Merle Haggard

Early life

Haggard was born in Oildale, California, the son of Flossie Mae (née Harp; 1902–1984) and James Francis Haggard (1899–1946), who, in 1934, had moved to California after their farm in Checotah, Oklahoma, burned down.

They settled with their two elder children, James "Lowell" (1922–1996) and Lillian, in an apartment in Bakersfield, while James started working for the Santa Fe Railroad. A woman who owned a boxcar in nearby Oildale asked Haggard's father about the possibility of converting it into a house. He remodeled and expanded the boxcar, and soon after moved in, also purchasing the lot, where Merle Ronald Haggard was born on April 6, 1937.

In 1946, James Haggard died of a brain hemorrhage. Nine-year-old Merle was deeply affected by the loss, and it remained a pivotal event to him for the rest of his life. To support the family, Haggard's mother took a job as a bookkeeper. Older brother Lowell gave his guitar to Merle when Merle was 12. Haggard taught himself to play, with the records he had at home, influenced by Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Williams. While his mother was at work, Haggard started getting into trouble. She sent him to a juvenile detention center for a weekend but his behavior worsened.

By age 13, Haggard was stealing and writing bad checks. In 1950 he was caught shoplifting and sent to a juvenile detention center. The following year, he ran away to Texas with his friend Bob Teague. The two rode freight trains and hitchhiked throughout the state. When they returned later that year, they were accused of robbery and sent to jail; they were released when the real robbers were found. Merle was sent to Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility in Whittier, California, a juvenile detention center later that year, from which he and his friend escaped and headed to Modesto, California. There, he worked as a potato truck driver, short order cook, hay pitcher and oil well shooter. During this time, he made his musical debut performance, with Teague, in a Modesto bar named "Fun Center", for which he was paid US$5 and given free beer.

In 1951, Haggard returned to Bakersfield, where he was arrested for truancy and petty larceny and sent to a juvenile detention center. After another escape, he was sent to the high-security Preston School of Industry. He was released 15 months later but was sent back after beating a local boy during a burglary attempt. After his release, he and Teague saw Lefty Frizzell in concert. The two sat backstage, where Haggard began to sing along. Hearing the young man from the stage, Frizzell insisted that Haggard come on stage and sing. He was well received by the audience and decided to pursue a career in music. At night he would sing and play in local bars, while working as a farmhand or in the oil fields during the day.

Career

Early career

Upon his release from San Quentin in 1960, Haggard began digging ditches for his brother's electrical contracting company. 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 overproduced Nashville sound. Haggard's first record for Tally was "Singing My Heart Out" backed by "Skid Row"; it was not a success, and only 200 copies were pressed. 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. The following year, he had his first national top-10 record with "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers", written by Liz Anderson, mother of country singer Lynn Anderson, and his career was off and running. Haggard recalls having been talked into visiting Anderson—a woman he did not know—at her house to hear her sing some songs she had written. "If there was anything I didn't wanna do, it was sit around some danged woman's house and listen to her cute little songs. But I went anyway. She was a pleasant enough lady, pretty, with a nice smile, but I was all set to be bored to death, even more so when she got out a whole bunch of songs and went over to an old pump organ... There they were. My God, one hit right after another. There must have been four or five number one songs there..."

In 1967, Haggard recorded "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive" with the Strangers, also written by Liz Anderson, with her husband Casey Anderson, which became his first number-one single. When the Andersons presented the song to Haggard, they were unaware of his prison stretch. Bonnie Owens, Haggard's backup singer and then-wife, is quoted by music journalist Daniel Cooper in the liner notes to the 1994 retrospective Down Every Road: "I guess I didn't realize how much the experience at San Quentin did to him, 'cause he never talked about it all that much ... I could tell he was in a dark mood ... and I said, 'Is everything okay?' And he said, 'I'm really scared.' And I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'Cause I'm afraid someday I'm gonna be out there ... and there's gonna be ... some prisoner ... in there the same time I was in, stand up—and they're gonna be about the third row down—and say, 'What do you think you're doing, 45200?'" Cooper notes that the news had little effect on Haggard's career: "It's unclear when or where Merle first acknowledged to the public that his prison songs were rooted in personal history, for to his credit, he doesn't seem to have made some big splash announcement. In a May 1967 profile in Music City News, his prison record is never mentioned, but in July 1968, in the very same publication, it's spoken of as if it were common knowledge."

