Lefty Frizzell

USA, 1950–1975

American singer (1928-1975). He sang honky-tonk by bending and sliding across the vowels rather than hitting the note, and that phrasing - not the songs - is what Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson and George Jones all took from him.

MusicRoots documents 1 artist who influenced Lefty Frizzell and 2 artists Lefty Frizzell influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Lefty Frizzell?

• Jimmie Rodgers — Frizzell idolised the blue yodeller and recorded a whole album of his songs.

Which artists did Lefty Frizzell influence?

• Merle Haggard — Haggard spent years learning to sing the way Frizzell slurred across a vowel, and has always been emphatic about it.
• Willie Nelson — Frizzell is among the singers Nelson names, and the source of the habit of phrasing a line late.