The Death of an Okie From Muskogee
By Cameron Hertzog
On April, 6 2016, country music lost a legend, Merle Haggard. Born in Bakersfield, California, specifically Oildale, he pioneered the Bakersfield Sound alongside fellow country music legend Buck Owen.
Merle’s parents came from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl to look for a better life and settled in Bakersfield, California. Merle was born in a rail road car that his father had converted to a house on April 6, 1937.
Both of his parents were very musical. Merle really got into music after his father died. His brother had given him a guitar, and Haggard taught himself how to play.
His music reflected his values and his life. He earned a reputation for representing the working man. His music featured lyrics that explained and testified to the hardship of the blue collar man.
Haggard was a rebellious in his youth and was in and out of jail and juvenile hall. This got in the way of his musical career. It was not until he went to a Lefty Frizelle concert and went backstage and sung a few songs with Frizelle did he realize his true passion for music.
Haggard began playing in local Bakersfield clubs while trying to support his family working manual labor jobs. He and his family moved into the old renovated box car that he grew up in. They soon fell on hard times, however, and Haggard turned to robbery and ended up with a 15 year sentence in San Quintin.
Things didn’t go well for Haggard in jail either, his wife became pregnant by another man, and Haggard began acting out in prison. After spending some time if isolation for bad behavior, he turned some things around. He was allowed to play in the prison country band.
He was released from prison and moved back in with his wife. Due to the recent hits by Buck Owens, country music really started to take off in Bakersfield. After that things were starting to look up.
Tracks like “I Think I Will Just Sit Here and Drink” landed Haggard number one on the charts with “Bar Room Buddies” a close second. These two tracks would be Haggard’s top hits.
By 1985 a new type of artist was taking country music by storm, a country artist that was strongly influenced by Haggard’s sound.
In 1994 Haggard released his last relatively popular track “My Next Life.” By the 2000s, Haggards career had plateaued as a new sort of country music was on the scene.
That didn’t tarnish Haggard’s fighting spirit. He continued to release new music and play shows until late into his life. He was always sure to play a show in his hometown Bakersfield.
In 2013 he got his honorable doctorate in music awarded to him by Cal State University Bakersfield. Below is a picture of Haggard accepting the doctorate at the 2013 graduation ceremony.
Haggard moved to the Shasta area in the 1980s to his ranch in Palo Cedro where he is now laid to rest. It was a private and simple service for family and friends, a fitting funeral for just a simple working man.
But Haggard wasn’t just a simple working man. He was legend. A legend that will be missed for years to come, a legend who left a lasting legacy through his music.
“My Merle passed away this morning peacefully surrounded by his loved ones after a long hard battle with his health. Today April 6, 2016, which was his 79th birthday. He left to go to a much better place. He was the best singer, songwriter and performer I’ve ever seen. Not only did he write the songs he sang, he was the music.” –Teresa Haggard (his wife)