By Keith Ryan Cartwright
Used with permission of CMA Close Up News Service.
"Branded Man" is one of the songs that made Merle Haggard a Country Music legend. However, his second No. 1 single might never have been written if Johnny Cash hadn't offered the struggling ex-con, singer-songwriter some sage advice.
Haggard, at the time desperate for a hit, tended to shy away from the darker parts of his past.
Cash told Haggard he was making a mistake. His life, including the time spent behind bars, needed to be there in his music for all to see.
"I was bull-headed about my career," Haggard said, "but Cash said I should talk about it. That way the tabloids wouldn't be able to. I said I didn't want to do that and he said, 'It's just owning up to it.'"
Soon after Cash's encouragement, he began churning out songs that would make him a living legend, including "Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried" and "Hungry Eyes."
By the early 1970s the Bakersfield, Calif., native was a lauded poet for the common man.
"Going to prison has one of a few effects," he told Salon.com earlier this year. "It can make you worse, or it can make you understand and appreciate freedom. I learned to appreciate freedom when I didn't have any."
But it was Cash who convinced him to infuse his music with the most valuable commodity of all, honesty.
Haggard wrote and recorded music that felt right to him. He made political statements ("The Fightin' Side of Me," "I Wonder if They Ever Think of Me," "If We Make it Through December") and was blunt and eloquent about his five marriages ("Things Aren't Funny Anymore," "Always Wanting You," "Someday When Things Are Good").
Capitol Records Nashville recently released 40 No.1 Hits, a collection that spotlights the depth and influence of Haggard's body of work. The singer has won six CMA Awards, including Entertainer of the Year in 1970.
"There are a lot of honors that come with working at Capitol Records," said Mike Dungan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capitol Records Nashville, "but none that carry the honor and responsibility of managing the Merle Haggard catalogue - 50 albums over five decades. On behalf of everyone at Capitol, both those of us who man the ship today and those who have graced our halls in the past, may I say that we are truly honored to represent Merle Haggard."
Haggard, 64, maintains his independence despite becoming one of the most heralded artists in Country Music history. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994, and is one of a handful of artists who gets mentioned in the same breath as Hank Williams, Sr.
"I moved to Nashville for two years - in 1976 and '77 - and my record sales went down to about half what they had been," Haggard said. "So I got the hell out of there and my record sales went right back up.
"It was like living in the middle of a carnival. Hey, I don't mind coming to work and running the Ferris wheel once in a while, but I don't want to live right there."
Born in 1937 near Bakersfield, Haggard's family lived in an old converted boxcar. Life for the family changed dramatically when the future star was 9-years-old. His father Jim died of a stroke. That meant his mother, Flossie, had to find work as a bookkeeper. Young Haggard found himself with time on his hands and little parental guidance.
Soon, he found himself in and out of trouble.
A botched robbery resulted in a three-year prison term in San Quentin when he was 20. While serving his time, he took stock.
"Life has been peaks and valleys all the way for me," Haggard said. "The only way I know to come out of the valleys is to write my way out."
Upon his release, Haggard returned to Bakersfield. He worked manual labor jobs during the day, and performed Country Music inspired by Bob Wills and Lefty Frizzell in the evenings.
"Whatever kind of music you're doing," Haggard said, "if you're doing something with some honesty and truth to it, people will recognize that. ... I believed that people are looking for honesty, and that's what I'm trying to put across."
Haggard is currently on tour promoting the 40 #1 Hits CD and his critically acclaimed Hag Records debut, Haggard Like Never Before. The recent single is Woody Guthrie's "Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)," a duet with Willie Nelson.