Could Luke Bryan’s Version of “Pancho & Lefty” Be a Hit?
On April Fool’s day, Broken Bow Records released a 20-track Merle Haggard Tribute called Working Man’s Poet, primarily as a showcase for the roster’s talent. Big Broken Bow acts like Jason Aldean, Thompson Square, and Dustin Lynch make multiple appearances on the collection, but one of the most heavily-touted songs from the album has been Luke Bryan’s version of “Pancho & Lefty” with Dierks Bentley. The approach of the track is said to to have been inspired by Mumford & Sons. “The original had a Spanish-Mexican flair,” Bryan explains. “We took a real different approach with it ”¦. something with some edge that moves along pretty good. It’s an interesting take.”
The first question this song begged was, should this really be considered a Merle Haggard song? “Pancho & Lefty” was originally written and recorded by acclaimed Texas singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt. A later version appeared on an album of the same name that was a collaboration between Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson in 1983, but Willie sang most of the song, with Merle only contributing one verse.
Nonetheless, Luke Bryan’s version with Dierks made the cut, and subsequently drew the favorable ear of Mere’s son and Strangers guitar player Ben Haggard who appears on the tribute multiple times himself. “You know, Luke Bryan’s a great artist, but I never really listened to his stuff,” Ben told Country Weekly earlier this month. “I just listened to ‘Pancho and Lefty’ about five minutes ago and it blew me away. I’m in love with it.”
Ben went on to give his assessment of the tune if it was ever released to radio as a single. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a hit. It could be a monster again.” The Willie & Merle version was a #1 in 1983. This begs the question, could Luke Bryan’s version of “Pancho & Lefty” really be released to radio as a single, and somehow become a hit all over again?
The one thing we know is right now, there’s no country star hotter than Luke Bryan. Luke is on a roll, scoring one huge hit single after another, with his latest “Play It Again” at #1, and his collaboration with Florida-Georgia Line called “This Is How We Roll” at #2 on Billboard’s country chart. If Luke and his management did decide to release the song to radio there’s a very good likelihood it would do well simply off of Luke’s name, and Dierks Bentley is a pretty hot commodity at the moment as well.
Combine that with the overwhelming cover success Darius Rucker recently had with Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel,” and it’s not ridiculous to think that Luke’s “Pancho & Lefty” could become a hit, creating the same strange dichotomy “Wagon Wheel” did for independent country fans where you’re happy there’s a cool song getting played on the radio, but hesitant about the circumstances of how it got there. A Merle tribute song written by Townes Van Zandt topping the charts? Awesome. Performed by Luke Bryan? Not so much. And it turns out that there already has been a few spins of the song on MediaBase-monitored radio stations (a meager total of four, but still interesting for a cover song on a tribute album).
But don’t steal yourself for disappointment, or get your hopes up that “Pancho & Lefty” 3.0 will become the next “Wagon Wheel” and put the deceased Townes Van Zandt at the top of today’s country chart. As Saving Country Music’s go to guru for all things country radio Windmills Country points out, since the Merle Haggard tribute was released by Broken Bow, but Luke Bryan is a Capitol Records Nashville artist, it is unlikely that Luke’s song is the one they would release as a single, if they release any singles from the tribute. Releasing a single to mainstream country radio costs lots of money for labels to promote, and so it is unlikely that Broken Bow would do this for an artist on another roster, similar how it is less likely that Capitol Nashville would figure out how to release it as a single since it originated from Broken Bow.
The other issue is that Luke Bryan already has a slew of singles out there to radio doing very very well, and so does Dierks Bentley. Labels do not like having singles compete with each other, so if “Pancho & Lefty” was released, it would likely be well after Luke’s current albums are out of single material.
