This week I would like to post a special tribute to Merle Haggard who passed away this morning, on his birthday, at age 79. Merle Ronald Haggard was an American country and Western songwriter, singer, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist. A true gift to country music. Merle's band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique 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 has a rough edge. By the 1970s, Merle was aligned with the growing outlaw country movement, and he continued to release successful albums through the 1990s and into the 2000s. In 1994, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. 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. In 1966, Haggard recorded his first number-one song "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive", written by Liz Anderson, which became Haggard's first #1 single. The 1966 album Branded Man kicked off an incredible artistic run for Haggard. His huge hit "Okie From Muskogee", 1969's apparent political statement, was, according to some Merle Haggard interviews decades later, actually written as a humorous character portrait. He wrote it right when he got out of prison he says, "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." Merle was beginning to attract attention from artists outside the country field, such as crooner Dean Martin, who recorded "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am" for his album of the same name in 1969. The Gram Parsons incarnation of the Byrds had performed "Sing Me Back Home" on the Grand Ole Opry and had recorded Haggard's "Life in Prison" for their album Sweetheart of the Rodeo the same year. In 1969 the Grateful Dead began performing Haggard's tune "Mama Tried", which appeared on their 1971 eponymous live album. Many more artists sang the legendary song, "Mama Tried" as well. In 1970 "The Fightin' Side of Me", was so unapologetically right that it left no doubt as to where he stood politically. It became his fourth consecutive #1 country hit and also made an appearance on the pop chart. In 2000, Haggard made a comeback, signing with the independent record label Anti and releasing 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. Merle accepted the prestigious award for lifetime achievement and "outstanding contribution to American culture" from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 4, 2010. On December 5, 2010 at a gala in Washington, D.C. he was honored with musical performances by Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Vince Gill, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Miranda Lambert and Brad Paisley. Merle has had so many chat topping songs throughout his long career, but in my opinion his most famous was "Mama Tried" listen to the song in Merle Haggard's memory below... rest in peace Merle, all of us are missing you down here. There will never be a man like Merle Haggard! As Eric Church said, "Pledge Allegiance to the Hag!"
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorHey y'all, I'm Jess! I have a Bachelor's Degree in communication and thought blogging would help me through my career! Archives
October 2020
|