Merle Haggard

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Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country singer, guitarist, and fiddler. During the Great Depression, Haggard was born in Oildale, California.

After his father's death, his son was a victim, he was incarcerated several times in his youth, and his childhood was turbulent.

After being released from San Quentin State Prison in 1960, he managed to turn his life around and begin a lucrative country music career, often with lyrics aimed at the working class that had previously contained elements that were contrary to the time's dominant anti-Vietnam War sentiment.

He had 38 number one hits on the US country charts between the 1960s and the 1980s, many of which also made the Billboard all-genre singles chart.

Haggard's hit songs into the 2000s continued to be released. He has received numerous accolades and accolades for his music, including a Kennedy Center Honor (2010), a BMI Icon Award (2006), and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1994).

He died on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday, and his first bout with double pneumonia.Haggard's last album, "Kern River Blues," chronicled his demise from Bakersfield in the late 1970s and his dissatisfaction with politicians.

Ben on guitar, with his son Ben on guitar, appears in the album, which was released on February 9, 2016.

This record was announced on May 12, 2016.

Early life

Flossie Mae (née Harp; 1902-1944) and James Francis Haggard (1899–1946) were Haggard's parents. Since their barn burned in 1934, the family migrated to California from Checotah, Oklahoma, during the Great Depression.

When James began working with the Santa Fe Railroad, they settled with their two older children, James 'Lowell' (1922–1996) and Lillian. A woman who owned a boxcar in Oildale, a nearby town, told Haggard's father that it could be turned into a house. He remodeled the boxcar and then moved in, buying the lot where Merle Ronald Haggard was born on April 6, 1937. In the adjacent lot, the property was eventually expanded by adding a toilet, a second bedroom, a kitchen, and a breakfast nook.

In 1946, Haggard's father died of a brain hemorrhage. Haggard, a nine-year-old boy, was terribly affected by the death, and it remained a pivotal event in his life. Haggard's mother worked as a bookkeeper to help the family. When Merle was 12, his older brother Lowell gave his guitar to him. Haggard learned to play it on his own, inspired by Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Williams. Haggard started getting into trouble when his mother was out working during the day. His mother sent him to a youth detention center for a weekend to try and advise him, but his behavior did not change. If anything, he got worse.

Haggard was stealing and writing bad checks by the age of 13. In 1950, he was arrested shoplifting and taken to a youth detention center. With his buddy Bob Teague, he and his friend Bob Teague went to Texas the following year. Both the two train rode freight trains and hitchhiked around the state. When the two boys returned later this year, they were arrested of robbery and sent to prison. They had not committed the offence and were released when the true robbers were discovered. Haggard did not change much after the experience. He and his buddy were sent to a juvenile detention facility later that year, from which he and his friend then escaped and moved to Modesto, California. He served in a variety of factory jobs, including potato truck driver, short order cook, hay pitcher, and oil well shooter. He appeared in "Fun Center," a Modesto bar, for which he was paid US$5 and given free beer.

He returned to Bakersfield, where he was arrested again for truancy and petty larceny and sent to a juvenile detention facility. He was taken to the Preston School of Industry, a high-security unit, after another escape. He was released 15 months later but was later suspended after beating a local boy during a robbery attempt. Lefty Frizzell was in concert after Haggard's death. Haggard joined the two performers onstage, where Haggard began to sing along. Frizzell, the young man from the stage, refused to proceed unless Haggard was allowed to sing first. Haggard did, and the audience was very appreciated. Haggard decided to pursue a career in music after this experience. When working as a farmhand or in the oil fields during the day, he would perform and perform in local bars at night.

He was arrested and jailed in 1957 as a widow and suffering from financial difficulties. He was arrested and sent to the Bakersfield Jail. On February 21, 1958, he was taken to San Quentin Prison after an escape attempt. He was a prisoner number A45200. Haggard discovered that his wife was expecting another man's child while in jail, which put him emotionally stressed. He was released from a string of prison jobs and intended to escape along with another inmate named "Rabbit" (James Kendrick), but fellow prisoners refused to do so.