Nonetheless, it is certainly curious that the most lauded song on the album is Luke Bryan’s, especially since he’s not signed to Broken Bow. In the press releases and other promotional material, it is by far the most talked about track, and it could have been targeted by Broken Bow’s A&R as the best song to help sell the album to the public. Depending on the licensing behind the song, the track could also be selected to be released on a deluxe edition of Luke’s current album Crash My Party—a practice that a lot of labels are doing with artists to extend the release cycle, and making it more likely it could appear as a single. So who knows. It somewhat feels like fantasy football to talk about the track becoming a hit, but there is certainly a lot of chatter surrounding it. We very well might be seeing Luke Bryan shaking it to “Pancho & Lefty” in the future, for better or worse.
There’s no embeddable version of Luke Bryan’s version, so here’s the Willie & Merle’s original.
May 1, 2014 @ 10:41 am
I’m a little terrified to hear about this.
May 1, 2014 @ 10:47 am
Song should’ve been retired after Townes’ version at the Old Quarter. Won’t ever be done better than that.
May 1, 2014 @ 11:32 am
The only potential upside here is TVZ’s estate could make some money nad perhaps that could benefit his children.
May 1, 2014 @ 11:34 am
I don’t like Luke Bryan or that shit eating grin of his. So I will skip hearing this travesty!
May 1, 2014 @ 12:00 pm
I am not a Luke Bryan fan by any measure. I’ve listened to a handful of his songs, most being along the lines of terrible and annoying. Although I didnt mind the Chris Stapleton tune he released several months back. Not the best song ever, but not bad on the ears like most LB songs.
I know most people on this site would hate it if this got on the radio, or even just got popular. Thing is though, this would be a good thing for country music like it or not. If this cover song was on the air it would possibly introduce young ears to what Country Music use to be about, and that is good, well written lyrics. Don’t pay as much attention to the artist, but think about how this could maybe educate the young generation of today. Just my opinion.
May 1, 2014 @ 7:39 pm
I was thinking along the same lines. I know growing up listening to rock music, when my favorite current bands would mention their influences, I would definitely have to check that out.
I’m just afraid the current fans of bro-country have no interest in anything outside of their own little insipid cocoon. I would be more than happy to be wrong.
May 2, 2014 @ 8:33 am
It’s interesting to hear you say how you think Bryan’s version of “Pancho and Lefty” could educate the younger generation about country music’s past. That’s a good hope to have, but it’s also one that may not be in the cards. The problem we’ve seen lately with cover songs is that the artist who covers the song is the one who gets the recognition for it more than the artist who originally performed the song. Take for example Black Stone Cherry’s “Stay” (covered by FGL) or Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” (covered by Darius Rucker). I would bet that many of the younger generation who listen to those two songs have no idea they are cover songs. Even other artists (Blake Shelton) attribute those songs to the artists who covered them.
So while your belief that “Pancho and Lefty” making it onto the airwaves would educate the younger generation about country music’s past, it’s a hope that’s not incredibly realistic.
May 3, 2014 @ 4:30 pm
I think this is a little bit different since it’s on a tribute album. But I agree wholeheartedly with what you wrote.
Country music has long been a genre where the recording artist gets more credit than the songwriter. At least in the mainstream. This song is a perfect example. It’s not a Merle Haggard song or even a Willie Nelson song. It’s a Townes Van Zant song. And as was pointed out in another post, Emmylou Harris recorded it before Willie and Merle. If anyone has any inkling that the consumers of today’s country music are going to look any deeper than this being a cover of Merle/Willie cover, they are sadly mistaken.
And just look at what is going on today. You mentioned a couple, but how many average consumers know that Brandy Clark wrote “Better Dig Two” for the Band Perry? Or that Kacy Musgraves wrote Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart”?
I’m sure most readers of SCM do, but I’m talking about the general public.
I mean, hell, I was watching that acapella singing show with my daughter and some group did “Life is a Highway”. One of the judges commending them for getting back to what they do best, country (Rascall Flatts, really?). Another judge had to point out that it was actually a Tom Cochrane song.
