MERLE HAGGARD

'Merle Ronald Haggard' (born April 6, 1937) is an American country music singer, guitarist and songwriter.
Emerging from prison in the 1960s, Haggard was one of the early innovators of the Bakersfield Sound. With his hard biting electric guitar, he almost singlehandedly introduced the electric sound to country music. By the 1970s, he was aligned with the growing outlaw country movement, and has continued to release successful albums through the 1990s and into the 2000s. His work in familiar country themes – jail, betrayal, drinking and wandering – include a directness that reflects his own life experience. His deep, grumbling voice and his guitar work gives his country a blues-like quality in many cuts.

Contents

Early life

Country success

Later years

Equipment

Albums

Singles

38 #1 Hits

Awards

Miscellany

References

Footnotes

External links

Early life

Haggard was born in Bakersfield, CA. His parents, Flossie Mae Harp and James Francis Haggard,^[1] moved from Oklahoma to California during the Great Depression; at that time, much of the population of Bakersfield was made up of economic refugees from Oklahoma and surrounding states. Haggard's father died when Merle was 9, and Merle began to rebel against his mother. Authorities put him in a juvenile detention center. Haggard's older brother gave him a guitar when Merle was twelve years old and he taught himself to play. In 1951, Haggard ran away to Texas with a friend but returned that same year and was arrested for truancy and petty larceny. He ran away from the next juvenile detention center to which he was sent and went to Modesto, California. He worked odd jobs - legal and not - and made his performing debut at a bar. Once he was found again, he was sent to the Preston School of Industry, a high-security installation. Shortly after he was released, 15 months later, Haggard was sent back after beating a local boy during a burglary attempt.
After his second release, Haggard saw Lefty Frizzell in concert with his friend Bob Teague and sang a couple of songs for him. Lefty was so impressed, he allowed Haggard to sing at the concert. The audience loved Haggard, and he began working on a full-time music career. After earning a local reputation, Haggard's money problems caught up with him, and he was arrested for a robbery in 1957. He was sent to prison in San Quentin for 15 years. Even in prison, Haggard was wild, running a gambling and brewing racket from his cell. Merle attended three of Johnny Cash's concerts at San Quentin. Cash inspired Haggard to straighten up and pursue his singing. Several years later, at another Cash concert, Haggard came up to Johnny and told him "I certainly enjoyed your show at San Quentin." Cash said "Merle, I don't remember you bein' in that show." Merle Haggard said, "Johnny, I wasn't in that show, I was in the audience." While put in solitary confinement, Haggard encountered author and death row inmate Caryl Chessman. Haggard had the opportunity to escape with a fellow inmate nicknamed "Rabbit", but passed on it. The inmate successfully escaped, only to shoot a police officer and return to San Quentin for execution. Chessman's predicament along with Rabbit's inspired Haggard to turn his life around, and he soon earned his high school equivalency diploma, kept a steady job in the prison's textile plant and played in the prison's band. He was released in 1960 and in March 1972 was pardoned by then California governor Ronald Reagan. Once released, Haggard said it took about four months to get used to being out of the penitentiary and that, at times, he actually wanted to go back in. He said it was the loneliest feeling he'd ever had.

