Country Music Blog: Merle Haggard

Living in downtown Nashville, it's not hard to find something to do on the weekends, or any night of the week for that matter. I think sometimes I take for granted the fact that I live in the heart of Music City, a stone's throw from the Ryman Auditorium and mere blocks from some of the world's greatest honky-tonks. So, last weekend, my friends and I ventured out for a Tennessee Saturday night and some live country music.

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Got my copy of the last issue of No Depression magazine in the mail a few days ago and I'm stretching out the reading to make it last longer. I hate seeing magazines go under. Especially good music magazines. There haven't been many of them and I treasure the ones that have made the world a better place for their readers and the singers and musicians they write about.And No Depression was one of those. Never flashy, never shallow, No Depression has been serious about the music, without being deadly, if you know what I mean. The last issue before me on my desk has Buddy Miller on the cover, and that's a very fitting choice. Miller is a musician's musician, a singer's friend, a thrilling guitarist, a solid songwriter and singer, and just plain a good guy to hang out with.

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In Dierks Bentley's new hockey blog for the NHL, he predicts what will happen with the Nashville Predators in the playoffs.

It's no trouble at all for Reba McEntire and Wynonna to help troubled teens. They'll play Divas Nashvegas on Saturday (4/12) to raise money for the Oasis Center.

Innovative sponsorships (want Crocs with that concert?) and bundled deals may be responsible for the growth in spending for live music this year.

Is she the latest desperate housewife? Watch Carrie Underwood steal Teri Hatcher's man -- and Hatcher steal Underwood's song.

Merle Haggard's still on the fightin' side, ranting about the war in Iraq and the politics of putting a woman in charge.

If you win the Road Hammers' graffiti contest, you'll get your drawing autographed by the band and they'll display your drawing on their site.

Hey, you! Martina McBride! Why don't you play us something by Merle Haggard?

In an interview with the Dallas Morning News, Shooter Jennings says he wishes he was born sooner.

Any travel reporter who goes to Austin, Texas, and gives a shout-out to Stubb's BBQ and The Broken Spoke is OK with us.

Justin Townes Earle, the songwriting son of Steve Earle, talks about the old-time feel of his newly released debut album.

The Charlotte Observer remembers the harmonious legacy of the famous brother duo, The Blue Sky Boys.

Merle Haggard and the Grammy screening committee just can't seem to agree on what makes bluegrass ... well ... all that bluegrass.

Entertainment Weekly has its Grammy money on "Before He Cheats" as song of the year. They also expect Amy Winehouse to beat out Taylor Swift for best new artist.

In a CNN story about the Internet's impact on benefit concerts, Clay Walker is cited as one of the pioneers using his Web site to promote a charity -- Band Against Multiple Sclerosis.

The Seattle run of the musical Lone Star Love was the end of Randy Quaid's membership in the Actors' Equity union because of his alleged abusive and lewd behavior.

Maybe I've been missing some stuff, but as I head out to vote on Super Tuesday (never mind who I'm voting for), I realize that none of the major presidential candidates has done anything concrete to court the country music vote. And that's a big voting bloc. Both Bushes and Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon and God knows who all else were careful to woo the country music electorate.

Hillary Clinton, in declaring several years ago that she was not a "stand by your man" woman like Tammy Wynette, did not endear herself to many country music listeners. And Merle Haggard, who wrote a song about her running for president, was careful to point out that he was not endorsing her.

John McCain hasn't said anything on the subject that I've seen.

Barack Obama has been noticeably country music-free.

Mitt Romney said this in an interview with TechCrunch.com's Michael Arrington in November 2007:

MA: Of course you have an IPod! What's on it? What are you listening to right now, what sort of albums have you downloaded or listened to?

MR: What I typically download is country music as well as 1960's music. I'm a baby boomer, so the Beatles and the Stones and some of the old groups from the 1960's are my favorites, I listen to them and I listen to country. I might have some inspirational music as well, but those are the highlights for me.

There you go.

See how careful Dierks Bentley is being with that Sharpie? That's because he know his autograph will be forever inked onto that fan's leg. Her plan was to go directly from the Meet & Greet to the tattoo parlor. And you know what? She's not alone. At all. Country fans everywhere are vying for skin-o-graphs for this very reason.

Why shouldn't we inject our skin with body art that symbolizes our passion for an artist? Even if it's not an autograph, I think a song lyric, album cover or band logo sends the same message. So does getting the same ink as an artist, like Tim McGraw's right-arm cross or Keith Urban's left-forearm thunderbird. They're like tribute tats. However you ink, it's the ultimate fan gesture. Calling radio request lines may get that artist more spins, but knowing your lower back is stained with the Brooks & Dunn steer is something else entirely. It shows you are willing to suffer for the music. By suffer, I mean mind-numbing, gripping the edge of the chair and sweat rolling down your back kind of pain. Getting a tattoo hurts more than anything I've ever done, childbirth included.

If you know someone who has an artist tattoo, or is thinking about getting one, please spare them the speeches and judgment. Asking them, "How will you explain this to your grandkids?" will get your nowhere. Fans like this are proud of their loyalty, and will show you their ink as if it's their finest accomplishment. Plus, not everyone thinks tattoos are inappropriate. If I saw an older woman on the street with, say, a Merle Haggard tattoo on the back of her neck, peeking out from under her gray hair, I wouldn't think less of her. I'd think, "Wow, she must've really loved Hag."

