Episode 30 – Merle Haggard

Haggard’s first record for Tally Records was “Singing My Heart Out” b/w “Skid Row”; it was not a success, and only 200 copies were pressed. In 1962, Haggard wound up performing at a Wynn Stewart show in Las Vegas and heard Wynn’s “Sing a Sad Song”. He asked for permission to record it, and the resulting single was a national hit in 1964. The following year he had his first national top ten record with “(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers”, written by Liz Anderson (mother of country singer Lynn Anderson) and his career was off and running. Haggard recalls having been talked into visiting Anderson — a woman he didn’t know — at her house to hear her sing some songs she had written. “If there was anything I didn’t wanna do, it was sit around some danged woman’s house and listen to her cute little songs. But I went anyway. She was a pleasant enough lady, pretty, with a nice smile, but I was all set to be bored to death, even more so when she got out a whole bunch of songs and went over to an old pump organ … There they were. My God, one hit right after another. There must have been four or five number one songs there…”

Still interested? Visit the artist’s official website or Wikipedia entry to learn more about this episode’s guest.