Haggard and his cellmate started a gambling and beer fight while San Quentin. He was sentenced to solitary confinement after being found inebriated. Caryl Chessman, a writer and death row prisoner, was sentenced to a week in solitary detention after being caught inebriated. "Rabbit" had successfully escaped, but only had to shoot a police officer and be returned to San Quentin for execution. Haggard was inspired by Chessman's demise, as well as the execution of "Rabbit" in a way that was never intended. He obtained a high school diploma and continued working in the prison's textile plant right away. He also performed with the prison's country music band, quoting Johnny Cash's appearance at the prison on New Year's Day 1959 as his primary inspiration to join it. In 1960, he was released from San Quentin on parole.

Haggard was given a complete and unconditional pardon for his previous offences in 1972, after Haggard had established himself as a leading country music star.

Personal life

Haggard was married five times, first to Leona Hobbs from 1956 to 1964. They had four children: Dana, Marty, Kelli, and Noel.

Bonnie Owens, Buck Owens' ex wife, married him shortly after divorcing Hobbs in 1965. Haggard credited her with assisting him in his big break as a country artist. He gave her writing credit for Owens' hit "Today I Started Loving You Again" and admitted, even on stage, that the album was about a sudden surge of special emotions she had for her while touring together. She was also responsible for Haggard's children from his first marriage and was the maid of honor for Haggard's third marriage. Haggard and Owens separated in 1978, but Owens remained close friends as Owens continued as his backing vocalist until her death in 2006.

In 1975, he was married to Tresa Destefani, a famous business woman. They called off the marriage in 1976 but remained close friends.

Leona Williams married Haggard in 1978. They divorced in 1983. Haggard and Debbie Parry married in 1985; they divorced in 1991. On September 11, 1993, he married Theresa Ann Lane, his fifth wife. Jenessa and Ben were their two children.

Haggard said he started smoking marijuana in 1978, when he was 41 years old. He confessed to purchasing "$2,000 (worth) of cocaine in 1983 and partied for five months afterward, when he said he finally understood his health and quit for good. In 1991, he quit smoking cigarettes and stopped smoking marijuana, and in 1995, he stopped smoking marijuana. However, during a Rolling Stone magazine interview in 2009, he had recalled regular marijuana use.

In 1995, Haggard underwent angioplasty to unblock clogged arteries. It was announced on November 9, 2008, that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in May and underwent surgery on November 3, which involved significant portions of his lung. Haggard returned home on November 8. He appeared at two shows in Bakersfield on January 2 and 3, 2009, just less than two months after his cancer surgery, and continued to tour and record until his death.

Haggard was admitted to an undisclosed hospital in California on December 5, 2015. He made a recovery but several concerts were postponed.

Haggard was hospitalized in March 2016. Due to his continuing double pneumonia, his concerts in April were postponed. He died of respiratory diseases at his home in Palo Cedro, California, on the morning of April 6, 2016. On April 9, 2016, Haggard was laid to rest in a private funeral at his ranch; Marty Stuart officiated.

Source

Career

Haggard began digging ditches for his brother's electrical contracting company after his release from San Quentin in 1960. He was back on stage and later began recording with Tally Records, and later became a member of Tally Records. As a result of the overproduced Nashville sound, the Bakersfield sound was gaining traction in the area. Haggard's first Tally appearance was "Singing My Heart Out" backed by "Skid Row; it was not a success, and only 200 copies were printed. Haggard appeared at a Wynn Stewart show in Las Vegas in 1962 and heard Wynn's "Sing a Sad Song." He asked for permission to record it, and the resultant single was a national hit in 1964. With "My Friends Are Gonna Be" Strangers, Liz Anderson, mother of country singer Lynn Anderson, and his career was off and running for the first time in the following year. Haggard recalls being invited to Anderson, a woman he didn't know—at her house to hear her sing some songs she had written. "I didn't want to do anything but sit around some danged woman's house and listen to her cute little songs." But I went anyway. She was a lovely enough lady with a charming smile, but I was going to be bored to death, even more so after she took out a whole bunch of songs and went over to an old pump organ. They were there. One hit right after another, and my goodness. There must have been four or five number one songs on the radio."

