From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Apr 6, 2002  12:51 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Merle Haggard

MERLE HAGGARD (By Shaun Mather)

Born Merle Ronald Haggard, 6 April, 1937, Bakersfield, California

Hag is one of country music's most enduring figures, thanks to an arsenal of
recordings that have mirrored his life and have made him an hero of the
working man. And although his music has regularly shown influences of jazz
and blues, his vocals have always dripped with the country sounds of the
tough Bakersfield honky tonk bars he started off in. After his father died
at an early age, young Merle went off the rails and between his teens and
mid-20s, he spent his time in reform schools and prisons, including the
notorious San Quentin (1957-1960).
In the early '60s he got a gig at the Lucky Spot in Bakersfield and came to
the attention of Tally Records. By now he was lapping up the local sounds
of Buck Owens, Wynn Stewart and Tommy Collins, all of whom were making their
mark on a national level. Hag even went to Las Vegas to catch a Wynn
Stewart show and with Stewart out looking for a bass player, he got up with
the band to sing a few numbers. On his return to the club, Stewart heard
young Merle and immediately signed him as the bass player. During his six
months with Stewart, Hag had been impressed with one of the songs, Sing A
Sad Song, which Stewart allowed hag to record for Talley. The record became
an instant hit and gave Haggard his first taste of success. The follow-up
failed but the third single, a duet with Bonnie Owens made the Top 30. The
next year, 1965, he made number 10 with (My Friends Are Gonna Be)
Strangers. Capitol bought out his Talley contract and after a failed debut
it was hits and awards all the way - Swinging Doors, The Bottle Let Me Down,
I'm A Lonesome Fugitive, Branded Man, Sing Me Back Home Mama Tried, Hungry
Eyes, Workin' Man Blues, Okie From Muskogee, The Fightin' Side Of Me, etc.
Two classy tribute albums that hit a sweet spot were Same Train, Different
Time (Jimmie Rodgers) and A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The
World (Bob Wills). In 1972 he was granted a full pardon by the Governor of
California, one Ronald Reagan. He moved to MCA in '77 and scored less
frequently but equally impressively (eg. Ramblin' Fever and I'm Always On A
Mountain When I Fall). In '81 he hit with a tribute to Tommy Collins called
Leonard, published his autobiography (Sing Me Back Home) and signed with
Epic Records. Big City was massive and there was a cracking album with
George Jones (A Taste Of Yesterdays Wine). Although the hits dried up
during the '90s he has continued to lay down more first-class albums like
1994, If I Could Only Fly and his latest, Roots Vol.1, a tribute to the
sounds of Lefty, Hank and Bob, which has seen him back where he started -
singing hard edged country music.

Recommended listening:
Same Train, Different Time - Bear Family
Capitol Collectors Series - Capitol
Roots: Vol.1 - Epitaph
(Second) autobiography : Merle Haggard with Tom Carter, My House Of Memories :
For the Record. New York : HarperCollins, 1999. Published in paperback this
month.
Official website:
http://www.merlehaggard.com/emall/servlet/storeServlet?storeID=10464