One of the Country Greats and one of my favorite Country Singers. " When a president goes through the White House Door and does what he says he'll do, we'll all be drinking that free bubble up and eating that rainbow stew." RIP Merle you wrote, played, and sand some great ones.
Saw Merle first in 77, with Marty Robbins Opening, in San Berdoo... 2nd time: Anaheim Stadium, 1st act- Emmylou Harris, 2nd act- Merle Haggard, 3rd act- Willie Nelson....both Haggard and Nelson teamed up to finish off the show.....altho' IMO, Haggard should of been the spotlights Closer that night....(Merle didn't have to play 2nd fiddle to anyone tho', or anytime...)
much like Bowie passing one day after his 69th B'Day, and a day after his last LP was released, (a haunting LP of Bowie's if I ever heard one, ie Warren Zevon's last LP, 1 month prior to passing)... Zevon in a home hospice gurney, with the aide of Ry Cooder, Emmylou, T. Petty, B. Dylan, Jackson Browne, and a few other friends, recorded his last LP in that bed. "Knocking on heaven's door" is haunting cover, of a dying mans grasping for breath, with plural lung cancer)...
Saw a video of Haggard & Marty Robbins in concert. Haggard did an imitation of Marty Robbins that was so right on that Marty gaped in total astonishment. A sound engineer I knew in Orlando was passed an opinion that to be simple and good with music was a difficult task. Haggard handled that quite well.
Haggard did his best Marty Robbins impersonation on his 2nd tune of the set..... Marty, cocky, funny as usual, said: "It's a good thing all you people in the first few rows, aren't here to see Dolly Parton, otherwise you'd be smothered...." RIP- to a King, a Man who went from behind bars, to the top of the C&WPack.... I found this interesting: (not just what is highlighted in bold font) Married and plagued by financial issues, he was arrested in 1957 shortly after he tried to rob a Bakersfield roadhouse. He was sent to Bakersfield Jail, and was transferred after an escape attempt to San Quentin Prison, on February 21, 1958. While in prison, Haggard discovered that his wife was expecting a child from another man, which pressed him psychologically. He was fired from a series of prison jobs, and planned to escape along with another inmate nicknamed "Rabbit". Haggard was convinced not to escape by fellow inmates. Haggard started to run a gambling and brewing racket with his cellmate. After he was caught drunk, he was sent for a week to solitary confinement where he encountered Caryl Chessman, an author and death row inmate. Meanwhile, "Rabbit" had successfully escaped, only to shoot a police officer and return to San Quentin for execution. Chessman's predicament, along with the execution of "Rabbit," inspired Haggard to turn his life around. Haggard soon earned a high school equivalency diploma and kept a steady job in the prison's textile plant, while also playing for the prison's country music band, attributing a 1958 performance by Johnny Cash at the prison as his main inspiration to join it. He was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960. According to Rolling Stone, "In 1972, then-California governor Ronald Reagan expunged Haggard's criminal record, granting him a full pardon."
...Marty Robbins, another great voice...I remember reading an article several years ago in which some of the top performers/singers of the time were asked if they could have anyone else's voice, who would it be?...almost all of them said either Marty Robbins or Roy Orbison.
...^^^ both greats... I'd also add to the list of C&W best Crooners- Ray Price and Jim Reeves,.. with Pop, Rick has the market on Perry Como, Andy Williams, Tony Bennett, Frank...et al...
I didn't really get into country until the 90s but from everything I've heard Haggard was one of the legends.
That Bakersfield Roadhouse Crime is on the list of one of the stupidest ever committed in the state. What got Haggard in major trouble was when he got up and split from the jail. Today I Started Loving You Again, is my favorite Haggard Tune. The squeeze & I like to duet on that one. Next would be Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star, A Place To Fall Apart, and Silver Wings.
