Merle Haggard has passed away
Listen to this articleAn icon of country music for more than 50 years, Merle Haggard — a true original outlaw of country music — passed away.
He was known for being cantankerous with his lyrics, so much so that during the Vietnam War he became the voice of the so-called “Silent Majority,” the term coined by then President Richard M. Nixon in 1969. Haggard’s songs “Okie From Muskogee” and “Fighting’ Side of Me” became the anthems for the people in the U.S. not opposed to the war or President Nixon. Haggard explained later the song was a humorous parody, a “… documentation of the uneducated that lived in America at the time.”
Haggard wasn’t actually born in Oklahoma. He was born in Oildale, CA, April 6, 1936. He died exactly 79 years later, in Bakersfield, CA. Although he was a natural born California, Haggard’s parents and two siblings were “Okies,” having come to California during the Great Depression shortly before Merle was born. Haggard had a tough life, his father dying in 1945 being very hard on him. The young Merle turn to a life of petty crime that would tag him all that way to San Quentin Prison, where he saw Johnny Cash perform in 1958. Haggard caught the music bug and began performing with the prison’s country music band.
When Haggard sang about his fighting’ side, you could be sure he was quite capable of backing up his words. But his life changed forever when he saw his prison friend “Rabbit” led to his execution. It was then Haggard decided to turn his life around.
In his 50-plus years of recordings, Merle Haggard had 38 #1 hits, numerous Grammy, ACM and CMA awards, inclusion into the Country Music Hall-of-Fame and a Kennedy Center Honor as one of America’s finest singers and songwriters. He sang duets with a number of other country singers, like George Jones and Willie Nelson, with whom he had been friends with for decades.
Merle Haggard is credited with making the “Bakersfield Sound” popular, after playing numerous shows around the central California town. They eschewed the corporate, cookie-cutter sound, look and philosophy of Nashville, TN, creating a sound that took the country music world by storm in the late 1960’s.
Haggard’s musical heroes were Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams, who he often paid tribute to with his music.
He died this morning, April 6, 2016 — his 79th birthday — at his home in Palo Cedro, California.
All photos via YouTube
Tim Forkes started as a writer on a small alternative newspaper in Milwaukee called the Crazy Shepherd. Writing about entertainment, he had the opportunity to speak with many people in show business, from the very famous to the people struggling to find an audience. In 1992 Tim moved to San Diego, CA and pursued other interests, but remained a freelance writer. Upon arrival in Southern California he was struck by how the elected government officials and business were so intertwined, far more so than he had witnessed in Wisconsin. His interest in entertainment began to wane and the business of politics took its place. He had always been interested in politics, his mother had been a Democratic Party official in Milwaukee, WI, so he sat down to dinner with many of Wisconsin’s greatest political names of the 20th Century: William Proxmire and Clem Zablocki chief among them. As a Marine Corps veteran, Tim has a great interest in veteran affairs, primarily as they relate to the men and women serving and their families. As far as Tim is concerned, the military-industrial complex has enough support. How the men and women who serve are treated is reprehensible, while in the military and especially once they become veterans. Tim would like to help change that.