So, that’s where we are and I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
May 1, 2014 @ 12:07 pm
It pains me to say, but it isn’t half bad. Probably the best he’s ever done, although that’s not saying much at all. Luke has a good voice and it’s amazing what happens when you give him a well written song. He’ll keep singing the garbage he’s been singing, but if he had chosen not to sell out he could’ve possibly been something resembling an actual country music artist.
May 1, 2014 @ 12:18 pm
A song that actually tells a story on country radio? In this day and age? Perish the thought.
More royalties for Townes’ family would be nice, but I just don’t see a song this good popping back up on the airwaves, no matter what It Boy of the moment happens to be singing it. :\
(P.S.: Love Emmylou Harris’ version from the late ’70s — http://youtu.be/l3LQeRqTBK4 )
May 2, 2014 @ 10:27 pm
“A song that actually tells a story on country radio? In this day and age? Perish the thought.”
Gena R., don’t you read Roughstock? This is a quote from a recent article defending the current wave of pop-country music:
“One thing”™s for sure, though, even with “Bro Country,” HipHop, R&B and EDM influencing the sound of Country music, the heart of the songs, the lyrical content about real life and real people hasn”™t changed.”
http://www.roughstock.com/blog/country-music-s-latest-evolutional-sea-change-is-edm-hiphop-and-brocountry-here-to-stay#BKk71cUVpmBUBktq.99
So, you see, everything is really the same as it’s always been.
Not!!!
May 1, 2014 @ 12:32 pm
Thank you!
Finally!
I’m reading…
and reading…
“Pancho & Lefty” is one of my all time faves.. and as I’m reading I’m thinking “Didn’t Willie sing that?”.. when finally, I see the video with Willie!
Hey, did anyone see Willie at the Backyard the other day? He never disappoints.
~darlene
May 1, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
This song just means too much to me to bother with a LB version. Isbell does it well though.
May 1, 2014 @ 2:25 pm
Will it be any good? I’ll never know because I’ll never hear it.
I honestly don’t care if the Hag himself said it was good. I can’t stand the sound of Luke Bryan’s voice.
May 1, 2014 @ 4:31 pm
I listened to some of this album and it’s pretty good. I mean if Luke Bryan was singing great songs all the time I would like him. It’s not that I don’t like a lot of these guys necessarily, it’s I hate the songs they sing. I didn’t hate his voice when he first came out, but after hearing him try to country rap all the time, his voice became annoying. If guys like Bryan, Aldean and a few others put out song on the level of a Sturgill Simpson, hell I’m sure I would love them. It didn’t surprise me that the album is not bad, because they are all singing great songs.
May 1, 2014 @ 4:38 pm
No, it can not be a commercial / pop hit at this point, heading onto summer party season. The subject matter is too sad for mainstream pop-country. It could get regular airplay on folk radio though, but not in a version by Luke Bryan.
If someone wants a hit with a classic song, they’d be better off slapping a slick modern arrangement on Robert Earl Keen’s “The Road Goes On Forever”. Its got beer, pool-halls, waitresses, partying, pick-up trucks, lawmen, murder and outlaws in jeopardy.
May 1, 2014 @ 4:54 pm
lol, I just noticed that Townes Van Zandt has a cameo in the Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard video. He appears one minute two seconds into it as a background guy in the saloon.
May 1, 2014 @ 7:54 pm
Where can I listen to this? I want to see how Luke Bryan wrecked a great song.
May 1, 2014 @ 7:58 pm
It is not available many places. Either you have to get the CD, or get it on iTnes. Don’t believe it is on any of the streaming services, Youtube, etc.
May 1, 2014 @ 10:25 pm
Could it be a hit? Yeah, probably. But that has more to do with Luke currently being in that position where he could release just about anything and have crack the top ten. Though the change in lyric quality will probably be a head scratch to his fan base.