Country success

Upon his release, Haggard started digging ditches and wiring houses for his brother. Soon he was performing again, and later began recording with Tally Records. The Bakersfield Sound was developing in the area as a reaction against the over-produced honky tonk of the Nashville Sound. Haggard's first song was "Skid Row." In 1962, Haggard wound up performing at a Wynn Stewart show in Las Vegas and heard Wynn's "Sing a Sad Song". He asked for permission to record it, and the resulting single was a national hit in 1964.
Haggard released a series of successful singles in the early 1960s, including "Just Between the Two of Us" (duet with Bonnie Owens) and "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers", both songs written by Liz Anderson. He then signed to Capitol Records and released "I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can" to limited sales. In 1966, however, his second Capitol single, "Swinging Doors", was a Top Five hit and Haggard had become a nationally known superstar. During the late 1960s, Haggard's chart success was consistent and impressive. "The Bottle Let Me Down", "The Fugitive", "Branded Man", "Mama Tried", "Sing Me Back Home", "Hungry Eyes," "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde", "I Threw Away the Rose", and "Cory Gazaway plays 2nd base for Carney Oklahoma" are among the more well-remembered titles. "Mama Tried" and "Killers Three Theme", sung by Merle, were part of the soundtrack to the 1968 film ''Killers Three'', which also included Haggard's acting debut.
In 1968, Haggard's first tribute LP '', was released to great acclaim.
"Okie From Muskogee", 1969's apparent political statement, was actually written as an abjectly humorous character portrait. Haggard called the song a "documentation of the uneducated that lived in America at the time." (Phipps 2001). He said later on the Bob Edwards Show that "I wrote it when I recently got out of the joint. I knew what it was like to lose my freedom, and I was getting really mad at these protestors. They didn't know anything more about the war in Vietnam than I did. I thought how my dad, who was from Oklahoma, would have felt. I felt I knew how those boys fighting in Vietnam felt." Later, Alabama Gov. George Wallace asked Haggard for an endorsement, which Haggard declined. However, Haggard does express sympathy with the "parochial" or conservative way of life expressed in "Okie" and songs such as "The Fightin' Side of Me" (ibid). It should be noted, however, that after "Okie" was released, Haggard wanted to release a self-penned song titled "Irma Jackson" about an interracial couple; the single was quashed by his record company, although Tony Booth went on to record it in 1970.
Regardless of exactly how they were intended, "Okie From Muskogee", "The Fightin' Side of Me", and "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am" were hailed as anthems of the silent majority and presaged a trend in patriotic songs that would reappear years later with Charlie Daniels' "In America", Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA", and others. But other Haggard songs were appreciated regardless of politics: the Grateful Dead began performing Haggard's tune "Mama Tried" in 1969, and it stayed in their regular repertoire thereafter; singer-activist Joan Baez, whose political leanings couldn't be more different from those expressed in Haggard's above-referenced songs, nonetheless covered "Sing Me Back Home" and "Mama Tried" in 1969. The Everly Brothers also used both songs in their 1968 country-rock album ''Roots''.
Haggard's next LP was ''A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (Or My Salute to Bob Wills)'', which helped spark a revival of western swing.
In 1972, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan gave Haggard a full pardon for his past crimes. Haggard often quips that few figures in history can become public enemy No. 1 and man of the year in the same 10-year period.
During the early to mid 1970s, Haggard's chart domination continued with songs like "Someday We'll Look Back", "Carolyn", "Grandma Harp", "Always Wanting You" and "The Roots of My Raising". He also wrote and performed the theme song to the TV series ''Movin' On'', which gave him a further top-ten country hit. The 1973 recession anthem "If We Make It Through December" furthered Haggard's status as a champion of the working class.
Haggard was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977.

Later years

"If We Make It Through December" turned out to be Haggard's last pop hit. He published an autobiography called ''Sing Me Back Home''. Although he won a Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for 1984's a new kind of honky tonk had begun to overtake country music, and singers like George Strait and Randy Travis had taken over the charts. Haggard's last No. 1 hit was "Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star" from his smash album ''Chill Factor'' in 1988.
Although he has been outspoken in his dislike for modern country music, he has praised newer stars such as George Strait and Randy Travis. The Dixie Chicks paid him tribute by recording Darrell Scott's song "Long Time Gone", which criticizes Nashville trends: "We listen to the radio to hear what’s cookin’ / But the music ain’t got no soul / Now they sound tired but they don’t sound Haggard," with the following lines mentioning Johnny Cash and Hank Williams in the same vein.
In 2000, Haggard made a comeback of sorts, signing with the independent record label Anti and releasing the spare ''If I Could Only Fly'' to critical acclaim. He followed it in 2001 with ''Roots, Vol. 1'', a collection of Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams and Hank Thompson covers, along with three Haggard originals. The album, recorded in Haggard's living room with no overdubs, featured Haggard's longtime bandmates 'The Strangers' as well as Frizzell's original lead guitarist, Norman Stephens.
In December 2004, Haggard spoke at length on ''Larry King Live'' about his incarceration as a young man and said it was "hell" and "the scariest experience of my life."
In October 2005, Haggard released his newest album, "Chicago Wind", to mostly positive reviews. The album contained an anti-Iraq war song titled "America First," in which he laments the nation's economy and faltering infrastructure, applauds its soldiers, and sings, "Let's get out of Iraq, and get back on track."
In 2006, Haggard was back on the radio, in a duet with Gretchen Wilson, "Politically Uncorrect". He also featured on "Pledge Allegiance to the Hag" on Eric Church's debut album.
On April 24, 2006 Haggard's former wife Bonnie Owens died in Bakersfield, CA due to Alzheimer's disease. She was 76.
On December 19, 2006, the Kern County Board of Supervisors approved a citizen led resolution to re-name a portion of 7th Standard Road in Oildale "Merle Haggard Drive." Merle Haggard Drive will stretch from North Chester Avenue west to Highway 99. The first street travelers will turn onto when they leave the new airport terminal will be Merle Haggard Drive. The name change, however is conditional in that $41,100 be raised by private funds to pay for the new road signs that will go up on county surface streets and along Highway 99. Haggard's Oildale home, made from a converted box car, is still lived in just south of Norris Road.
Haggard is working on a bluegrass album, which is due for release in 2007, along with his next Capitol Records release titled "Hag's Christmas".

