Celebrating Merle Haggard in this series last week, I thought it would make sense to note the breadth and depth of his catalog through his influence on other popular musicians. This week we’ll listen up to a few country artists performing songs from his catalog. Next week we’ll tune in to the roxy side of his influence. It was artists such as Phil Ochs and the Grateful Dead who gave me a sense of his impact way back when.
The 1994 compilation Tulare Dust: A Songwriters’ Tribute to Merle Haggard does a good share of my work for me. Let’s start out with Dwight Yoakam — school is in session 24/7 on his Dwight Yoakam and the Bakerfield Beat Sirius/XM channel — performing “Holding Things Together.”
Billy Joe Shaver was a prominent artist in the outlaw subgenre of country music. He must have found Merle’s catalog congenial in every respect, Here he performs Merle’s “Ramblin’ Fever.”
Mama’s Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard is another compilation that was released in 1994. Speaking of breadth, we find coutnry artists LeeRoy Parnell, Steve Wariner, and Diamond Rio teaming up on Merle’s “Workin’ Man Blues.” Lorrie Morgan and Alan Jackson are among the artists who contributed to the album. The whole thing is accessible on YouTube.
In my opinion, Vince Gill is the preeminent country artirst of his generation. He recorded Bakersfield (2013) with pedal steel guitar player Paul Franklin as a tribute to Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. “I Can’t Be Myself” is one of Merle’s lesser-known songs.
Suzy Bogguss became a star as a country artist. She has expanded her palette but returned to her roots in country on Lucky (2014), an album devoted entirely to songs by Haggard. “Going Where the Lonely Go” was Merle’s 30th number 1 country hit. Suzy does justice to it, doesn’t she?
Sing Me Back Home:The Music of Merle Haggard (2017) is another compilation paying tribute to Haggard. On two discs it captures the highlights of a concert honoring Merle in Nashville on what would have been his 80th birthday. Among the contributors are Willie Nelson, Keith Richards, Kenny Chesney, John Mellencamp, Dierks Bentley, Sheryl Crow, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams Jr., Toby Keith, The Avett Brothers, Ronnie Dunn, Alabama, Billy F. Gibbons, Warren Haynes, Jamey Johnson, Kacey Musgraves, Rodney Crowell, Lucinda Williams, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Buddy Miller, Jake Owen, Chris Janson, Aaron Lewis, John Anderson, Bobby Bare, Tanya Tucker, Connie Smith and Ben Haggard. Miranda Lambert served up Merle’s classic “Misery and Gin.”
Although they have branched out, sisters Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer have roots in country music. They included Merle’s “Silver Wings” on Not Dark Yet (2017).
The video below is from Country’s Family Reunion: Tribute to Merle Haggard (2016), a DVD set featuring country artists honoring Haggard. The video below includes “Farmer’s Daughter” by Mo Pitney (no relation to Gene), “The Way It Was In ’51” by David Frizzell (Lefty’s youngest brother), “Workin’ Man Blues” by Merle’s sons Noel, Ben, and Marty Haggard — the apples didn’t fall far from the tree — and “If We Make It Through December” by The Isaacs.
Vince Gill wrote “A World Without Haggard” (2019) in the immediate aftermath of Merle’s death in 2016. It is literally Vince’s tribute to Merle. Stephen Betts explains here at Rolling Stone:
Two days after that benefit concert for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Gill, who is enshrined in the Hall of Fame with Haggard, paid tribute to the late country legend on stage at the Grand Ole Opry with a heartfelt original song called “A World Without Haggard.” Seated on a stool within the stage’s famed wooden circle and wearing a gray fedora, Gill strummed guitar and was accompanied by steel guitar player Paul Franklin, his fellow member in the Time Jumpers and his partner on the 2013 LP Bakersfield, which paid homage to Haggard and Buck Owens.
While he manages to maintain his composure throughout the six-minute performance, Gill’s emotional tribute to Haggard – which also features a positively spine-chilling steel-guitar break from Franklin – beautifully conveys the thoughts and feelings shared by Haggard’s fans since his passing.
I’ll leave off today on this high note.
