Merle Haggard Biography

Home	Music	Video	Stock Footage	Help

Original Recordings by the Original Artists!

Merle Haggard
Country Music | 3 CD Set
Reg. $24.99 ON SALE!
$19.99

The young, bright-eyed country singers of the ‘90s seem 180 degrees away from the rough-hewn, booze-soaked country images of a generation ago. Country singers with a jail term behind them even provoked something of a romantic image. Actually, few entertainers have done time in the true sense, not just overnight in some dusty town holding cell for jaywalking. Offenses have seemed to be more in the substance and physical abuse department than toting a gun into a 7-11. But the romance is still there. Merle Haggard is one country singer who has done time for real and he has lived to tell about it in songs. Haggard was born in 1937 in California, where his parents moved from the mid-west Dust Bowl atmosphere during the Depression. Life wasn’t much better in the west, however, at least until Merle’s father got a decent job on the railroad. His dad died in 1946, leaving his mother to raise him. As a youth, he was troubled and spent time in reform school. He married at 17 and supported his growing family (four children in a ten year marriage) as a laborer and occasional burglar. A botched burglary resulted in a two year prison term in 1957 in San Quentin, where he heard Johnny Cash perform in 1958. He joined the prison band, began singing and writing songs and upon release in 1960 began working for his electrician brother while singing nights in local Bakersfield Clubs. In 1963, he joined Wynn Stewart’s backup band and soon was noticed by a recording executive, who signed him to Tally Records. Haggard’s initial release, "Singing My Heart Out," went nowhere, but the second, "Sing Me a Sad Song" made the national charts and Capitol Records took over his contract, releasing "All My friends Are Gonna Be Strangers" in 1965. The success of this song cemented Haggard’s future in country music. He even named his backup band the Strangers. In 1966, his "When I’m a Lonesome Fugitive" was a country No. 1 and its success indicated that having a prison record was not a negative in this case. More songs about prison life ensued as Haggard became a star. He also eschewed the heavy backup on records, the Strangers becoming a tight and crisp band. As musically adventurous as Haggard was in the ‘60s, it was one tune in 1969 that forever associated his name with that era of activism. His parents had migrated from Oklahoma, not far from Muskogee, and while passing through the town on tour, one of his bandmates commented that he bet town residents did not smoke marijuana, according to one source. Haggard subsequently wrote "Okie From Muskogee," a paean to the conservative attitude during the Vietnam War and a dismissal of the hippie movement of the ‘60s. The tune became an anthem of sorts, even getting President Nixon to note that Merle was his favorite country singer. Then Gov. Ronald Reagan of California also gave him a full pardon for his earlier crimes. The song has had many parodies and is considered to be a study in irony, but it is also said that Haggard later confirmed his dislike of hippies, even though rock bands have performed it (Beach Boys). Haggard also wrote about anti-war protests in "The Fightin’ Side of Me" but these latter two songs are sidebars to his career, which includes a whole library of substantial country music, much of which became hit singles and No. 1 albums. In 1973-76, he had nine No. 1 country hits in a row out of a total of 40 and in 1977 he even recorded a tribute album to Elvis Presley and later one to Western swing master Bob Wills, whose influence on Haggard included his learning to play the fiddle. He continues to tour and record in the ‘90s and is said to have gone through bankruptcy in 1993. He wrote his autobiography in 1981. He divorced his fourth wife in 1991.

TIMELESS MEDIA GROUP 100% GUARANTEED
If you are not 100% satisfied with your purchase you may return it for a prompt refund, credit or exchange. Click here for details

All Items Usually Ship Within 24 Hours!