"Okie from Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side of Me"

In 1969, Haggard and the Strangers released "Okie From Muskogee", with lyrics ostensibly reflecting the singer's pride in being from Middle America, where people are conventionally patriotic and traditionally conservative. American president Richard Nixon wrote an appreciative letter to Haggard upon his hearing of the song, and would go on to invite Haggard to perform at the White House several times.

In the ensuing years, Haggard gave varying statements regarding whether he intended the song as a humorous satire or a serious political statement in support of conservative values. In a 2001 interview, Haggard called the song a "documentation of the uneducated that lived in America at the time". However, he made several other statements suggesting that he meant the song seriously. On the Bob Edwards Show, he said, "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 protesters. 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." In the country music documentary series Lost Highway, he elaborated: "My dad passed away when I was nine, and I don't know if you've ever thought about somebody you've lost and you say, 'I wonder what so-and-so would think about this?' I was drivin' on Interstate 40 and I saw a sign that said '19 Miles to Muskogee', while at the same time listening to radio shows of The World Tomorrow hosted by Garner Ted Armstrong. Muskogee was always referred to in my childhood as 'back home.' So I saw that sign and my whole childhood flashed before my eyes and I thought, 'I wonder what dad would think about the youthful uprising that was occurring at the time, the Janis Joplins... I understood 'em, I got along with it, but what if he was to come alive at this moment? And I thought, what a way to describe the kind of people in America that are still sittin' in the center of the country sayin', 'What is goin' on on these campuses?'", as it was the subject of this Garner Ted Armstrong radio program. "And a week or so later, I was listening to Garner Ted Armstrong, and Armstrong was saying how the smaller colleges in smaller towns don't seem to have any problems. And I wondered if Muskogee had a college, and it did, and they hadn't had any trouble - no racial problems and no dope problems. The whole thing hit me in two minutes, and I did one line after another and got the whole thing done in 20 minutes." In the American Masters documentary about him, he said, "That's how I got into it with the hippies... I thought they were unqualified to judge America, and I thought they were lookin' down their noses at something that I cherished very much, and it pissed me off. And I thought, 'You sons of bitches, you've never been restricted away from this great, wonderful country, and yet here you are in the streets bitchin' about things, protesting about a war that they didn't know any more about than I did. They weren't over there fightin' that war any more than I was."

Later career

Haggard's 1970 LP A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World, dedicated to Bob Wills, helped spark a permanent revival and expanded the audience for western swing. By this point, Haggard was one of the most famous country singers in the world, having enjoyed an immensely successful artistic and commercial run with Capitol, accumulating 24 number-one country singles since 1966.

In 1972, Let Me Tell You about A Song, the first TV special starring Haggard, was nationally syndicated by Capital Cities TV Productions. It was a semi-autobiographical musical profile of Haggard, akin to the contemporary Behind the Music, produced and directed by Michael Davis. The 1973 recession anthem, "If We Make It Through December", furthered Haggard's status as a champion of the working class. "If We Make It Through December" turned out to be Haggard and the Strangers' final crossover pop hit.

Haggard appeared on the cover of Time on May 6, 1974. He also wrote and performed the theme song to the television series Movin' On, which in 1975 gave him and the Strangers another number-one country hit. During the early-to-mid-1970s, Haggard and the Strangers country chart domination continued with songs such as "Someday We'll Look Back", "Grandma Harp", "Always Wanting You", and "The Roots of My Raising". Between 1973 and 1976, he and the Strangers scored nine consecutive number-one country hits.

Haggard appeared in an episode of The Waltons titled "The Comeback", season five, episode three, original air-date October 10, 1976. He played a bandleader named Red, who had been depressed since the death of his son (Ron Howard).

