Song · Townes Van Zandt
“Pancho & Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt
From the album Texas Rain: The Texas Hill Country Recordings (2001)
“Pancho & Lefty” by Townes Van Zandt appears on 7 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 2001 on the album Texas Rain: The Texas Hill Country Recordings. Its best result is #235 on the 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,635 indie & aaa song of all time and #234 of the '70s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (Townes Van Zandt). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Pancho & Lefty" is Townes Van Zandt's own song, words and music, and quite possibly the one he's best known for. It began life spelled "Poncho and Lefty", and he first put it on tape for his 1972 album The Late Great Townes Van Zandt; a version of it turns up on Texas Rain: The Texas Hill Country Recordings, released in 2001.
Plenty of other singers have had a go at it over the years, but his own reading has held its ground: Rolling Stone placed Van Zandt's version at 498 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021, and at 499 when the list was updated in 2024.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 1873 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2009 | 853 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2014 | 705 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2020 | 329 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 235 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2023 | 598 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2026 | 461 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
Also listed as: Pancho and Lefty; Poncho & Lefty; Pancho And Lefty.
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Pancho & Lefty" by Townes Van Zandt.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.