Equipment

Merle Haggard is a player of Fender guitars, both the Stratocaster and Telecaster, of which he has a signature model. He also plays six string acoustic models.

Albums

# 1965 "STRANGERS" Capitol
# 1966 "JUST BETWEEN THE TWO OF US" with Bonnie Owens Capitol
# 1966 "SWINGING DOORS and THE BOTTLE LET ME DOWN" Capitol
# 1967 "I'M A LONESOME FUGITIVE" Capitol
# 1967 "BRANDED MAN and I THREW AWAY THE ROSE" Capitol
# 1968 "SING ME BACK HOME" Capitol
# 1968 "THE LEGEND OF BONNIE AND CLYDE" Capitol
# 1968 "THE BEST OF MERLE HAGGARD" Capitol compilation album
# 1968 "MAMA TRIED" Capitol
# 1969 "PRIDE IN WHAT I AM" Capitol
# 1969 "SAME TRAIN A DIFFERENT TIME" Capitol Jimmie Rodgers tribute
# 1969 "CLOSE UP" Capitol compilation album
# 1969 "A PORTRAIT OF MERLE HAGGARD" Capitol
# 1969 "OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE LIVE" Capitol
# 1970 "THE FIGHTIN' SIDE OF ME LIVE" Capitol
# 1970 "INTRODUCING MY FRIENDS, THE STRANGERS" Capitol instrumental album
# 1970 "A TRIBUTE TO THE BEST DAMN FIDDLE PLAYER IN THE WORLD" Capitol Bob Wills
# 1971 "HAG'" Capitol
# 1971 "SING A SAD SONG" Capitol compilation album
# 1971 "HIGH ON A HILLTOP" Capitol compilation album
# 1971 "THE LAND OF MANY CHURCHES" Capitol Live Gospel album
# 1971 "SOMEDAY WE'LL LOOK BACK" Capitol
# 1972 "LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT A SONG]] Capitol
# 1972 "THE BEST OF THE BEST OF MERLE HAGGARD]] Capitol compilation album
# 1972 "IT'S NOT LOVE (BUT IT'S NOT BAD)" Capitol
# 1973 "TOTALLY INSTRUMENTAL...WITH ONE EXCEPTION" Capitol instrumental album
# 1973 "I LOVE DIXIE BLUES, SO I RECORDED LIVE IN NEW ORLEANS" Capitol
# 1973 "A CHRISTMAS PRESENT (SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW)" Capitol
# 1974 "IF WE MAKE IT THROUGH DECEMBER" Capitol
# 1974 "MERLE HAGGARD PRESENTS HIS 30TH ALBUM" Capitol
# 1975 "KEEP MOVIN' ON" Capitol
# 1975 "IT'S ALL IN THE MOVIES" Capitol
# 1976 "MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH TRAINS" Capitol
# 1976 "SONGS I'LL ALWAYS SING" Capitol compilation album
# 1976 "THE ROOTS OF MY RAISING" Capitol
# 1977 "RAMBLIN' FEVER" MCA
# 1977 "A WORKING MAN CAN'T GET NOWHERE TODAY" Capitol
# 1977 "MY FAREWELL TO ELVIS" MCA Elvis Presley tribute
# 1978 "ELEVEN WINNERS" Capitol compilaiton album
# 1978 "THE WAY IT WAS IN `51" Capitol compilation album
# 1978 "I'M ALWAYS ON A MOUNTAIN WHEN I FALL" MCA
# 1979 "SERVING 190 PROOF" MCA
# 1980 "THE WAY I AM" MCA
# 1980 "BACK TO THE BARROOMS" MCA
# 1981 "RAINBOW STEW LIVE AT ANAHEIM STADIUM" MCA
# 1981 "SONGS FOR THE MAMA THAT TRIED" MCA Gospel album
# 1981 "BIG CITY" Epic
# 1982 "GREATEST HITS" MCA compilation album
# 1982 "A TASTE OF YESTERDAYS WINE" with George Jones Epic
# 1982 "GOING WHERE THE LONELY GO" Epic
# 1982 "GOIN' HOME FOR CHRISTMAS" Epic
# 1982 "PANCHO AND LEFTY" with Willie Nelson Epic
# 1983 "HEART TO HEART" with Leona Williams Mercury Records
# 1983 "THAT'S THE WAY LOVE GOES" Epic
# 1983 "THE EPIC COLLECTION RECORDED LIVE" Epic
# 1984 "IT'S ALL IN THE GAME" Epic
# 1984 "HIS EPIC HITS, THE FIRST ELEVEN...TO BE CONTINUED" Epic compilation album
# 1985 "HIS BEST" MCA compilation album
# 1985 "KERN RIVER" Epic
# 1985 "AMBER WAVES OF GRAIN" Live Epic
# 1986 "OUT AMONG THE