In 1977, he switched to MCA Records and began exploring the themes of depression, alcoholism, and middle age on albums such as Serving 190 Proof and The Way I Am. Haggard sang a duet cover of Billy Burnette's "What's A Little Love Between Friends" with Lynda Carter in her 1980 television music special, Lynda Carter: Encore! In 1980, Haggard headlined the Bronco Billy soundtrack alongside Ronnie Milsap, which saw Haggard score a number-one hit with "Bar Room Buddies", a duet with actor Clint Eastwood.

In 1981, Haggard published an autobiography, Sing Me Back Home. The same year, he provided the narration and theme for the movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger. The movie did not perform as well as expected attributing its commercial failure to the Wrather/Moore dispute which generated negative publicity. Haggard also changed record labels again in 1981, moving to Epic and releasing one of his most critically acclaimed albums, Big City, on which he was backed by the Strangers.

Comeback

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".

When political opponents were attacking the Chicks for criticizing President George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq, Haggard spoke up for the band on July 25, 2003, saying:

I don't even know the Dixie Chicks, but I find it an insult for all the men and women who fought and died in past wars when almost the majority of America jumped down their throats for voicing an opinion. It was like a verbal witch-hunt and lynching.

Haggard and the Strangers' number-one hit single "Mama Tried" is featured in Bryan Bertino's The Strangers with Liv Tyler. In addition, his and the Strangers song "Swingin' Doors" can be heard in the film Crash (2004), and his 1981 hit "Big City", where he is backed by the Strangers, is heard in Joel and Ethan Coen's film Fargo.

In October 2005, Haggard released his album Chicago Wind to mostly positive reviews. The album contains 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." This follows from his 2003 release "Haggard Like Never Before" in which he includes a song, "That's the News". Haggard released a bluegrass album, The Bluegrass Sessions, on October 2, 2007.

In April 2010, Haggard released a new album, I Am What I Am, to strong reviews, and he performed the title song on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in February 2011. Haggard's final concert was held in Oakland at the Paramount Theatre on February 13, 2016.

Collaborations

Haggard collaborated with many other artists over the course of his career. In the early 1960s, Haggard recorded duets with Bonnie Owens, who later became his wife, for Tally Records, scoring a minor hit with "Just Between the Two of Us". As part of the deal that got Haggard signed to Capitol, producer Ken Nelson obtained the rights to Haggard's Tally sides, including the duets with Owens, resulting in the release of Haggard's first duet album with Owens and the Strangers in 1966, also entitled Just Between the Two of Us. The album reached number four on the country charts, and Haggard and Owens recorded a number of additional duets before their divorce in 1978. Haggard went on to record duets with George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Clint Eastwood, among others.

In 1970, Haggard released A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills), rounding up six of the remaining members of the Texas Playboys to record the tribute: Johnnie Lee Wills, Eldon Shamblin, Tiny Moore, Joe Holley, Johnny Gimble, and Alex Brashear. Haggard's band, the Strangers, were also present during the recording, but Wills suffered a massive stroke after the first day of recording. Haggard arrived on the second day, devastated that he would not get to record with him, but the album helped return Wills to public consciousness, and set off a Western swing revival. Haggard did other tribute albums to Bob Wills over the next 40 years. In 1973 he appeared on For the Last Time: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In 1994, Haggard collaborated with Asleep at the Wheel and many other artists influenced by the music of Bob Wills on an album titled A Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. A Tribute was re-released on CD on the Koch label in 1995.

In 1972, Haggard agreed to produce Gram Parsons's first solo album but backed out at the last minute. Warner Bros. arranged a meeting at Haggard's Bakersfield home and the two musicians seemed to hit it off, but later on the afternoon of the first session, Haggard canceled. Parsons, an enormous Haggard fan, was crushed, with his wife Gretchen telling Meyer, "Merle not producing Gram was probably one of the greatest disappointments in Gram's life. Merle was very nice, very sweet, but he had his own enemies and his own demons." In 1980, Haggard said of Parsons, in an interview with Mark Rose, "He was a pussy. Hell, he was just a long-haired kid. I thought he was a good writer. He was not wild, though. That's what's funny to me. All these guys running around in long hair talking about being wild and Rolling Stones. I don't think someone abusing themselves on drugs determines how wild they are. It might determine how ignorant they are."

