On this day (September 16) in 1983, Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson were at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with Pancho & Lefty. It was the fourth time the album reached the chart’s summit that year. At the end of the week, it would lose the top spot to Alabama’s The Closer You Get, but would regain the pole position later. The album spent a total of eight weeks at No. 1, Haggard’s longest run atop the country albums chart.
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Haggard and Nelson had both cemented their places as country legends by the early 1980s. Nelson had risen to prominence during the Outlaw Country boom of the 1970s after decades of hard work. Haggard came up on the West Coast as part of the Bakersfield Sound scene alongside the likes of Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart. So, when they released their first collaborative album, Pancho & Lefty, in January 1983, it was almost guaranteed to be a hit.
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard Discover Townes Van Zandt
Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard were nearly finished recording the album, but didn’t feel like they had a big hit single. According to Songfacts, Nelson’s daughter, Lana, came up with the answer. She put on a copy of Emmylou Harris’ classic album, Luxury Liner, and let them hear “Pancho and Lefty.”
Neither Nelson nor Haggard had heard of Texas-based singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt at the time. However, they instantly knew that this was the song they were looking for. They released the song as the album’s first single, and it went to No. 1 on the country chart, thus introducing the country music world to Van Zandt’s songwriting prowess.
Pancho & Lefty Topped the Chart Five Times
Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson released Pancho & Lefty in January 1983. It debuted on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart on February 5. A little more than two months later, on April 9, it reached No. 1 for the first time. It only held the top spot for a week before Alabama’s The Closer You Get dethroned it.
The album reclaimed the top again for a week in July before Alabama’s album knocked it off the top a second time. One week later, Pancho & Lefty started a two-week run at No. 1. The Closer You Get took the top spot again, staying there for four weeks before Nelson and Haggard reclaimed the No. 1 position.
On September 3, Pancho & Lefty started a three-week run at No. 1. Alabama traded places with Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson again, topping the chart for a week. Then, the collaborative album topped the chart dated October 1, spending its final week at the top.
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