It's possible, though, that the ink will seem out-of-place when that fan in the picture is 78 and baking apple pies for her grandkids. But it's also possible that she'll just be the cool grandma with the Dierks Bentley tat on her ankle.

There’s not much going on in country music this week, so I’m living in the past – flipping through a stack of stories I wrote this year for CMT.com. No wonder I am ready for a long winter’s nap.

I take it for granted sometimes, but I confess that it’s pretty neat to visit with musicians I admire, like Dierks Bentley and Trisha Yearwood. You have to be smart to make it in this business, so if you come at them with the right questions, country singers almost always rise to the occasion. I also enjoyed chatting on the phone with Patty Griffin, Merle Haggard and Emmylou Harris – who wouldn’t?

Awards shows get to be kind of routine (and dull) for music reporters, but sometimes an artist will deliver a great performance that you can’t get out of your head. That happened to me at the Americana Honors, when Buddy Miller sang this new song by his wife Julie. Months later, I am still obsessed with this song, which doesn’t even have a name. Nevertheless, it’s stuck in my head, and I’m OK with that.

So, where have I been? First was Keith Urban in Chicago. Then SXSW in Austin and the ACMs in Las Vegas. I saw Brad Paisley check Chattanooga for "Ticks." On a trip to Virginia Beach, I reviewed Alan Jackson/Brooks & Dunn, along with an Alison Krauss/Tony Rice concert in North Carolina that same weekend. Bonnaroo was a trip, so to speak. Wynonna sang in Atlanta, Sugarland in South Carolina and Garth Brooks in Kansas City. I also kicked back in some cool bars, including Station Inn, Mean Eyed Cat, Gruene Hall, Carol’s Pub and the Longbranch Saloon. After running in my first Hood to Coast relay, I spent nearly two weeks in Oregon on vacation, checking out the breweries. So beautiful. Can’t wait to get back there.

On the personal side, I conquered my first official marathon (26.2 miles) this year in Louisville, Ky., as well as the 100-mile 3-State-3-Mountain Challenge bike ride and the Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon. With fitness on the brain almost all year long, I inevitably found myself asking artists about staying in shape. To read those stories, and many others, visit our new CMT Lifestyles Blog.

May 2008 be your best year ever!

I love Buck Owens. I love Bonnie Owens. I love Merle Haggard. I love Dwight Yoakam. Most of all, I love the sound that is the Bakersfield country song, and GOD BLESS Dwight for putting out this record called Dwight Sings Buck. It's gonna allow a lot of his fans who don't know Buck Owens' music to learn and appreciate what influenced the sound that Dwight's fans have grown to love.

I listened to an interview on XM the other day with Dwight talking about how he met Buck and how he became like a father figure to him. He talked about Bonnie Owens' harmonies on that old Bakersfield sound and how it instituted some of the sounds we are all familiar with today. Bonnie was an artist in her own right in addition to singing with the likes of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens (she married both). She was named Female Vocalist of the Year in 1965 by the Academy Of Country Music, the same year Bonnie ended up marrying The Hag. From that year on, Bonnie dedicated her time to Merle’s children and his career, touring with Merle’s band The Strangers as a backup vocalist. After 13 years of marriage, they divorced, but she continued singing with his band. With her passing last April, the country music industry lost a real one of the greats.

Dwight's sound is so innovative and country chic, that hipsters and rockers and country fans alike dig his sound. To me, he is his generation’s answer to George Jones' song, "Who's Gonna Fill Their Shoes." He is a modern-day living legend and will be around for a long time. He never took a second glance at changing his sound. He just did what he did and is still doing that. He's updated it a little, but it's still "Dwight" no matter which way you cut it. Please take a second to go download this brilliant CD. You will see that real country still lives!

There’s an old adage that states there is honor among thieves, a sort of formal way of saying that even criminals live by a code. The code, I believe, includes not ratting out your fellow criminals, so when a guy turns in a fellow outlaw, it often requires a major change of life. Distilled to its core essence, that’s the story in “Pancho and Lefty,” a song Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson recorded 25 years ago this week (Nov. 9), and in my estimation, one of the greatest country singles ever made.

Part of what makes it such a landmark recording is its near-perfect mix of numerous elements. For starters, the songwriter Townes Van Zandt crafted a storyline that’s rich in detail, though its most important fact -- that Lefty was a traitor -- is left for the listener to pick up only after multiple hearings. Willie and Merle, who was barely functioning when Willie woke him up to sing his verse at the studio, provide distinct third-party voices. They deliver the lines in a way that allows you to find sympathy for both Pancho and Lefty, and in keeping with Van Zandt’s words, the singers never cast judgment on the characters.

Still, the part that really stitches “Pancho” together is the guitar solo. It sounds simple enough -- an acoustic run with a descending series of intervals that’s doubled with a second guitar. But the simplicity was hard to achieve. Willie tried to play the right lines on his guitar, Trigger, and couldn’t pull it off. The inimitable Grady Martin, who played the classic sounds on Marty Robbins’ “El Paso,” couldn’t do it either. It was left up to producer Chips Moman, known for his work with Elvis Presley and B.J. Thomas, to put it together. His final performance sounds deceptively natural, and it was miked so well that the buzzing vibrations of those nylon strings lend a subtle authenticity to the Old West setting of the lyrics.

Truly remarkable recordings have a way of rewarding you long after they should have worn out their welcome. That’s code for: “Pancho and Lefty” still sounds really good.