Lefty Frizzell

William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country and honky-tonk singer-songwriter.

Frizell is known as one of the most influential country music vocal stylists of all time. He has been cited as influencing prominent country singers like George Jones, Merle Haggard, Roy Orbison, and Willie Nelson. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982 as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In his prime, Frizzell was the first artist to achieve four songs in the top ten on the Country Music Billboard charts at one time. Frizzell went on to have more success, releasing many songs that charted in the Top 10 of the Hot Country Songs charts as an artist and songwriter. After dealing with alcoholism, he died of a stroke at age 47.

Birth and Death Data: Born Corsicana (city in and county seat of Navarro County, Texas, United States), Died July 19, 1975 (Nashville (capital and largest city of Tennessee, United States) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1950 - 1956

Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist, guitar, songwriter, composer, lyricist

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 51-72 of 72 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia CO50454 10-in. 11/17/1953 My little her and him Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, composer, lyricist  
Columbia CO50464 10-in. 11/15/1953 Two hearts broken now Lefty Frizzell Male vocal duet, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO50465 10-in. 11/15/1953 You can always count on me Lefty Frizzell Male vocal duet, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO50466 10-in. 11/15/1953 I've been away 'way too long Lefty Frizzell Male vocal duet, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO52607 10-in. 10/5/1954 I love you mostly Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO52610 10-in. 10/5/1954 Mama! Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO52987 10-in. 1/19/1955 Making believe Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO52988 10-in. 1/19/1955 Moonlight, darling, and you Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO52989 10-in. 1/19/1955 I'll sit alone and cry Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO52990 10-in. 1/19/1955 A forest fire (is in your heart) Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO53573 10-in. 6/18/1955 Sweet lies Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO53574 10-in. 6/18/1955 Your tomorrows will never come Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO53575 10-in. 6/18/1955 It gets late so early Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO53576 10-in. 6/18/1955 I'm lost between right and wrong Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar, songwriter  
Columbia CO54332 10-in. 12/6/1955 Promises Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO54334 10-in. 12/6/1955 Today is that tomorrow (I dreamed of yesterday) Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO54335 10-in. 12/6/1955 First to have a second chance Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO54336 10-in. 12/7/1955 These hands Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band instrumentalist, guitar  
Columbia CO56199 10-in. 5/22/1956 Heart's highway Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist  
Columbia CO56200 10-in. 5/22/1956 I'm a boy left alone Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist  
Columbia CO56201 10-in. 5/22/1956 Just can't live that fast (any more) Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, songwriter  
Columbia CO56202 10-in. 5/22/1956 The waltz of the angels Lefty Frizzell Male vocal solo, with string band vocalist, songwriter  
(Results 51-72 of 72 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Frizzell, Lefty," accessed January 5, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/357708.

Frizzell, Lefty. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 5, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/357708.

"Frizzell, Lefty." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 5 January 2026.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/357708

External Sources

Wikipedia: Lefty Frizzell

Discogs: Lefty Frizzell

Allmusic: Lefty Frizzell

Grove: Lefty Frizzell

IMDb: Lefty Frizzell

Britannica: Lefty Frizzell

Linked Open Data Sources

LCNAR: Frizzell, Lefty, 1928-1975 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82091540

Wikidata: Lefty Frizzell - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1347215

VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/61731847

MusicBrainz: Lefty Frizzell - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/bc1c9fba-bb4a-4f4a-91d2-ecf891376434

Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/95192 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/95192

Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license

Feedback

Send the Editors a message about this record.