Van Zandt Townes – Pancho & Lefty tab

Here's one of my favorite ballads which was written by the inimitable Townes Van 
Zandt. Emmylou Harris recorded it, as did Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard in a 
duet (don't ask me why). I first heard it in a coffeehouse at RPI (remember 
coffeehouses, where people went to hear good music, not get drunk) by Robin and 
Linda Williams, of later Prairie Home Companion fame. 

I play this with a D, C#, B bass run transition from the D chord to whatever 
follows. I've indicated this with the following chord notation.

	D		x00232
	D/C#		x40232
	D4/B(?)	x20032

I also lead into the verse with e+-----------2--b+--2--3--5-----g+-------------- then picking out of the D chord, etc. d+-----------0--a+--0--2--4-----e+-------------- Livin' on the road, my friend.....
which is nice for many songs played in D. Enjoy, Denny Straussfogel Pancho and Lefty by Townes Van Zandt D Livin' on the road, my friend A Was gonna keep us free and clean G But now you wear your skin like iron D D/C# D4/B A And you breath's as hard as kerosene G You weren't your mama's only boy D D/C# D4/B But her favorite one, it seems D She began to cry D/C# D4/B A A7 When you said good bye G Bm And sank into you dreams (same chords as first verse) Pancho was a bandit, boys Rode a horse fast as polished steel Wore his guns outside his pants For all the honest world to feel Pancho met his match, ya know On the deserts down in Mexico No one heard his dyin' words But that's the way it goes Chorus (words change slightly, each time) G And all the federales say D D/C# D4/B They could of had him any day D D/C# D4/B A A7 They only let him slip away G Bm Out of kindness, I suppose Now Lefty he can't sing the blues All night long like he used to The dust that Pancho bit down South It ended up in Lefty's mouth The day they laid old Pancho low Lefty split for Ohio Where he got the bread to go Well there ain't nobody 'knows But all the federales say They could of had him any day They only let him slip away Out of kindness, I suppose Now poets sing how Pancho fell Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold And so the story ends, we're told Pancho 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 growin' old And all the federales say They could of had him any day They only let him go so long Out of kindness, I suppose Yes a few old gray federales still say They could of had him any day They only let him go so wrong Out of kindness, I suppose
Please rate this tab:
x1.0