Merle Haggard | A Greatest Singer
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the twang of Fender Telecaster and the unique mix with the traditional country steel guitar sound, new vocal harmony styles in which the words are minimal, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville sound recordings of the same era,More info:wiki
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#10 Remembering Merle Haggard, legendary outlaw and politically-incorrect progressive,More info:globalcitizen
One day Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash were reminiscing about Cash’s first prison concert at San Quentin in 1958. When Haggard told Cash he enjoyed the show, Cash said he couldn’t remember him being on the bill that day.
Haggard replied, “I was in the audience, Johnny.”
Merle Haggard was about as country as it gets. He grew up in a home made from a boxcar with a father who toiled on California’s cotton farms during the 1940s. At age 20, after a conviction for armed robbery, Merle was transferred to San Quentin prison when he botched an escape attempt from Bakersfield Jail.
While in San Quentin he started an illegal brewing operation and subsequently spent seven days in solitary confinement. This experience led Haggard to be “scared straight.” He went on to be one of the most prolific singers and songwriters in the history of country music.
Yesterday, Merle passed away surrounded by family and friends on his tour bus, where he had asked to spend his final days.
In today’s world of Top 40 country it’s all too common to hear music that is essentially hair metal with a fiddle player, and lyrical content that is uncompromisingly dominated by the words “truck, beer, jeans, moonlight, and girl.”
#9 5 Things You Should Know About Merle Haggard,More info:kosu
His career spanned the famous Bakersfield sound, the outlaw era, and 38 No. 1 hits on the country music charts. Now comes word that Merle Haggard has died Wednesday — his 79th birthday.
Haggard gave voice to people living hard-scrabble lives, and it was a voice he came by honestly. Born in 1937 in Oildale, Calif., just outside Bakersfield, he grew up living in a converted boxcar and spent his early years bouncing between jails and oil fields, and playing music in bars.
#8 Merle Haggard – “Mama Tried” [Live from Austin, TX],More info:Live From Austin TX
#7 Merle Haggard’s too-good-to-be-true story about Johnny Cash? It really happened,More info:chicagotribune
#6 Merle Haggard Performing Live,More info:jambase
Country music legend Merle Haggard died earlier this week, passing away on his 79th birthday last Wednesday, April 6. Musicians from many genres and backgrounds have paid tribute to the iconic outlaw musician who left an indelible mark on American music. One of the all-time greats, in honor of Merle, here’s a Sunday Cinema look back at him performing some of his most well-known songs live during the course of his renowned career.
Perhaps his most well-known composition, Haggard’s statement song “Okie From Muskogee” was played live on an episode of the Porter Wagoner Show in 1970. Here’s Merle Haggard & The Strangers playing “Okie”:
#5 10 Fantastic Merle Haggard Songs,More info:inverse
Merle Haggard, a true country music original and one of the genre’s greatest singer/songwriters, passed away today at the age of 79 — on his birthday. The news came following Haggard’s hospitalization for double pneumonia in December, which then led to the cancellation of a string of tour dates in February.
Throughout his career, Haggard stayed amazingly active on the road, and as a recording artist. Along with artists like George Jones and Loretta Lynn, Haggard helped defined the sleek pop sound of Nashville-based country music in the 1970s. However, his stories of crime and incarceration — based on personal experience in the late ‘50s — made him feel unique in that world: a hard-bitten storyteller along the lines of Johnny Cash or Waylon Jennings. Haggard was “outlaw country” before the term existed.
#4 Merle Haggard, 1937–2016,More info:grammy
Two-time GRAMMY winner and country music legend Merle Haggard died April 6 after a battle with pneumonia and a history of lung cancer. He was 79.
Haggard was born just outside Bakersfield, Calif., and after a troubled youth that would inform many of his greatest songs, ultimately helped put the California city on the country music map by creating the “Bakersfield Sound” alongside such contemporaries as Buck Owens. Hits such as “The Bottle Let Me Down,” “Okie From Muskogee” and “Mama Tried,” which was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame(opens in a new tab) in 1999, often told the story of a recalcitrant anti-hero in music that brought elements of rock, blues and folk to straight honky-tonk. Unlike the legend that sprang up around Johnny Cash, Haggard really did do time at San Quentin prison, and he put his experiences into songs that would touch millions.
#3 Merle Haggard Dead: Country Legend Dies on 79th Birthday,More info:usmagazine
#2 Merle Haggard, Country Legend, Dead at 79,More info:thedailybeast
#1 Merle Haggard What Am I Gonna Do With The Rest Of My Life,More info:A Country State of Mind
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