Merle Haggard

But Merle Haggard is not from Oklahoma. Right, but ... his family was from Oklahoma, and during the dustbowl, they moved to California, just like Buck Owens' family did. Buck never engaged in alcohol or drugs. He was smart. Lived modestly, and invested his money in his music and music stations. Merle didn't get his purpose for life until after he had been picked up for several felonies and served time in prison. (Pictured is Merle (left) with his Stratocaster and Toby, a HUGE Oklahoma University Fan.) Maybe they will be up for an award next year, since their "Some People Fly; Everyone Falls" song that is out now.

While Merle was in prison, he played the guitar and wrote songs. Now, Merle was certainly not in a lock-down situation, because bad prisoners would never have the opportunity to mess with a guitar. Remember Cape Fear?

The daughter was taking piano lessens, and her dad came in and ran his hand down the piano, but ... one of the strings was missing. Odd? But no big deal. Of course it was a big deal. Take a guitar string, walk up behind someone, with the string in both hands, and loop it over their head and engage their neck, and it is lights out, big time. The X-Con, killed the maid that way, in the latest Cape Fear. There are two of them, and, this time, I like the 2nd version better than the first. Another thing you can do with guitar or piano strings is, ... take off a front windshield of your car, using it as a hacker's saw.

You want to hear some great Blues? Get the FIRST "Sounder" and listen to Lighting Hopkins play the guitar. It's incredible. Taj Mahal did the second one, and the music in it is worthless and so is the movie.

Back to Merle Haggard. The man is still doing gigs and putting out some awesome music. Right now he has a duet with Toby Keith named, "Some of Us Flie, But All of Us fall," written by Merle.

You see, in Nashville, they punish those who refuse to move to Nashville and get into the Music Row business. Toby lives in Norman, Oklahoma. They hate it. Yet, he's probably the top Country Act, that's on the road these days. Garth Brooks has pulled out of Nashville and is bought and owned by WalMart. The association had the awards Tuesday night, and guess who wasn't voted the number one act. Not Willie. Not Toby. Not Garth. Not Merle, but one of their own.

Like the dust storms in Iraq, Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle had big time, dust storms, back in the 30s. They were so bad, that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The farmers would get all the chickens inside the coop, and the cattle and horses in the barn. They would wet down their towels and put them up in the windows. There was so much dust, that there were two or three inches of it on the front porch. Bad times, and Merle's family moved West to California. Haggard got in trouble over petty crimes and larceny.

By the end of 1951, Haggard had returned home, and he was again arrested for truancy, as well as petty larceny. In the beginning of 1952, he was sent to Fred C. Nelles School for Boys in Whittier, CA; again, he ran away. This time, the courts decided he was incorrigible and sent him to the high-security Preston School of Industry; he was released after 15 months. Shortly after his release, he and a boy he met at PSI beat up a local boy during an attempted robbery, and Haggard was sent back to PSI.

"After getting out of PSI for the second time, Merle Haggard had the first major event in his musical career. Haggard went with Teague to see Lefty Frizzell in concert in Bakersfield. Before the show, he went backstage with several friends, and he sang a couple songs to Frizzell. Lefty was so impressed he refused to go on-stage until Haggard was allowed to sing a few songs. Merle went out and sang a few songs to an enthusiastic response from the audience." (CMT)

http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/haggard_merle/bio.jhtml

Merle's big break came on the, you guessed it, Buck Owens Show. I thought it was odd, at the time, that Buck introduced him, and then it showed him play, "Play Me Back Home," and Buck didn't go out and shake his hand. Duh! That cut had already been made in Bakersfield and spliced into the program. The Hag and Toby consider themselves, song writers first, performers second. By the way, they are both in the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Prof Cecil, had a friend in Junior College who drove all the way to Muskogee to hear Merle sing, "Okie From Muskogee, " which was recorded live to play on the radio. It was a huge hit, and allowed Merle to explore Country Music at its best. I bought his "Same Train" 2 LP Albums covering Jimmy Rogers. He also did an album devoted to "Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys." Like I have mentioned before, I saw the Playboys in good form in OKC.

My favorite "Hag" song is "Today, I Started Loving You Again." The Hag always wished Ray Charles would have sung that song. But there were so many. Have BRO download "Shelly's Winter Love." This song was never released as a single, and yet is still one of his most popular songs, he's ever recorded. A lady in Anadarko, woke up one morning, and her husband was dead. She wrote the lyrics, "Go Ahead And Lay There Like Cold, Cold Heart," I think. He recorded it.

I don't drink alcohol, but I love his "I'm Going To Hang Around and Drink," because of the great, Blues licks that his lead guitar player, blew away every one with.


"The reception persuaded Haggard to actively pursue a musical career. While he was working during the day in oil fields and farms, he performed local Bakersfield clubs. His performances led to a spot on a local television show, Chuck Wagon. In 1956, he married Leona Hobbs; the couple moved into his family's old converted boxcar. Throughout 1957, Haggard was plagued by financial problems, which made him turn to robbery. At the end of the year, he attempted to rob a restaurant along with two other burglars; the three were drunk at the time. Believing it was three o'clock in the morning, the trio tried to open up the back door of the restaurant. However, it was 10:30 and the establishment was still open. Although the trio fled the scene, Haggard was arrested that day. The following day, he escaped from prison in order to make peace with his wife and family; later that day, he was recaptured. Haggard was sentenced to a 15-year term and sent to San Quentin prison." (CMT) Remember that The Hag was in the audience when Johnny Cash played for them.

"Merle Haggard became a genuine country superstar in 1966, with three Top Ten hits, including "Swinging Doors." "The Bottle Let Me Down" climbed to number three and "The Fugitive" (later retitled "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive") became his first number one. He was voted the Top Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music Awards, while he and Bonnie were named the Top Vocal Group for the second year in a row." (CMT)

I have that album some where around here. Darrin has become a Country Music buff, big time, and he may have the album. I know all the songs on the album, because I sure played it enough.

I wish I could play, Hag's "Working Man Blues," but I haven't learned it. Hag became a champion of the working man. One of California's governors, gave a written and certified paper, wiping his career in crime off his record.

Now, Tommy Collins was a big influence in Hag's writing. Hag's song, "Leonard" was really about Tommy Collins. Your job is to find out where Tommy Collins home was, and what happened to him after he quit writing.