With the Strangers, Haggard wrote "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive" in 1967, the first number one single in the United States, which Liz Anderson also wrote about. They were unaware of his prison stretch when the Andersons introduced the song to Haggard. In the liner notes to Haggard's 1994 retrospective Down Every Road, Bonnie Owens, Haggard's backup singer and then-wife, is quoted by music journalist Daniel Cooper: "I guess I didn't know how much money the San Quentin experience meant to him because he never talked about it all that much." I could tell he was in a sad mood... and I replied, 'Is everything okay?' 'I'm really worried,' he said.

And I said, 'Why?'

"Sincause I'm afraid I'm out there someday, and there's going to be some jailer," says the guy, "What do you think you're doing, 45200?" says the author. Cooper claims that the news had no influence on Haggard's career: "It's unknown when or where Merle first revealed to the public that his prison songs were rooted in personal history, but he doesn't appear to have made a big splash announcement." In a May 1967 profile in Music City News, his prison history was never revealed, but in July 1968, the same magazine, it was written as if it were common knowledge."

Branded Man with The Strangers, 1967, launched Haggard's artistically and commercially lucrative run. "The immediate successors to I'm a Lonesome Fugitive—Branded Man in 1967 and '68, Sing Me Back Home and The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde," Haggard biographer David Cantwell wrote. Haggard's new recordings featured his band The Strangers, specifically Roy Nichols' Telecaster, Ralph Mooney's steel guitar, and Bonnie Owens' harmony vocals.

Owens, who had been married to Buck Owens in 1965, was known as a sole performer, a fixture on the Bakersfield club scene, and someone who had appeared on television at the time. After her 1965 debut album, Don't Take Advantage of Me, debuted on the country charts, she received the first male vocalist award from the Academy of Country Music. Bonnie Owens had no further hit singles on Capitol from 1965 to 1970, and although she appeared on Capitol's six solo albums, including "Sing Me Back Home" and "Branded Man," she became best known for her background harmonies on Haggard hits such as "Sing Me Back Home" and "Branded Man."

Haggard was created by producer Ken Nelson, who took a hands-off approach. Haggard recalls that "I was a celebrity at the time," Ken Nelson, who was an exception to the rule." Mr. 'Mr.' I and Haggard were a little twenty-four, twenty-five-year-old punk from Oildale... He gave me complete responsibility. If he'd jumped in and said, 'Oh, you can't do that,' it would've killed me,' it would've killed me,' I'd guess." "I became so enamored with his singing that I'd forget what else was going on, and I immediately thought, 'Well, there's a minute,'" Nelson recalls in his documentary film Lost Highway. But his songs—he was a natural writer."

Haggard released several number-one hits, including "Mama Tried," "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde," "Hungry Eyes," and "Sing Me Back Home" as a decade came to an end. "Sing Me Back Home" is Daniel Cooper's description of a ballad that works on so many levels of the soul that it defies one's entire effort to analyze it. Haggard wrote in a 1977 Billboard interview with Bob Eubanks, "Even if the offence was brutal and the guy was an incorrigible criminal, you'll have a feeling you never forget when you see someone you know make the last walk." They lead him into the yard, and there's a guard in front and a guard behind—that's how you identify a death prisoner. They brought Rabbit out... taking him to see the Father before his execution. That was a good picture that was left in my head." A tribute to Jimmie Rodgers was also issued in 1969: Same Train, Different Time.