STARS" Epic
# 1986 "A FRIEND IN CALIFORNIA" Epic
# 1987 "SEASHORES OF OLD MEXICO" with Willie Nelson Epic
# 1987 "CHILL FACTOR" Epic
# 1989 "5:01 BLUES" Epic
# 1990 "BLUE JUNGLE" Curb
# 1990 "GREATEST HITS OF THE 80'S" Epic compilation album
# 1990 "BEST OF COUNTRY BLUES" Curb compilation album
# 1990 "CAPITOL COLLECTOR'S SERIES" Capitol compilation album
# 1991 "BEST OF THE EARLY YEARS" Curb compilation album
# 1991 "ALL NIGHT LONG" Curb compilation album
# 1991 "18 RARE CLASSICS" Curb compilation album
# 1993 "SUPER HITS" Epic compilation album
# 1994 "SUPER HITS VOL. 2" Epic compilation album re-recordings
# 1994 "GREATEST HITS VOL. 1" Curb compilation album
# 1994 "GREATEST HITS VOL. 2" Curb compilation album
# 1994 "1994" Curb
# 1995 "UNTAMED HAWK,EARLY RECORDINGS OF MERLE HAGGARD" Bear Family Box set
# 1995 "SUPER HITS VOL.3" Epic compilation album re-recordings
# 1995 "20 HITS, SPECIAL COLLECTION" Curb Re-recordings of Hag's biggest hits
# 1995 "VINTAGE COLLECTIONS" Capitol compilation album 2 previously unreleased songs
# 1996 "DOWN EVERY ROAD" Capitol Box set career spanning 1963-1994
# 1996 "1996" Curb
# 1996 "THIS IS FOR YOU" Epic compilation album
# 1998 "16 BIGGEST HITS" Epic compilation album re-recordings
# 1999 "LIVE AT BILLYBOBS TEXAS" Smith Music
# 1999 "FOR THE RECORD, 43 LEGENDARY HITS" BNA re-recordings, plus 4 new duets
# 1999 "A&E BIOGRAPHY" Capitol compilation
# 2000 "BEST OF THE 90'S VOL. 1" Curb compilation
# 2000 "BEST OF THE 90'S VOL. 2" Curb compilation
# 2000 "20TH CENTURY MASTERS" MCA compilation album features "The Bull & The Beaver"
# 2000 "IF I COULD ONLY FLY" Anti
# 2001 "ROOTS" Anti Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, Hank Thompson tribute
# 2001 "A CABIN IN THE HILLS" Compendia Gospel album
# 2001 "TWO OLD FRIENDS" with Albert E. Brumley Compendia Gospel Album
# 2001 "HURTIN'" Capitol compilation album
# 2001 "CHEATIN'" Capitol compilation album
# 2001 "DRINKIN'" Capitol compilation album
# 2001 "PRISON" Capitol compilation album
# 2002 "THE PEER SESSIONS" Audium
# 2002 "20 GREATEST HITS" Capitol compilation album
# 2003 "HAGGARD LIKE NEVER BEFORE" Hag' Records
# 2004 "AWARD WINNING GOSPEL HITS" Compendia compilation album
# 2004 "40 # 1'S" Capitol compilation album
# 2004 "LIVE AT BILLYBOBS TEXAS: OL COUNTRY SINGER" Smith Music
# 2004 "I WISH I WAS SANTA CLAUS" Smith Music
# 2004 "THE ESSENTIAL MERLE HAGGARD, THE EPIC YEARS" Epic compilation album
# 2004 "UNFORGETTABLE" Capitol Collection of Standards
# 2005 "CHICAGO WIND" Capitol
# 2006 "LIVE FROM AUSTIN TEXAS" New West Records recorded October 1985
# 2006 "HAG', THE BEST OF MERLE HAGGARD" Capitol compilation album
# 2006 "KICKIN' OUT THE FOOTLIGHTS...AGAIN" with George Jones Bandit Records
# 2007 "LAST OF THE BREED" with Willie Nelson and Ray Price
# 2007 "THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION" MCA compilation album
# 2007 "A WORKING MAN'S JOURNEY" Cracker Barrel Cracker Barrel exclusive, 6 new songs
# 2007 "HAG THE STUDIO RECORDINGS 1968-1976" Bear Family Box Set
# 2007 "THE BLUEGRASS SESSIONS" McCoury Records re-recordings w/bluegrass touch, 2 new
NOTE: This Discography does not include every compilation album released. Only the major label releases.

