New Year’s Day, 1959: The 21 year old Merle Haggard sits on a cold metal chair in the San Quentin State Prison, surrounded by fellow inmates. They have all gathered in San Quentin’s mess hall to watch the famed Johnny Cash perform. As Cash begins to perform, the young Haggard, in prison for armed robbery, sitting next to two death row inmates, decides it’s time to change the course of his life for the better. He thinks about his musical talents and decides that he wants to be like Cash, he just has to get out of jail first. It is unknown at the time, but the paths of two of country music’s biggest singers had just crossed.

Merle Ronald Haggard was born on April 6, 1937 in a railroad boxcar that his father, James Haggard, had converted into a house two years prior. Haggard’s parents purchased the boxcar, which sat on a small lot in Olidale, California, after their home in Oklahoma burned down and James lost his job. In 1945, James Haggard passed away after suffering a severe brain hemorrhage. This tragedy caused the young Merle to become rebellious and disobedient. He began committing petty crimes and ran away from home in 1950 by hitchhiking and riding train cars across California. By 1957 he had been arrested over a dozen times and wound up in Bakersfield jail after committing an armed robbery. When he attempted to escape Bakersfield in late 1957, the state transferred him to San Quentin.

After deciding to straighten up in 1959, Haggard began working in the prison’s textile plant and received a high school equivalent degree later that year. He was released on parole in 1960 and went to work digging ditches at his older brother’s successful electric company. He began playing in Bakersfield night clubs in 1961 and started recording on Tally records that same year. He didn’t see any commercial success until 1964 when he wrote “All my friends are strangers”, a song that became a top ten hit. In 1966, Haggard recorded his first number one hit, “the Lonesome Fugitive”, and his career soon took off.

In the later half of the sixties, Haggard recorded four number one hits, including his most famous piece; “Mama tried”. This song was an autobiographical tune about Haggard’s troubled childhood and how his mother tried hard to keep him on the straight and narrow; to no avail. In 1969, Haggard appeared on ABC’s The Johnny Cash Show. While on the show, Haggard revealed his troubled past and prison time to the viewers, explaining that most of his songs were based on his life. ABC received criticism by some for letting a felon on television, but his dedicated fans only loved him more. In 1972, California Governor Ronald Reagan issued Haggard a pardon, effectively ending his 15 year parole sentence.

Haggard dominated the country charts from the late sixties well into the 1980’s, with 39 number one hits by 1987. From 1966 to around 1974, Haggard’s style consisted mostly of what was known as the “Bakersfield sound”; country songs by California artists that featured electric guitar, power chords, and strong backing vocals. In the mid to late 1970’s, Haggard became a founding member of the new “outlaw country” sound, along with Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Kris Kristofferson.

Despite his initial decision to straighten up while in prison, Haggard’s personal life continued to be filled with trouble and rebellion. He was a heavy alcoholic for most of his early career, began using drugs heavily in the 1970’s, and narrowly avoided arrest on multiple occasions. In 1983, Haggard decided to end his drug use after a five month partying spell that saw him purchase over two pounds of cocaine. He quit smoking marijuana in 1993 but resumed in the mid 2000’s after reading deeply into it’s medicinal benefits.

Haggard died on his 79th birthday in 2016 after battling a series of illnesses, ultimately succumbing to double pneumonia. Haggard continued to perform live up until his death and had performed just two weeks before. Just months prior to his death, he recorded his final album; a collaboration with Willie Nelson, with many songs focused around using pot.

Haggard is consistently considered by many to be the greatest country music artist of all time. His distinct sound and ability to tell his story through music has allowed his songs to stand the test of time. Haggard has received a Kennedy Centers Honors, belongs to both the Country and Rock & Roll Hall of Fames, and has received four Grammy’s, including a lifetime achievement award. Merle Haggard is personally my favorite singer of all time, across all genres of music.

My Picks (I couldn’t pick just five)

1. That’s the way love goes
2. If we make it through December
3. Today I, started loving you again
4. The fightin’ side of me
5. Mama tried
6. Carolyn
7. Hungry Eyes
8. Working man blues
9. What have you got planned tonight Diana?
10. Daddy Frank the guitar man