Haggard's songs attracted worldwide notice. The Everly Brothers were featured on "Sing Me Back Home" and "Mama Tried" on their 1968 country-rock album Roots, as well as "Mama Tried." Haggard's songs were performed or recorded by a variety of artists in the upcoming year, including Gram Parsons' "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am" on the Grand Ole Opry and "Life in Prison" for his album "Sing Me Back Home" and "Mama Tried"; singer-activist Joan Baez's album "Life in Prison"; and "Mama Tried," the band's live coverage of "Mama Tried" on "Mama Tried" on the following "I Am" on the following year; drummer/Mama; musician-Protest; guitarist and "I Am" on "I Am" on "I Am" and "I Am" and "I Am" on "I Am" and "I Am"; and "I Am" for his album; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried" for the Grate's; and "Life in Prison"; and "Life in Prison; and "Life in Prison" for the band's; and "I Am" for the Grate; and "Mama Tried" for his album; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried" for their live coverage of the Grate; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried" for the band'sing Me Back Home; and "Life in Prison" for its album; and "I Am"; and "I Am" for the Grate ; and "Life in Prison"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Life in Prison"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "I am"; and "Life in prison; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Life in prison; and "Mama Tried"; and "Life in Prison; and "Mama Tried"; and "Life in Prison"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Gia Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried" for the Grate; and "Mama Tried" for the band; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Life in Prison; and "Mama Tried"; and "Life in Prison; and "Mama Tried" a Tried" and "Life in Prison; and "I Am" for the Grate, &Mama Tried" ' and "I Am" eo; and "Live Coverage of the Grate; and "Mama Tried" ' and "Life in Prison"; and "Sing In the Grate; and "Mama Tried" until the band's, Grate; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Life in Prison"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Ai" and "Life in Prison; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"; and "I Am"; and "Mama Tried"; and "Mama Tried"

"His songs romanticize the inability and tragedies of America's transient prodigy, and his success is the product of his ability to relate to his audience in a unique way with precisely the right emotional pitch," Andrew Wickham wrote in a previous Rolling Stone review, "His songs romanticize the pains and tragedies of his transient prodigy." Merle Haggard looks the part and sounds the part." He's amazing."

Haggard and The Strangers released "Okie From Muskogee" in 1969, with lyrics ostensibly referring to the singer's pride in being from Middle America, where people are traditionally patriotic, don't smoke marijuana, don't take LSD, don't drink LSD, don't drink LSD, don't protest by burning draft cards, or otherwise challenge authority. Following his discovery of the music, American President Richard Nixon wrote an appreciative note to Haggard, and he'll continue to invite Haggard to perform at the White House several times. Haggard made contradictory claims about whether he intended the song as a fun satire or a critical political statement in support of conservative ideals in the ensuing years. Haggard called the album a "documentation of the uneducated that lived in America at the time." However, he made several other statements in which he implied that he meant the song seriously. "I wrote it when I first stepped out of the office," he said on the Bob Edwards Show. I knew what it was like to lose my freedom, but these demonstrators were getting really outraged. They didn't know anything more about the war in Vietnam than I did. I wondered how my dad, who was from Oklahoma, would have felt. "I felt like I knew how these boys who were fighting in Vietnam felt." "I think my dad died when I was nine years old, and I don't know if you've ever worried about someone you've lost." I was driving on Interstate 40 and I noticed a sign that reads "19 Miles to Muskogee," as well as listening to The World Tomorrow (radio and television) hosted by Garner Ted Armstrong. Muskogee was always referred to as 'back home.' So I saw the sign and my whole childhood flashed before my eyes, and I wondered what dad would do about the Janis Joplins' youthful revolt that was taking place at the time. I got the point, but what if he was to come alive at this moment? What if I wondered? What is going on on these campuses? I wondered, if there is a way to describe the kind of people in America's capital city that are now sittin' in the country's capital.' "" as it was the subject of this Garner Ted Armstrong radio show, "In the midst of this Garner Ted Armstrong radio show, it was a surprise." "I was listening in Garner Ted Armstrong a week or so later, and Armstrong was telling how the smaller colleges in smaller towns don't seem to have any issues." And I wondered if Muskogee had a college, and they didn't have any problems - no racial issues and no dope issues. The whole thing hit me in two minutes, and I did one line after another and got the whole thing done in 20 minutes." "That's how I got into it with the hippies," he said in a American Masters documentary about him. They seemed to be unqualified to rule America, and I was worried that they were looking down their noses at something that I adored very much, which pissed me off. And here you are, talking about a war that they didn't know any more about than I did, and here you are in the streets, protesting about something you may have never been banned from this great, beautiful world.' They weren't over the war that was no more offensive than I was.

