Excerpt from:
LEGENDS OF COUNTRY GUITAR
By Fred Sokolow

This remarkable songbook highlights nine honored artists (Chet Atkins, The Carter Family, Lester Flatt, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Rodgers, Hank Snow, Sons of the Pioneers, Merle Travis) who have been elected by their peers to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Includes two songs by each artist, biographies, rare photos, a discography and performance notes. Songs include: Galloping on the Guitar • Will the Circle Be Unbroken • Foggy Mountain Special • It's All in the Movies • Always on My Mind • Mule Skinner Blues • I'm Movin' On • Tumblin' Tumbleweeds • Divorce Me C.O.D. • more.

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Inventory #HL690084
Book $16.95 (US)

Merle Haggard

Though he has often broken new ground with his music and his starkly personal lyrics, Merle Haggard's catalog of hits reveals a deep love of tradition. Jimmie Rodgers, Lefty Frizzell, Bob Wills, and Bing Crosby were major influences. He'll reach back to the '40s and revamp the Delmore Brothers' "Blues, Stay Away from Me," then record a blues-rocker like "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink" or a jazz-tinged ballad like "It's All in the Movies."

Starting in 1967 with "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive," Haggard has had dozens of number one country hits, most of them self-penned. It's an amazing accomplishment, considering his humble beginnings. The son of Depression-era Oklahomans who relocated to Bakersfield, California, he was born in 1937 in an abandoned railroad car his father converted into a home. Petty crimes led him to juvenile hall and, in 1957, a sentence in San Quentin prison, but Haggard left prison focused on a musical career. His first three number one hits came directly from his prison experience, and pointed the way to a number of brooding, introspective and autobiographical songs like "Mama Tried," "Hungry Eyes" and "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink." Sometimes called a workingman's poet, there is no lyricist in country music as subtle and filled with contradictions as Hag.

Deeply involved with Western swing, Haggard carried Bob Wills' musical concept into the '70s and '80s, combining elements of blues, rock, jazz and country, and surrounding himself with virtuosi like Roy Nichols, James Burton, and Wills' own Eldon Shamblin. This gives him the opportunity, on recordings and in performance, to play fiddle and guitar and swap licks with the best pickers in the business. His deep, vibrato-laden baritone voice has gained more control, character and expressiveness over the years.

MERLE HAGGARD: POET OF THE COMMON MAN - THE LYRICS - The definitive collection of lyrics from Merle Haggard's songbook. Read more Inventory # HL 330836. Book $23.50 (US)

MERLE HAGGARD
The New Merle Haggard Anthology
(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Artist Songbook)

55 songs, including: The Bottle Let Me Down • Mama Tried • Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room • Okie From Muskogee • Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Star • I've Had a Beautiful Time • Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man) • and more.

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Inventory #HL 356853
Book $16.95 (US)

Merle Haggard: "I’ve always played a Tele and no matter how many times I try a different guitar, I always come back to a Tele. They’re simple, but real pure."

Fender Frontline: "When was the first time you saw a Tele?"

Merle: "About ’48 or ’49. It was the craziest thing anybody had seen at the time. I thought it was wonderful. A lot of guys didn’t want to accept it, but I wanted one. It was almost Buck Rogers."

Fender: "Did you ever try a Strat or Jazzmaster?"

Merle: "Yes, but they were too much for me. I liked the simplicity of the Tele. A Tele is a no-nonsense instrument. You plug it into a good amp and it’s there."

Fender: "What was your first amp?"

Merle: "It was a Fender Pro with one of those metal strips running down the middle."

Fender: "What kind of amp do you use now?"

Merle: "I use two ’59 Bassman Reissues. I plug straight into them with a little reverb. Sometimes I use some chorus, but not very often. They sound good just like that. I’ve tried other amps too but I always wind up coming back to Fender. I use a Twin Reverb too."

-- Mark Kendrick, Fender Frontline Vol. 22 (1997).