Lefty Frizzel

Lefty Frizzell was born William Orville Frizzell in Corsicana, Texas in 1928. He picked up the guitar early and developed a vocal style that felt raw and plaintive, drawing from traditional country and honky-tonk. In 1950 he signed with Columbia Records and released his debut single 'If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time),' which became an immediate hit.

Over the next decade he recorded a string of charting singles including 'I Want to Be with You Always' and 'Saginaw, Michigan.' But the song that stuck was 'How Far Down Can I Go,' which he co-wrote and released in 1954. It's a haunting ballad about addiction and despair, delivered with a directness that made it a country standard. Other tracks like 'Always Late (with Your Kisses)' and 'Don't Let Her See Me Cry' carried that same unvarnished emotional weight.

Frizzell's personal life was difficult. He struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction, and those troubles followed him through the years. He kept recording, but the later work never quite matched the impact of those early 1950s sides. When he died in 1975, he left behind a handful of songs that still sound like someone telling you exactly how it feels.