Haggard first performed the song in concert in 1969 and was astonished at the reception:

In 1969, the studio version, which was mellower than the traditional raucous live-concert versions, topped the country charts and stayed there for a month. Haggard's biggest hit up to that time, "If We Make It Through December," the number 41 on the Billboard all-genre singles chart, surpassing only by his 1973 crossover Christmas hit, "If We Make It Through Dec." has peaked at number 28. Haggard's most popular song, "Okie from Muskogee," is also known as Haggard's signature song.

Haggard's lyrics, "The Fightin' Side of Me," a Haggard track released in 1970 over Haggard's skepticism, insist that he did not care about the counterculture "switchin' sides and stand in for what they believe in," but resolutely stated, "If you don't love it." "I don't like their views on life, their filth, their apparent self-disrespect," Haggard told John Grissom of Rolling Stone in May 1970. They don't have to worry about how they look or smell like. "I had different ideas in the 1970s," Haggard said in a 2003 interview with No Depression magazine. I've learned more about myself as a human being [more]. I have more culture now. When I wrote 'Okie From Muskogee,' I was dumb as a brick.' That's being honest with you at the moment, and a lot of things that I didn't say [then] I'm writing with a different mindset now. My views of marijuana have completely changed. I think we were brainwashed, and I suspect anyone who doesn't know that needs to get up and read, and look around, gather their own details. It's a joint government initiative that will make us believe that marijuana should be outlawed," says the spokesperson.

Haggard wanted to keep "Okie from Muskogee" alive by "Irma Jackson," a song that dealt with an interracial relationship between a white man and an African American woman. Ken Nelson, his son's producer, had forbidden him from releasing it as a whole. "Hoping to distance himself from the brashly right-wing image he had gathered in the aftermath of the hippie-bashing "Muskogee," Haggard says in a new direction and announce "Irma Jackson" as his next single. When the Bakersfield, California, native brought the song to his record label, executives were apparently furious. Capitol Records was not interested in complicating Haggard's conservative, blue-collar image in the aftermath of "Okie."

After "The Fightin' Side of Me" was announced, Haggard later wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "People are narrow-minded." They may have called me a nigger lover" down south. Nelson, who was also in charge of the country division at Capitol at the time, never interfered with his music, but "this one time, I don't think the world is ready for this." Haggard said in a 2001 interview. And he might have been correct. I may have left where I was headed in my career."

"Okie From Muskogee" and "I Wonder If They Think of Me" (Haggard's 1973 song about an American POW in Vietnam) were praised as anthems of the Silent Majority, as well as Charlie Daniels' "In America" and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the United States) respectively. Although Haggard was chastised for his "[John] Birch-type songs against war rebels in the early 1970s, the musician was also known as coming from an early country-folk tradition, according to Gordon Friesen of Broadside magazine. Both "Okie From Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side of Me" received a lot of airplay on underground radio stations, and protest singers Arlo Guthrie and Phil Ochs' "Okie from Muskogee" and "The Fightin' Side of Me" were in concert.

Haggard's 1970 album A Tribute to the World's Best Damn Fiddle Player, Dedicated to Bob Wills, sparked a permanent revival and boosted the audience for western swing. Haggard was one of the world's most popular country singers, gaining 24 number-one country singles since 1966.

Capital Cities TV Productions released Let Me Tell You About A Song, Haggard's first TV special, in 1972, nationwide syndicated. It was a semi-autobiographical musical biography of Haggard, which was a nodal to the late Behind The Music, which was produced and directed by Michael Davis. "If We Make It Through December," Haggard's fame as a labor anthem from the 1973 recession anthem. Haggard and The Strangers were the first crossover pop hit on "If We Make It Through December."

