PrintLefty Frizzell
About an hour south of Dallas, the historic town of Corsicana, Texas, is rich in a real Western portfolio. There’s the Collin Street Bakery, which has been making its famous fruitcakes since 1896. It’s the birthplace of Wolf Brand Chili, which started in 1895 out of a ranch wagon. And it’s the site of the first commercially significant oil field in Texas, which water prospectors discovered by accident in 1894. Any one of those things could have put Corsicana on the map. As much as we love the fruitcake and the chili, what really puts this place on the map for Texas music lovers is the fact that Corsicana is the birthplace of Lefty Frizzell.
Born William Orville Frizzell in 1928, the Country Music Hall of Famer was a honky-tonk hero probably best known for “If You’ve Got the Money I’ve Got the Time,” which earned him a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. His talents were a mean left hook (it gave him his nickname), songwriting (he was prolific), and a relaxed way of putting over a tune. He influenced the likes of Merle Haggard (who wrote “The Way It Was in ’51” as a tribute to Frizzell), Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Dwight Yoakam, George Jones, and Randy Travis‚ — a legacy in itself. But consider the fact that in 1951, Frizzell had four songs in the Country Top 10 (“I Want to Be with You Always,” “Always Late [with Your Kisses],” “Mom and Dad’s Waltz,” and “Travelin’ Blues”) at the same time.
His weaknesses were alcohol and a Paul Bigsby customized 1949 Gibson SJ-200. The guitar brought him fame and the bottle brought him low: He died of a massive stroke at age 47 after decades of alcohol addiction. Luckily, he’s immortalized in his music and has a statue and museum in his hometown of Corsicana. And, the first country artist to wear rhinestones onstage (talked into it by Nudie Cohn himself), Frizzell still winks in absentia in concert lights everywhere.
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