Listening to Hag

The extent to which “Okie From Muskogee” has dominated Merle Haggard’s legacy is unfortunate. Not because the first person song about a third person misleading about his politics if taken at face value; although it is, he would be a titan of American music even if he was a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary. (It should also be noted that in the great Nashville tradition “Okie” is simultaneously a novelty song and a great song; in today’s political moment it should be obvious that it nails a very real sentiment.) But because I get the impression that it’s swamped one of the deepest books of quality songs in American country music.

Admittedly, one problem (as we discussed with George Jones) is that country in Haggard’s era was a singles music, with albums being quickie hits-plus-filler jobs often recorded for a wide variety of labels. I was lucky enough to purchase the superbly chosen multi-disc multi-label all-originals box Down Every Road in a Seattle used CD shop for 20 bucks, which was apparently a rare good investment on my part financially as well as culturally. It is still available as a download, not cheap but if you have any feeling for his music at all you won’t regret it. While even great peers like Cash or Nelson can drag a little stretched over 4 lengthy CDs, this one has remarkably few duds, and the best stuff helped ot define the music,

Like a lot of aging country artists, he started to take albums more seriously just as the broader culture was moving away from the form. His late albums are fans-only and not where to start, but the well-chosen songs distinctively song and tastefully arranged have their pleasures. I love his version of Blaze Floey’s “If Only I Could Fly,” for example:

Still, trying to access his catalog can be intimidating. Ben Ratliff has a very useful starting guide. R.I.P.