Equipment

Haggard endorsed Fender guitars and had a Custom Artist signature model Telecaster. The guitar is a modified Telecaster Thinline with laminated top of figured maple, set neck with deep carved heel, birdseye maple fingerboard with 22 jumbo frets, ivoroid pickguard and binding, gold hardware, abalone Tuff Dog Tele peghead inlay, 2-Colour Sunburst finish, and a pair of Fender Texas Special Tele single-coil pickups with custom-wired 4-way pickup switching. He also played six-string acoustic models. In 2001, C. F. Martin & Company introduced a limited edition Merle Haggard Signature Edition 000-28SMH acoustic guitar available with or without factory-installed electronics.

Personal life

Wives and children

Haggard was married five times, first to Leona Hobbs from 1956 to 1964. They had four children: Dana, Marty, Kelli, and Noel.

Shortly after divorcing Hobbs, in 1965, he married singer Bonnie Owens, the former wife of Buck Owens. Haggard credited her with helping him make his big break as a country artist. He shared the writing credit with Owens for his hit "Today I Started Loving You Again" and acknowledged, including on stage, that the song was about a sudden burst of special feelings he experienced for her while they were touring together. She also helped care for Haggard's children from his first marriage and was the maid of honor for Haggard's third marriage. Haggard and Owens divorced in 1978 but remained close friends as Owens continued as his backing vocalist until her death in 2006.

In 1978, Haggard married Leona Williams. In 1983, they divorced. In 1985 Haggard married Debbie Parret; they divorced in 1991. He married his fifth wife, Theresa Ann Lane, on September 11, 1993. They had two children, Jenessa and Ben.

Cigarette and drug use

Haggard said he started smoking marijuana in 1978, when he was 41 years old. He admitted that in 1983, he bought "$2,000 (worth) of cocaine" and partied for five months afterward, when he said he finally realized his condition and quit for good. He quit smoking cigarettes in 1991, and stopped smoking marijuana in 1995. However, a Rolling Stone magazine interview in 2009 indicated that he had resumed regular marijuana smoking.

Illness and death

Haggard underwent angioplasty in 1995 to unblock clogged arteries. On November 9, 2008, it was announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in May and undergone surgery on November 3, during which part of his lung was removed. Haggard returned home on November 8. Less than two months after his cancer surgery, he played two shows on January 2 and 3, 2009, in Bakersfield at Buck Owens Crystal Palace, and continued to tour and record until shortly before his death.

On December 5, 2015, Haggard was treated at an undisclosed hospital in California for pneumonia. He made a recovery, but postponed several concerts.

In March 2016, Haggard was once again hospitalized. His concerts for April were canceled due to his ongoing double pneumonia. On the morning of April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday, he died of complications from pneumonia at his home in Palo Cedro, Shasta County, California. Haggard was buried in a private funeral at his ranch on April 9, 2016; longtime friend Marty Stuart officiated.

Legacy and honors

During his long career, Haggard received numerous awards from the Academy of Country Music, Country Music Association, and National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (Grammy Awards) (see Awards). He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 1994, and the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2006, he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and was also honored as a BMI Icon at the 54th annual BMI Pop Awards that same year. During his songwriting career up to that time, Haggard had earned 48 BMI Country Awards, nine BMI Pop Awards, a BMI R&B Award, and 16 BMI "Million-Air" awards, all from a catalog of songs that added up to over 25 million performances.

Haggard accepted a Kennedy Center Honor on December 4, 2010, from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in recognition of his lifetime achievement and "outstanding contribution to American culture". The following day, he was honored at a gala in Washington, DC, with musical performances by Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert, and Brad Paisley. This tribute was featured on the December 28, 2010, CBS telecast of the Kennedy Center Honors.

In July 2007, a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of 7th Standard Road in Oildale, California, where Haggard grew up, was renamed Merle Haggard Drive in his honor. It stretches from North Chester Avenue west to U.S. Route 99 and provides access to the William M. Thomas airport terminal at Meadows Field Airport. Haggard played two shows to raise money to pay for the changes in road signage. In 2015, the converted boxcar in which the Haggard family lived in Oildale was moved to the Kern County Museum for historic preservation and restoration.

