04-06-2016, 05:55 PM
Merle Haggard died today, his 79th birthday. I like Merle's stuff a lot. He'd been touring with his buddy Willie Nelson and had to cancel shows because he came down with pneumonia. He never fully recovered.
I'm a big Bob Dylan fan, who is a big Merle Haggard fan. I can hear the influence in some of Dylan's lyrics and tunes. Haggard influenced and played with a lot of great musicians after he turned his life around at a young age.
In 1958, Johnny Cash visited San Quentin. Haggard, then 20, was in the audience. "He had the right attitude. He chewed gum, looked arrogant and flipped the bird to the guards—he did everything the prisoners wanted to do. He was a mean mother from the South who was there because he loved us. When he walked away, everyone in that place had become a Johnny Cash fan." In San Quentin, Haggard said he "saw the light. I realized what a mess I made out of my life, and I got out of there and stayed out of there. Never did go back."
^ That's the first Merle song I ever heard. Makes me wanna drink whiskey and dance slow. My grandma used to play his albums when we lived with her for a couple of years way back when I was in elementary school. She loved Elvis, Merle, and Dean Martin.
RIP Merle Haggard.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/m...z455Kjdzqq
I'm a big Bob Dylan fan, who is a big Merle Haggard fan. I can hear the influence in some of Dylan's lyrics and tunes. Haggard influenced and played with a lot of great musicians after he turned his life around at a young age.
In 1958, Johnny Cash visited San Quentin. Haggard, then 20, was in the audience. "He had the right attitude. He chewed gum, looked arrogant and flipped the bird to the guards—he did everything the prisoners wanted to do. He was a mean mother from the South who was there because he loved us. When he walked away, everyone in that place had become a Johnny Cash fan." In San Quentin, Haggard said he "saw the light. I realized what a mess I made out of my life, and I got out of there and stayed out of there. Never did go back."
^ That's the first Merle song I ever heard. Makes me wanna drink whiskey and dance slow. My grandma used to play his albums when we lived with her for a couple of years way back when I was in elementary school. She loved Elvis, Merle, and Dean Martin.
RIP Merle Haggard.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/m...z455Kjdzqq