I remember the first time I heard a Merle Haggard song. My buddy Charlie and I were sitting in the local Waffle house after a long night when “Mama Tried” came on the jukebox. Neither of us listened to much country music at that time. I had grown up hearing my dad’s Garth Brooks and Toby Keith albums in the car, but in high school I drifted more towards the rap that most of my friends liked. When Haggard’s voice started playing over the speakers in that diner though, I could tell there was something special there. I think we both whipped out our iPhones and bought that song then and there. As I started getting back into country, the Hag was one of the singers I first gravitated to.
His music has meant the world to me. Listening to him play was one of the reasons I decided to pick up a guitar. “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” has kicked off more fun nights than I can count. There were plenty of mornings, driving to the warehouse for my 5 a.m. shift, that “Workin’ Man’s Blues” was blasting on my car stereo. “Misery and Gin” helped get me through my first heartbreak. I owe a lot to the Hag.
Merle Haggard died April 6, his 79th birthday. With his passing, country – indeed all music – has lost a legend. Haggard was one of the last true outlaws. A living testament to what country music used to be, and what it should be. Back when the songs were about life, love, and loss. When a man would sing his music and play his guitar without any frills. Back before the country stations were full of pretty-boys in clean boots signing some auto-tuned crap about nothing.
There are still some out there that play that kind of music. Eric Church, Ray Scott, Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton, and plenty others. We’ve still got Willie. Bocephus, George Strait, and Alan Jackson are still playing their music the way they always have. We lost a lot when we lost Haggard. But his legacy will always live on.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleadin’ I denied.
And that leaves only me to blame, ‘cause Mama tried.