May 2, 2014 @ 12:05 am
I thought it was curious that Emmylou’s version was not mentioned at all in this article, especially since she did it before Willie and Merle.
Also, if you want to hear a great cover of Pancho and Lefty, just YouTube Jason Isbell’s performance of it. Now that is how you do a cover! I can’t imagine Bryan’s version even holding a candle to that.
May 2, 2014 @ 12:38 am
The sad reality is that, unlike those who emerged to fame via the frat-country bubble such as Florida Georgia Line and Thomas Rhett, as well as its numerous spawns and also-rans in the mold of Chase Rice, Blackjack Billy, Cole Swindell and Tyler Farr……….Luke Bryan initially emerged from more of a “neo-traditionalist” (in quotation marks because I’m disenchanted with how loosely it is applied, but you get the general idea) cloth as evidenced by the production of “I’ll Stay Me”.
“I’ll Stay Me” wasn’t exactly a great album, but it had some stand-out moments of poignancy and sincerity: especially with “Tackle Box”, “The Car in Front of Me” and “We Rode In Trucks”.
And, I’ll also admit that unlike the aforementioned names also………….Luke Bryan can REALLY sing when he really wants to. Bryan actually has above-average pipes among corporate mainstream “country” male vocalists and he most proved this on the aforementioned debut album.
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What’s really frustrating though is that, more recently, he tends to waste his most strongest vocal takes on the most banal frat-country writes.
“Play It Again” is a perfect example. Because I’m willing to admit, vocally, Bryan sounds great and I’m absolutely convinced he fully believes and is emotionally committed to what is in reality a drought-stricken shallow song. Yet, it’s a partial saving grace all the same. He also sounds strangely passionate on “Beer In The Headlights”. Granted he oversings the chorus, but it’s still remarkable to me that such painfully generic lyrics could arouse such a cathartic vocal from Bryan.
In contrast, on what is supposed to be the intimate, tender moment on the album with previous single “Drink A Beer”………..Bryan sounds strangely detached and distant from the subject matter vocally; despite his well-publicized heartache in losing two family members that have made cutting this song intensely emotional and personal to him. His delivery is utterly flat, dull and detached on “Drink A Beer”. It’s most obvious when he deadpans without any emotion: “Don’t feel like going home!” toward the end of the first verse, as well as straining to hit high notes on “disappearrrrrrrr…” in the chorus. In fact, most of the time, it sounds like he’s enunciating with sing-songy tendencies than outright singing.
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The bottom line is, it’s hard to get particularly angry with Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell and the like………….because it is impossible to say they’ve sold out. They’ve clearly demonstrated their intent is to ride the frat-country wave as long as possible and emerged to fame solely because of the viability of this trend and having the right contacts.
With Luke Bryan, on the other hand…………we KNOW he is umpteen times better than this and is synonymous to the dictionary definition of “sellout” and “shrill”.
May 2, 2014 @ 9:58 pm
Some of Thomas Rhett and FGL’s earlier stuff actually had a different sound. Unfortunately, once the bro trend started, they went completely in that direction. I really liked “I Ain’t Ready to Quit,” “Tobacco,” “Georgia” and a couple others from Thomas Rhett.
May 2, 2014 @ 10:49 pm
Florida Georgia Line had a different sound preceding the release of their debut major label release in large part because they weren’t signed to a major label.
Much as is the case with up-and-coming heatseeking artists, their earliest material will tend to sound more raw and underproduced with a mixtape quality. And while I understand your point, lyrically about half of their earliest material was also consistent with the frat-country constituency (or, if not that, Southern pride chest-thumping, which often interpolates with frat-country as well) on tracks like “You’re Country”, “Backwoods Beauty Queen”, “Now That She’s Gone”, “Rockin’ Ranch” and “Redneck Education”.