On June 14, 2013, the California State University, Bakersfield, awarded Haggard the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts. Haggard stepped to the podium and said, "Thank you. It's nice to be noticed."

On November 6, 2013, the mayor of Winchester, Virginia, awarded Haggard the Key to the City at the Patsy Cline Theatre after a sold-out show by Bonnie Blue Concerts.

On January 26, 2014, Haggard performed his 1969 song "Okie from Muskogee" at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards along with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Blake Shelton.

Influence

Haggard's guitar playing and voice gave his country songs a hard-edged, blues-like style in many cuts. Although he was outspoken in his dislike for modern country music, he praised George Strait, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, and Sturgill Simpson. Haggard also had an interest in jazz music, and stated in an interview in 1986 that he wanted to be remembered as "the greatest jazz guitar player in the world that loved to play country". Keith singled out Haggard as a major influence on his career.

As noted by an article published in The Washington Post upon Haggard's death, "Respect for the Hag [Haggard] as an icon, both for his musical status and his personal views, is a common theme" in country music. Many country music acts have paid tribute to Haggard by mentioning him in their songs (a fact aided by his first name rhyming with "girl", a common theme in country songs). These include:

Collin Raye recorded "My Kind of Girl", which includes the line, "How 'bout some music/She said have you got any Merle/That's when I knew she was my kind of girl."

In 2000, Alan Jackson and George Strait sang "Murder on Music Row", which criticizes mainstream country trends: "The Hag wouldn't have a chance on today's radio/Because they committed murder down on music row."

In 2005, the country rock duo Brooks & Dunn sang "Just Another Neon Night" off their Hillbilly Deluxe album. In the song, Ronnie Dunn said, "He's got an Eastwood grin and a Tulare swagger/Hollerin' turn off that rap/And play me some Haggard." Brooks and Dunn also reference Haggard in 1993's "Rock My World (little country girl)" off their Hard Workin' Man album as they sing "Acts like Madonna but she listens to Merle/Rock my world little country girl."

In 2009, Jimmy Buffett's song Wings refers to Haggard and his song Silver Wings in the verse "You have wings look and see, Silver wings like Merle and me".

LeAnn Rimes mentions him in her 2013 song, "I Do Now": "Thank God for Merle Haggard, he's right, the bottle let me down."

Acting

His first acting appearance was in the movie Hillbillys in a Haunted House, released in May 1967. He played himself and sang his song "Swinging Doors". He then played Charlie, a police officer who gets killed in the movie Killers Three. It was released in November 1968 and was produced by Dick Clark. In 1969 he appeared in the film "From Nashville with Music" performing "Branded Man", "Today I Started Loving You Again", "Hungry Eyes" and "Lead Me On" with Bonnie Owens and The Strangers.

On March 13, 1974, he guest starred on the ABC television show Doc Elliot appearing as Owen Henderson in the episode "The Gold Mine" alongside Karl Swenson. While he did not act in the show, he sang the theme song "Movin’ On" for Claude Akins NBC series Movin' On, which ran from May 8, 1974 through March 2, 1976. On March 25, 1975, he starred as the Duke in ABC’s television movie Huckleberry Finn, which was directed by Robert Totten and co-starred Ron Howard and Jack Elam. He guest starred on the CBS series The Waltons on the October 7, 1976 episode "The Comeback". He portrayed Red Turner and sang the Jimmie Davis song "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine".

On February 4, 1979 he appeared on the final episode of the NBC miniseries Centennial entitled "The Scream of Eagles". He played Cisco Calendar and sang the song "I Guess He'd Rather Be in Colorado". He also appeared as himself in the Clint Eastwood movie Bronco Billy that was released on June 11, 1980. He was backed by The Strangers and performed the song "Misery and Gin". He also was featured as the Narrator/Balladeer for the movie The Legend of the Lone Ranger. It was released on May 22, 1981 and starred Christopher Lloyd and Jason Robards. He also appeared in 1985’s television film All American Cowboy.

Discography