On May 6, 1974, Haggard appeared on TIME's front page. He wrote and performed the theme song to the television series Movin' On, which gave him and the Strangers another number-one country hit in 1975. Haggard and The Strangers country chart domination continued from the 1970s to present day with songs such as "Someday We'll Look Back," "Always Wanting You" and "The Roots of My Raising." He and The Strangers made nine consecutive number-one country hits between 1973 and 1976. On albums such as Serving 190 Proof and The Way I Am, he moved to MCA Records in 1977 and began investigating the issues of depression, alcoholism, and middle age. In her 1980 television music tribute, Lynda Carter performed a duet cover of Billy Burnette's "What's A Little Love Between Friends" with Lynda Carter. Encore! Haggard starred on the Bronco Billy soundtrack with Ronnie Milsap in 1980, which culminated in Haggard's number-one hit with "Bar Room Buddies," a duet with actor Clint Eastwood.

Haggard appeared in "The Comeback" episode of The Waltons, season five, episode three, first broadcast date October 10, 1976. Red, the bandleader who had been grieving since his son's death (Ron Howard), was a depressed man.

Sing Me Back Home, Haggard's autobiography, was released in 1981. He alternately spoke and performed "The Man in the Mask" during the same year. This was the combined narration and theme for the film "The Legend of the Lone Ranger," "Footloose," "Sing," "Solid Gold," and the musical Carrie, written by Dean Pitchford, a box-office flop. In 1981, Haggard changed record labels, ending up Epic and releasing Big City, one of his most critically acclaimed albums on which he was backed by The Strangers.

Haggard had 12 more top-ten hits between 1981 and 1985, with nine of them reaching number one, including "My Favorite Memory," "Going Where the Lonely Go," and "Natural High." In addition, Haggard performed two chart-topping duets with George Jones in 1982, "Yesterdays' Wine" in 1982, and "Pancho and Lefty" in 1983. Nelson believed that the 1983 Academy Award-winning film Tender Mercies, about fictional singer Mac Sledge's life, was based on Merle Haggard's life. Actor Robert Duvall and other filmmakers denied this, claiming that the story was based on no one in particular. Duvall, on the other hand, revealed that he was a big fan of Haggard's work.

After five whirlwinds years of marriage, Haggard and his third wife Leona Williams divorced in 1983. Haggard's party served as a ticket to party, although the group spent a good deal of time in alcoholism and heroin use. Around this time, Haggard has referred to himself as "male menopause" or "personal crisis." "Things that you've enjoyed for years don't seem nearly as important," he said in an interview from this period, and you're at war with yourself about what's going to happen."

'Why don't I like that anymore?

Why do I like this now?'

And lastly, I think you actually go through a physical transformation rather than just becoming another.... Your body is about to die, and your mind doesn't agree." He was a heavy cocaine user for a brief period of time, but he was able to recover. Despite these difficulties, he received the Best Male Vocal Performance Award for his 1984 film "That's The Way Love Goes."

Haggard was hampered by financial hardships well into the 1990s, as his presence on the charts fell in favour of younger country singers, such as George Strait and Randy Travis. "Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star" from Haggard's smash hit "Chil Factor" in 1988 was his last number one hit.

In reaction to the Supreme Court's decision not to allow ban flag burning, Haggard released a song called "Me and Crippled Soldiers Give a Damn," arguing that the flag burning should be "speech" and therefore covered under the First Amendment. Haggard bought his way out of the contract and signed with Curb Records, which was eager to release the song after CBS Records Nashville refused to announce it. "I've never been a guy that can do what people tell me," Haggard said of the situation. It's always been my nature to fight the system."

Haggard made a comeback of sorts in 2000, signing with the independent record label Anti and releasing the spare If I Could Only Fly to critical acclaim. Roots, vol. 2, was he followed it in 2001. Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams, and Hank Thompson covers, as well as three Haggard originals. Haggard's long-time bandmates, The Strangers, were included on the album, as well as Frizzell's original lead guitarist, Norman Stephens, which was recorded in Haggard's living room with no overdubs. Haggard spoke at length on Larry King Live about his aspirations as a young man in December 2004, saying it was "hell" and "the worst experience of my life."