Singles

# Sing a Sad Song 1963 Tally # 19
# Sam Hill 1964 Tally # 45
# (My friends are Gonna be) Strangers 1964 Tally # 10
# Just Between the Two of Us 1964 Tally # 28 with Bonnie Owens
# I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can 1965 Capitol # 42
# Swinging Doors 1966 Capitol # 5
# The Bottle Let Me Down 1966 Capitol # 3
# I'm a Lonesome Fugitive 1966 Capitol # 1
# Someone Told My Story 1967 Capitol # 32
# I Threw Away the Rose 1967 Capitol # 2
# Branded Man 1967 Capitol # 1
# Sing Me Back Home 1968 Capitol # 1
# The Legend Of Bonnie & Clyde 1968 Capitol # 1
# Mama Tried 1968 Capitol # 1
# I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am 1968 Capitol # 3
# Hungry Eyes 1969 Capitol # 1
# Workin' Man Blues 1969 Capitol # 1
# Okie From Muskogee 1969 Capitol # 1
# The Fightin' Side of Me 1970 Capitol # 1
# Street Singer 1970 Capitol # 9
# Jesus, Take a Hold 1970 Capitol # 3
# I Can't Be Myself 1970 Capitol # 3
# Soldiers Last Letter 1971 Capitol # 3
# Sidewalks of Chicago 1971 Capitol # 3
# Someday We'll Look Back 1971 Capitol # 2
# Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man) 1971 Capitol # 1
# Carolyn 1971 Capitol # 1
# Grandma Harp 1972 Capitol # 1
# It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) 1972 Capitol # 1
# I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me 1972 Capitol # 1
# The Emptiest Arms in The World 1973 Capitol # 3
# Everybody's Had The Blues 1973 Capitol # 1
# If We Make It Through December 1973 Capitol # 1
# Things Aren't Funny Anymore 1974 Capitol # 1
# Old Man From The Mountain 1974 Capitol # 1
# Kentucky Gambler 1974 Capitol # 1
# Always Wanting You 1975 Capitol # 1
# Movin' On 1975 Capitol # 1
# It's All In The Movies 1975 Capitol # 1
# The Roots Of My Raising 1975 Capitol # 1
# Here Comes The Freedom Train 1976 Capitol # 10
# Cherokee Maiden 1976 Capitol # 1
# If We're Not Back In Love By Monday 1977 MCA # 2
# Ramblin' Fever 1977 MCA # 2
# A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today 1977 Capitol # 16
# From Graceland to The Promised Land 1977 MCA # 4
# Running Kind 1977 Capitol # 12
# Making Believe 1977 Capitol # 12
# I'm Always On A Mountain When I Fall 1978 MCA # 2
# It's Been A Great Afternoon 1978 MCA # 2
# The Bull & The Beaver 1978 MCA # 8 with Leona Williams
# Red Bandana 1979 MCA # 4
# My Own Kind of Hat 1979 MCA # 4
# The Way I Am 1980 MCA # 2
# Barroom Buddies 1980 Elektra # 1 with Clint Eastwood
# I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink 1980 MCA # 1
# Misery And Gin 1980 MCA # 3
# Leonard 1980 MCA # 9
# Rainbow Stew (live) 1981 MCA # 4
# My favorite Memory 1981 Epic # 1
# Big