On this day in 1937, Country Music Hall of Fame member Merle Haggard was born in Oildale, California. Haggard recorded 38 #1 country songs in the ’60s thru the ’80s, but he started out on a much different path.
After his father died, Haggard became rebellious, committing many minor crimes that landed him in juvenile detention. After escaping and being returned multiple times, Haggard finally ended up in San Quentin prison and was paroled in 1960. After digging ditches for a while, Haggard returned to music and by 1964 had his first #1 song. In 1968 Haggard wrote “Mama Tried,” a song that won him a Grammy and was a look back at the pain and suffering he caused his mother by being incarcerated at San Quentin.
Merle Haggard’s string of successful songs brought many admirers, including Gram Parsons. Initially, Haggard agreed to produce Parsons’ first album, but backed out. Later he had this to say about Gram Parsons: “Hell, he was just a long-haired kid. I thought he was a good writer. He was not wild, though. That’s what’s funny to me. All these guys running around in long hair talking about being wild and rolling stones. I don’t think someone abusing themselves on drugs determines how wild they are. It might determine how ignorant they are.”
Merle Haggard won multiple Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010, the same year he received a Kennedy Center Honors award. He passed away on his 79th birthday in 2016.
