Merle Haggard: An Appreciation

Of course, the Country Music world continues to reel from the passing of Merle Haggard on Wednesday (April 6) at the age of 79. I was privileged to have seen “The Hag” in concert several times, and on September 12, 2003 – I had my only interview experience with the legend. He was promoting his new (at the time) album Haggard Like Never Before. That date stands out as significant because it was the day that the Country Music world lost another entertainment icon – Johnny Cash.

Understandably, “The Man In Black” was on his mind that morning. Haggard was in the audience at San Quentin when Cash played at the prison on New Years’ Day of 1960, and counted the singer among his biggest influences. Reflecting on their friendship, Haggard said “Johnny and I were very close friends, and had been for three decades. We’ve been through a lot of things together. It’s like losing a family member. As an artist, he was definitely one of a kind, and one of my favorites, for sure.”

At the time of the interview, the legend was promoting his current single, “That’s The News.” Though it’s been over a dozen years, his words about the song sound very timely – here in 2016.

“’That’s The News’ is a song about what the news was like the day I wrote it. It appeared to me that the war was over, so I wrote this song about it. I was trying to bring attention to what I felt like was a debatable attempt in America at giving the news anymore,” he shared. “People seem to be fighting for ratings and worried about that more than we are about the obligation of giving the news at least once a day. I guess the song was written out of frustration. When we cut the record, every day the record seemed to make less sense. Now, it’s totally facetious, and it speaks out for a lot of people like me. I’m confused about what is going on and where, and what our priorities are. What should we take serious? Are we going to put a color system on the news when they give us BS so we can change stations?”

Our interview came just a few weeks shy of the fortieth anniversary of his 1963 debut of “Sing A Sad Song.” Even then, the singer talked of his first time up the chart debut with reverence and awe. “Well, it was an unbelievable dream come true for me. I’d been headed toward something like that all my life, I guess. And, then it finally happened. It’s so funny to hear yourself on the radio for the first time. It was overwhelming for me, as you might think it would be.”

Haggard also touched upon a woman who played a pivotal role in his career – former wife Bonnie Owens. The two were married from 1965-1978, but maintained their friendship and working relationship for years after. “Bonnie was probably the one most influential person in my career,” said Merle. “She and Fuzzy Owen were there at the very beginning when we started with Tally Records. We had some national success there, and it started my chart career.”

That career wound up influencing every singer that came down the pike since – from Randy Travis to Miranda Lambert. How did Haggard – himself influenced by such acts as Lefty Frizzell and Jimmie Rodgers feel about that distinction? “It makes you feel awful good. It might make you question their sanity, but it’s a wonderful feeling. I’m so thankful for that and it makes you feel blessed.”

With thirty-eight records hitting the top of the charts during Haggard’s heyday, it’s a testament to his genius that so many people’s favorites might not have been among them. Songs like “Silver Wings,” “Red Bandana,” and “Misery and Gin” were among the Haggard hits that didn’t make the top spot. Perhaps it was one of those deep catalog nuggets that so succinctly summed up the feeling of loneliness that artists too often feel on the road than the obscure gem “Here In Frisco.” Not a song that he was asked about on a daily basis, his reaction seemed one of shock and appreciation.

“Wow. That’s just a song that was written on location, and the emotions that came out of it in San Francisco. We travel all over the world, and it finds us in different places of uniqueness enough to bring about a song like that sometimes,” he said, seemingly to have remembered the exact point of the songs’ inspiration.

One artist who loved that song – and wound up cutting it was Buddy Owens. The son of Buck Owens, he was Merle’s stepson during his marriage to Bonnie Owens. In a 2006 interview, Owens said that his memories of Merle Haggard stand out just as the man did himself. “My mom and Merle married in 1965, and they had a lifelong friendship. He was great to me and my brother Michael. He did things with us that dad couldn’t because he was so busy. I remember that he would call the principal and get us out of school, and take us fishing. We thought it was really cool. Looking back, Merle was a really good guy, as well as really good influence for us. We were very lucky to have known him and spent the time we did with him.”