• SumoMe

Merle Haggard

“The Fightin Side of Me”

In honor of listening to Merle for most of a 6 hour drive across the Texas plains today, I thought it was only fitting that I featured him in this week’s Tuesday Tunesday.

Haggard is an extremely famous country singer who exemplifies the outlaw country genre, along with others like Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, and Willie Nelson, just to name a few.

Merle’s rocky history resulted in him bucking the trend coming out of Nashville at the time of really polished sounds. Most of his songs feature that twangy sound that you either love or hate.

Merle grew up in and out of juvenile facilities for petty crimes, and he eventually did 3 years in San Quentin prison. While there, he organized a gambling and brewing outfit from his cell, and it wasn’t until he met a mathematician inmate on death row that he decided to turn his life around. He succeeded, was released, and went along with his life making music. Merle still plays today, and released his last album in 2010.