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I concede I don’t know enough about Thomas Rhett’s output preceding “Something To Do With My Hands”. All I do know is that his eponymous EP is considered his first-ever release (major or minor) and aside from the terrible “Beer With Jesus”, every song on that EP is a frat-country sing-along that carried over into his debut full-length LP. And, considering he found a lot of his voice as an artist attending Tau Phi frat parties at David Lipscomb University………..I’m inclined to believe until further notice the breadth of his earliest catalog is inundated with frat anthems and “I Ain’t Ready To Quit” is an outlier.
May 6, 2014 @ 9:35 pm
Yeah, I would be surprised if anyone was very familiar with Thomas Rhett’s early stuff (early 2011, before his EP), but he had a couple of nice songs that I was hoping would end up on his album. Too bad he basically went 100% bro country. I always thought he had a great voice, and I wish he was putting it towards better use.
May 2, 2014 @ 10:23 pm
I am not defending Luke Bryan’s current music, but I wonder how much of his artistic shift over the last few years has been a result of the tragedy of his sister’s death. Maybe singing upbeat, frat-boy songs serves to keep his spirits high by reminding him of his happier college days.
May 2, 2014 @ 11:24 pm
That’s an interesting theory, Eric, and I honestly can understand the psychology of turning to more shallow pick-me-up music as a blissful distraction from life’s tragedies. I can acknowledge I consumed a steady diet of B-52’s, Dr. Demento and J-Pop in periods of my earlier life when I felt depressed.
That said, why even bother cutting “Drink A Beer”, then? While I’m by no means a fan of Bryan’s mediocrity to sometimes sheer stupidity on much of his middle-of-the-road midtempo pop, I still prefer he cut songs that are shallow but he actually sounds vocally committed and interested in then be disingenuous and give off a poor excuse for a tearjerking acoustic ballad when it’s quite obvious that’s not where his heart is as an entertainer.
There’s also one other issue with your theory. If Bryan wants to tap into his college past for escapist inspiration, then shouldn’t the production and style of the music reflect it much more? I don’t like going out to bars as is and so admit I may be ignorant of the kind of music that gets played at frat parties, but I would only imagine you usually get a loud, rambunctious………..but still, intimate and loose………..brand of sound. Frat parties are no polished, overproduced affairs. Thus, if we entertain your theory, then shouldn’t we be hearing a sound from Bryan that is much less glossy and synthetic?
Finally………..while it is true Bryan has generally shied away from more challenging subject matter and themes since “I’ll Stay Me”………….he still sings about fading love and failed relationships all the time. His sister Kelly died a few days after his first Grand Ole Opry performance while promoting “I’ll Stay Me”………….and while he doesn’t address the loss on his sophomore album “Doin’ My Thing”, it nonetheless consists of numerous melancholic love on the rocks songs: of which two became two of the album’s three singles (“Do I”, “Someone Else Calling You Baby”). Even his most well-known “Spring Break” series cut to date is “Buzzkill”: a biting mid-tempo in which the narrator has not gotten over his ex, who is the subject he is addressing, and repeatedly accuses her of making his life worse.
I do feel you’re onto something and probably have a point. I just felt the need to explain where I feel the theory encounters shaky ground.
May 2, 2014 @ 12:40 am
Anyway, I too am afraid of giving this cover a listen.
Just let me ask before I consider doing so: “He doesn’t mouth ‘Uh! Uh!’ in the opening seconds, does he?” =P
May 2, 2014 @ 4:53 am
A big time Nashville insider told me to watch out for Tim McGraw’s cover of “Pick ’em, Lick ’em, Stick ’em” to hit the charts this Summer. I betcha that’s a hit.
May 2, 2014 @ 9:23 am
Pancho and Lefty is too sophisticated to become a hit in this time period..if you dont already know the song, you probably are a top 40 puppet.
lets not expect too much from the ultra tanned cowboy crowd. let em have their shallow pond to swim in.
May 2, 2014 @ 11:41 am
Bryan’s fans hearing a song with depth might not be so bad… but I would expect it to be a deep cut. You seem to be saying they re promoting it as a single, which is interesting. Will people eat what they are fed?
