American Masters - Merle Haggard

PBS runs a great series of in depth retrospectives of influential artists across many spectrums. This was an excellent program.

Telling the story of Merle Haggard was very revealing. Not just as an artist, as a singer that my parents listened to but as a microcosm of a class of people born in the twenties and thirties with simple tastes and patriotism in great quantities.

It is not a stretch to understand the appeal of Haggard and how his followers of that time are the economically stretched but culturally conservative population that are still difficult to understand.

Haggard was shattered by the sudden death of a father he adored. He was a troubled youth ending in prison at San Quentin. A 1958 concert by Johnny Cash made him see what h wanted and that perhaps could take him there.

He was talented and it did happen. The peak year may have been 1970 when Okie from Muskogee swept awards of Country Music.

His music is timeless. His voice is much better than one thinks. When you listen to Sing me Back Home his voice is as good as many of the greats.

When my daughter was born about that time Haggard released a song called Think about a Lullaby. It was not a hit. It was however the perfect song for a Dad to sing his baby to sleep with.

For that alone I will always have a memory and connection to Merle Haggards music. From my parents listening on the weekends when I was little to singing his song to my newborn daughter.

This show told us much about him we did not know. That was enjoyable. For me however it reminded me of many things I needed to remember. That was priceless.

Love you Dad. I do still remember the songs you sang.