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    Cam/ronAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 5:40pm

    Hag’s great music is a nice reminder of why so much of today’s country-pop is terribly vacuous.

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      Sid and FinancyCam/ron
      4/06/16 5:51pm

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      PlantinMoretusCam/ron
      4/06/16 5:57pm

      so much of today’s country-pop is terribly vacuous.

      Like this?

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    Sean BrodyAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 6:04pm

    Always loved this

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      Sean BrodySean Brody
      4/06/16 6:09pm

      Anarchy ‘n’ the Okie

      :-)

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      Negasonic Oldage WarheadSean Brody
      4/06/16 6:20pm

      That's a good sign.

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    Sid and FinancyAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 5:41pm

    He was 79? Damn, those were some . . . years of surprisingly appropriate levels of hardness, it would seem.

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      IAmNotADamnWriterSid and Financy
      4/06/16 6:04pm

      Yeah, well early on he became a felon and ... well, let Wiki tell it:

      “Married and plagued by financial issues, he was arrested in 1957 shortly after he tried to rob a Bakersfield roadhouse. He was sent to Bakersfield Jail, and was transferred after an escape attempt to San Quentin Prison on February 21, 1958. While in prison, Haggard discovered that his wife was expecting a child from another man, which pressed him psychologically. He was fired from a series of prison jobs, and planned to escape along with another inmate nicknamed ‘Rabbit’. Haggard was convinced not to escape by fellow inmates. Haggard started to run a gambling and brewing racket with his cellmate. After he was caught drunk, he was sent for a week to solitary confinement where he encountered Caryl Chessman, an author and death row inmate. Meanwhile, ‘Rabbit’ had successfully escaped, only to shoot a police officer and return to San Quentin for execution. Chessman’s predicament, along with the execution of ‘Rabbit,’ inspired Haggard to turn his life around. Haggard soon earned a high school equivalency diploma and kept a steady job in the prison’s textile plant, while also playing for the prison’s country music band, attributing a 1958 performance by Johnny Cash at the prison as his main inspiration to join it. He was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960.”

      “According to Rolling Stone, ‘In 1972, then-California governor Ronald Reagan expunged Haggard’s criminal record, granting him a full pardon.’ ”

      << Merle in 1961, age 24.

      None of this deterred Richard Nixon from having him play at the White House...

      http://wonkette.com/600429/the-tim…

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      Negasonic Oldage WarheadIAmNotADamnWriter
      4/06/16 6:20pm

      He's an entrepreneur! Not a redneck gangster! But seriously, RIP Merle.

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    Andy CushAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 5:51pm

    His version of Blaze Foley’s “If I Could Only Fly” is a heartbreaker

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      Josey Wales, Esq.Andy Cush
      4/06/16 8:19pm

      I know this is a page about the Hag, but I can’t help but attempt to increase the public’s awareness of Blaze Foley given the opportunity.

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    IAmNotADamnWriterAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 5:46pm

    Saw Merle Haggard at the Beacon a few years back, he was opening for Dylan, and I came away with Merle’s songs in my head more than Bob’s. The Bakersfield Sound is nothing at all like current C&W, thank heaven. RIP Okie.

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      LlamasisCoolIAmNotADamnWriter
      4/06/16 6:47pm

      Yep. Also saw them, but with Willie Nelson on the bill. Merle was by far the most memorable.

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    bourbon.p.millerAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 5:51pm

    “Somewhere Between” featuring Loretta Lynn is probably my favorite.

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      bourbon.p.millerbourbon.p.miller
      4/06/16 6:37pm

      Jesus that was Willie and I'm an idiot. Is it Friday?

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    siryouleanblueAlex Pareene
    4/06/16 5:46pm

    Super bummed about this. He was a legend. My sister and I grew up on him, Willie and Johnny. I was determined to see him while he was still touring, and we had tickets for last December but had a family emergency and didn’t make it and now I’m GUTTED. My two favorite songs were My Favorite Memory and Always Wanting You. I’m going to listen to them and sob now.

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      It takes a nation of millions to elect the corruptAlex Pareene
      4/06/16 7:32pm

      “(All my friends are going to be) strangers"

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        Armando stillettoAlex Pareene
        4/07/16 5:09pm

        The man was a master - singer, player, bandleader, (music) historian - and a bad mofo till the day he died.

        RIP Merle.

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          icanneverremembermyburnercodeAlex Pareene
          4/06/16 5:40pm

          R.I.P. Merle. You were an icon and will be missed.

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