I will also go out on a limb here and say that although I love Willy and Merle, I have never liked the arrangement of their version. And I agree Emmylou should have been mentioned…that is where WIlly heard it and took it to Merle (at least that is how he tells the story. Rather listen to her or Townes himself. Steve Earle’s cover is pretty good, too, on his Townes cover album.
May 2, 2014 @ 1:25 pm
I didn’t care for the P&L too much, but I really like Ben Haggard & James Wesley’s cuts on the project.
May 2, 2014 @ 1:41 pm
Just listened to it. Sounds like a rock song… typical Nashville. Screw you Luke for shitting on my favorite artist. Long live townes.
May 2, 2014 @ 2:42 pm
You don’t understand, Taylor. That’s Luke giving the song some “edge.” And yes, that’s how he described his version.
May 2, 2014 @ 5:39 pm
I listened to this album and I’m not ashamed to say I actually enjoyed most of it. However I thought Luke’s cover was one of the weakest songs on the album. I think Jason Aldean actually did great on Going Where The Gonely Go. I was quite shocked to see most singers on the album stayed true to the country sound. No rapping or hick hop shit. It was nice to hear this album, mainly because it gave me hope that these mainstream acts are still capable of making quality country music. Maybe having them sing these songs made them realize how shitty their own albums were and maybe it will make them want to record actual country songs in the future. Of course, none of this will matter unless the record labels stop catering to pre-teenage girls.
May 3, 2014 @ 5:45 am
There are much better performances on that 20 song Haggard tribute! The ones impressing me the most were Thompson Square… and Kristy Lee Cook! Hard core country and even Garth Brooks was sounding hard core! The album is recommended for all Haggard fans, you can find it @ Walmart for $11,88… Much better tribute than the critical acclaimed Bogguss album…
May 4, 2014 @ 9:01 pm
All I have to say about this is the fact that I’m betting this is more of an insult in Merle’s eyes than a tribute. I mean when you have someone who is doing everything in his power to destroy country music like Jason Aldean singing one of your songs, what the hell else would you think.
The only artists I think deserve to even sing a Haggard song is Joe Nichols, and Ben Haggard, and just maybe Dierks Bentley.
May 5, 2014 @ 10:15 am
This (IMO) is not much different than some Hollywood idots remaking the same movies over and over, thinking they can cash in on a classic.
Remakes are never as good as the originals whether they have “edge” or not.
The Bro-country singers of today will never be able to reproduce the soul that Willy and Merle have become famous for. Listen to Merle’s “Lookin’ for A Place To Fall Apart” or “Chill Factor” sometime and you can feel the soul oozing out of your speakers.
But I do have to disagree a bit with Jpliskin that Merle might consider this as an insult. Imitation is still the sincerest form of flattery, even if done poorly or for the wrong reasons.
May 5, 2014 @ 11:44 pm
I agree with many of the comments I don’t think many young people would realize it is a cover (let alone know who Merle haggard is) and if they did they wouldn’t care. Look at American Idol we have not seen a rise in sales of all the old songs/acts they sing over and over again on that show have we? I don’t know how to fix this or that it needs fixing but I still argue that required music education would help. Not playing in the school band but music history/theory where you had to listen to the classic albums in the same way you have to read the classic books. That would certainly have an impact.
Oh I can’t tell you how many people don’t know certain songs are covers, as a snobbishly correct them. Haha!! Hell, even I am constantly learning a song is a cover ‘Calling Baton Rogue’ by Garth Brooks, for example. But I ALWAYS go check out the original once I’ve been informed. Young music fans don’t seem to have the same curiosity or drive. I often wonder if it is just too much work for them and just easier to accept what they have before them in this era of short attention spans.
But Townes is SOOOOOOO great. If ‘I Needed You’ is in my top 20 songs of all time.