City 1981 Epic # 1
# Are The Good Times Really Over 1981 Epic # 2
# Yesterdays Wine 1982 Epic # 1 with George Jones
# Going Where The Lonely Go 1982 Epic # 1
# C.C. Waterback 1982 Epic # 10 with George Jones
# Reasons To Quit 1982 Epic # 6 with Willie Nelson
# You Take Me For Granted 1982 Epic # 1
# Pancho And Lefty 1983 Epic # 1 with Willie Nelson
# We're Strangers Again 1983 Mercury Records with Leona Williams
# That's The Way Love Goes 1983 Epic # 1
# What Am I Gonna Do (With The Rest Of My Life) 1983 Epic # 3
# It's All In The Game 1983 MCA # 54
# Someday When Things Are Good 1984 Epic # 1
# Let's Chase Each Other Around The Room 1984 Epic # 1
# A Place To Fall Apart 1984 Epic # 1
# Natural High 1985 Epic # 1
# Kern River 1985 Epic # 10
# Amber Waves of Grain 1985 Epic # 36
# American Waltz 1985 Epic # 60
# Make Up And Faded Blue Jeans 1985 MCA # 55
# Out Among The Stars 1986 Epic # 21
# Almost Persuaded 1986 Epic # 58
# I Had a Beautiful Time 1986 Epic # 5
# A Friend in California 1986 Epic # 9
# If I Could Only Fly 1987 Epic # 58 with Willie Nelson
# Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star 1987 Epic # 1
# Chill Factor 1988 Epic # 9
# We Never Touch At ALl 1988 Epic # 22
# You Babe 1988 Epic # 23
# A Better Love Next Time 1989 Epic # 4
# 5:01 Blues 1989 Epic # 18
# If You Want to be My Woman 1989 Epic # 23
# When It Rains It Pours 1990 Curb # 60
# In My Next Life 1994 Curb # 58
# That's The Way Love Goes 1999 BNA # 54 duet with Jewel
# Politiclly Uncorrect 2005 Epic # 23 duet with Gretchen Wilson

38 #1 Hits

# I'm A Lonesome Fugitive
# Branded Man
# Sing Me Back Home
# The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde
# Mama Tried
# Hungry Eyes
# Workin' Man Blues
# Okie From Muskogee
# The Fightin' Side of Me
# Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
# Carolyn
# Grandma Harp
# It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
# Everybody's Had the Blues
# I Wonder if They Ever Think of Me
# If We Make It Through December
# Old Man from the Mountain
# Things Aren't Funny Anymore
# Always Wanting You
# Kentucky Gambler
# Movin' On
# It's All In The Movies
# Cherokee Maiden
# The Roots of My Raising
# I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
# Bar Room Buddies (with Clint Eastwood)
# My Favorite Memory
# Big City
# Yesterday's Wine (with George Jones)
# Going Where the Lonely Go
# You Take Me For Granted
# Pancho And Lefty (with Willie Nelson)
# That's The Way Love Goes
# Someday When Things Are Good
# Let's Chase Each Other Around The Room
# A Place to Fall Apart
# Natural High
# Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star

