Obit: Merle Haggard’s Great Songs

As a young aspiring hippie it was easy to disdain Haggard’s epic “Okie From Muskogee,” but at the same time have the Grateful Dead’s version of Mama Tried on replay on the phonograph. I actually listened to a lot of Haggard back then, he was one of the great country songwriters who escaped categorization. And Mama Tried is just a fantastic song.

This tune was Haggard’s last Top 10 country chart song, one of 71 he had in his career, from back in 1987.

This one is classic Haggard.

 

3 thoughts on “Obit: Merle Haggard’s Great Songs

  1. I guess. Those are fine songs, but I never got past “Okie…”. So bigoted. It makes me think of the farmersonly.com ads that end with the tag “city folks just don’t get it.” i get it. it is fine you love living in the country and farming and tending to horses and cows. good for you.

    i like living in the city cos there are art and culture and sports and a myriad of things that are interesting for me to do. and, i get if farmers are not into that any more than i am what they prefer.

    doesn’t mean i don’t get it or am wrong: just that i have different likes.

    i like jumping on obits, but i avoided this one because i could think of nothing good to say.

  2. The song was a tribute to his dad and that generation.

    Graham Parsons was also a good example of how this type music inspired steel and slide guitars into rock & roll. GP was a definite influence to Keith Richards around the Altamont and Muscle Shoals time-frame.

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