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Well, a "Great Song" doesn't get any more country than this:
Way back in 1950, a singer/songwriter was working the honky-tonk circuit, singing his own material, and slowly building a fan base.
Lefty Frizzell was the real deal: a country (and western) artist who'd lived a rough life, and had even spent time in jail for--let's say "canoodling with the wrong girl."
When Lefty played in the Dallas area, a music producer named Jim Beck took a liking to his music and offered him a chance to record a free demo. Jim produced a number of Lefty's songs, then took the demo to Nashville, where he pitched what HE thought was a "Great Song" to the Grand Ol' Opry's Little Jimmy Dickens. Jimmy declined.
That was the bad news. The GOOD news was that Don Law at Columbia Records heard the cut, loved it, signed Lefty to a recording contract, and immediately released the song as a single.
"If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" was an instant hit! In those days, charts were set up a bit differently, but you can guess how popular the song was by these stats: #1 for 3 weeks on the "Most Played C&W Jukebox Records List" and #2 on the "C&W Best Seller List."
Cut to 1976...
After several years of relative obscurity, Willie Nelson was HOT. He had
recently topped the Country Chart with "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,"
which started an amazing run of Top 10 hits (including Pop crossovers) that lasted into 1990. (We highlighted "Blue Eyes" back on 12/14/19, and you can check out the story by clicking the link below.)
Willie decided to cover Lefty's song, and of course, HIS version of "If You've Got the Money" went to #1 as well. The cool part (at least to me) was the fact that Willie made the song sound like Lefty might have sounded if recording techniques had been as good in 1950 as they were in 1976.
It's a honky-tonk masterpiece, and one more reason why Willie is a legend in his own time! "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time:" a "Great Song of 1950 by Lefty Frizzell, and 1976 by Willie Nelson. Willie:
Lefty:
"Blues Crying in the Rain" blog post: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/121509942655795
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