off the air, Frizzell moved his family to the Nashville area, first living in rented accommodation in Donelson. On Dec. 10, 1962, they bought a house on Old Hickory Lake at 234 Sterling Road in Hendersonville., In 1964, Frizzell scored his last No. 1 country hit, "Saginaw, Michigan," enabling him to purchase more land in Hendersonville and shares of two buildings on Nashville's Music Row. His last Top 20 country hit came in 1964 with "She's Gone, Gone, Gone.", In 1968 and 1969, Frizzell sold his share of the Music Row properties and bought a house on Cline Court in Hendersonville. There, together with his songwriting partner "Whitey" Shafer, Frizzell wrote "That's the Way Love Goes." Upon release, it was the flip side of a low-charting single, but it became a No. 1 hit for Johnny Rodriguez in 1974., Lefty Frizzell died on July 19, 1975. He is buried in Forest Lawn cemetery in Goodlettsville. In 1977, Willie Nelson released his Lefty tribute album, To Lefty from Willie, and in 1982, Frizzell was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Merle Haggard's recording of "That's the Way Love Goes" became a No. 1 hit in 1984.