Awards

Year	Award
2006	Grammy	Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award
2004	IBMA	Recorded Event of the Year
1998	Grammy	Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, Hall of Fame Award
1994	Elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame
1990	TNN / Music City News	Living Legend
1984	Grammy	Best Male Country Vocal Performance
1983	Country Music Awards	Vocal Duo of the Year
1982	Academy of Country Music	Song of the Year
1981	Academy of Country Music	Top Male Vocalist
1980	BMI	Songwriters/Publishers of the Year
1977	Elected to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
1976	BMI	Songwriters/Publishers of the Year
1974	Academy of Country Music	Top Male Vocalist
1972	Academy of Country Music	Top Male Vocalist
	Country Music Awards	Album of the Year
1970	Academy of Country Music	Entertainer of the Year, Top Male Vocalist
	Country Music Awards	Album of the Year, Entertainer of the Year, Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year
1969	Academy of Country Music	Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Top Male Vocalist
1968	Academy of Country Music	Top Vocal Duet
	Music City News	Country Male Artist of the Year
1967	Academy of Country Music	Top Vocal Duet
	Music City News	Country Male Artist of the Year
1966	Academy of Country Music	Top Male Vocalist, Top Vocal Duet
1965	Academy of Country Music	Top New Male Vocalist, Top Vocal Duet

Miscellany

★ In 1976 Merle appeared as country singer Red Turner in the Waltons. In "The Comeback" (Season 5 Episode 3) Red, who had given up on music following the death of his son from leukemia, is persuaded by Jason to make a comeback at the Dew Drop Inn.

★ On the 1995 ''Fresh Air'' interview with Terry Gross, Haggard corrected the usual story that it was his mother who put him in juvenile detention, saying that in fact it was the local authorities.

★ Darrell Scott wrote and first performed "Long Time Gone"; the Dixie Chicks recorded it years later.

★ Merle is referred to frequently in the popular British TV comedy/drama series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (second series). Where the Character 'Oz', portrayed by actor Jimmy Nail claims to have met him in Nashville TN while vacationing there. In a later episode of the same series Jimmy Nail, who later went on to become a moderately successful singer himself, performs one of Merle's songs "I can't be myself".

★ In the graphic novel Sin City, Haggard is referenced as one of Marv's favorite singers.

★ Merle's 1975 #1 hit song "Movin' On" was the theme song for the NBC TV series, Movin' On. The series about a pair of truck drivers ran for forty-six episodes.

★ Neotraditional country newcomer Blaine Larsen refers to Merle in his song ''If Merle Would Sing My Song'' from his 2006 album Off To Join The World.

★ Pure Prairie League honored Merle Haggard with their 1975 re-recording of Blues-Rocker Nick Gravenites' "I'll Change Your Flat Tire, Merle".

★ In October 2004 ''Always Wanting You'' appeared on the , playing on fictional country music station K-ROSE.

★ "As I drove down on 65 I was crusin' down that ole grapevine, well I must have been doin' at least about 95. Right there on the side of the road I broke down and who do you think was a'standin' around but the Greatest Country singer alive! I'll fix your flat tire Merle. Don't get you sweet country-pickin' fingers all covered with erl. Cause you're a honky I know but Merle you got soul, and I'll fix your flat tire, Merle." – N/A

★ Played the role of Cisco Calendar in Centennial (miniseries). He also sang John Denver's "I Guess he'd Rather be in Colorado" in the miniseries.

★ In the Bloodhound Gang's country-and-western parody ''A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When The Stripper Is Crying'', the narrator describes a night when he was 'lonelier than Kunta Kinte at a Merle Haggard councert'.

★ CMT in 2003 ranked Haggard #6 in ''CMT's 40 Greatest Men in Country Music.''

★ In 2005 he appeared as himself in Michael Mabbott's pseudo-rockumentary The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico. Haggard is attributed with giving the fictional Canadian musician a black eye before a big television appearance.

★ In french, the world "merle" means "blackbird".

★ The song Rollin' On by Kentucky rock band Black Stone Cherry has the line "Hey, Merle Haggard I know what you mean when you say sing me back home" in the chorus.

★ He also has a son named Scott Haggard.

References

★ Di Salvatore, Bryan. (1998). "Merle Haggard". In ''The Encyclopedia of Country Music''. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 222-4.

★ Aron A. Fox, "White Trash Alchemies of the Abject Sublime: Country as 'Bad' Music", in Christopher J. Washburne and Maiken Derno (eds.), ''Bad Music: The Music We Love to Hate'', New York: Routledge, 2004 (ISBN 0-415-94366-3).

Footnotes

1. http://www.wargs.com/other/haggard.html

External links

★ Official Site -''website suspended''-

★ Record Label

★ at the Country Music Hall of Fame

★ Merle Haggard at IMDB