The One And Only Lefty Frizzell

 

Why Should I Be Lonely

The One And Only Lefty Frizzell

Columbia CL 1342

1959

From the back cover: His very first record for Columbia first recorded in 1950, was "If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time", and became a dual success, for Lefty and for Jo Stafford as well. The song itself had been discarded by Lefty because he didn't like it. Now he says he "can't tell what's good and what isn't... they can really fool you!" "Always Late", another of his best-known numbers, was written in a car enroute to Shreveport, La. Lefty was late getting there and began to work out the tune in his mind as the car sped along. Upon his arrival, he forgot the song, and it remained dormant until his next recording session, when the song popped back into his mind, was tried out, and became one of the year's biggest hits.

Hallmarks of Lefty's style – he gets his name from his left-hand boxing technique – are his pronunciation of "way-yaays," "day,yaays" and "lay-yaate." He explains these locutions by his "mixed-up" accent, a result of being born in Texas and raised in Arkansas and Louisiana. With his band, he has played at parks, fairs, auditoriums, on the radio, on television – and in Fayetteville, in a tobacco warehouse. He used to transport his entourage in a bus with six-sleepers, traveling as far as the state of Washington, until he was signed to appear on the "Grand Ole Op'ry." Thereupon he sold the bus and bought a station wagon and trailer, which served until the call of the public forced him to invest in an airplane, covering an average of three thousand miles each week.

If You've Got The Money, I've Got The Time

Mom And Dad's Waltz

Signed, Sealed And Delivered

Nobody Knows But Me

Release Me

Why Should I Be Lonely

Always Late

I Love You A Thousand Ways

My Bucket's Got A Hole In It

Is It Only That You're Lonely

I Want To Be With You Always

If You're Ever Lonely, Darling