Haggard opened Dixie Chicks' 2003 invasion of Iraq by criticizing President George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq, with a letter from Haggard.

In the 2003 film Radio with Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ed Harris, as well as in Bryan Bertino's The Strangers with Liv Tyler, Haggard and The Strangers number one hit single "Mama Tried" is included. In addition, his and The Strangers' song "Swingin' Doors" from Crash (2004) can be heard in Joel and Ethan Coen's film Fargo, and his 1981 hit "Big City" where he is backed by the Strangers can be heard in Joel and Ethan Coen's film Fargo.

Haggard's album Chicago Wind received mainly critical feedback in October 2005. "America First" is a anti-Iraq war song that debales the country's economy and faltering infrastructure, applauds its troops, and sings, "Let's get out of Iraq and get back to track." This sequel follows his 2003 release "Haggard Like Never Before," in which he also features a song called "That's The News." On October 2, 2007, Haggard released The Bluegrass Sessions, a bluegrass collection.

Haggard had intended to appear at Riverfest in Little Rock, Arkansas, but the show was cancelled due to his sickness, and three other concerts had been postponed as well. Nonetheless, he was back on the road in June and had successfully concluded a tour that had ended on October 19, 2008.

Haggard's I Am What I Am album gained raves in April 2010, and he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in February 2011.

Haggard worked with many other artists throughout his career. Haggard's first duets with Bonnie Owens, who later became his wife for Tally Records, resulted in a minor hit with "Just Between the Two of Us." Producer Ken Nelson obtained the rights to Haggard's Tally parties, as well as the duets with Owens, resulting in the release of Haggard's first duet album entitled Just Between the Two of Us in 1966. The album reached number four on the country charts, and Haggard and Owens also performed a number of duets before their divorce in 1978. Haggard also performed duets with George Jones, Willie Nelson, and Clint Eastwood, among others.

Haggard Unveiled A Tribute to the World's Best Damn Fiddle Player (or, My Salute to Bob Wills), rounding up six of the Texas Playboys' remaining members of the tournament: Johnnie Lee Wills, Eldon Shamblin, Tiny Moore, Joe Holley, Johnny Gimble, and Alex Brashear. During the recording, Merle's band, The Strangers, were also on hand, but Wills suffered a massive stroke after the first day of recording. Merle arrived on the second day, devastated that he would not be able to record with him, but the album helped bring Wills back to public attention and ignited a Western swing revival. Over the next 40 years, Haggard would have released other tribute albums to Bob Wills. He appeared on For the Last Time: Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. On an album entitled A Tribute to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Haggard collaborated with Asleep at the Wheel and several other musicians influenced by Bob Wills' music in 1994. In 1995, a Tribute tribute was re-released on CD under the Koch brand.

Haggard had intended to produce Gram Parsons' first solo album in 1972, but had to cancel at the last minute. Warner Bros. arranged a meeting at Haggard's Bakersfield home, and the two performers seemed to be having a blast, but Haggard canceled later in the afternoon, just after the first session. Parsons, a huge Haggard fan, was devastated, and Meyer told Meyer, "Merle not producing Gram was certainly one of Gram's greatest disappointments." Merle was incredibly kind and sweet, but he had his own rivals and his own demons." In an interview with Mark Rose, Haggard said of Parsons, "He was a pussy." Hell, he was just a long-haired boy. I had hoped that he was a good writer. He was not wild, though. That's what's amusing to me. These guys were outside in long hair discussing being wild and Rolling Stones. I don't think anyone who is abusing themselves on drugs determines how wild they are. It could reveal how ignorant they are."

Haggard released A Taste of Yesterday's Wine with George Jones in 1982, the first album to have two top-ten hits, including the number one "Yesterday's Wine." Kickin' Out the Footlights, a pair from 2006, has a sequel.

In 1983, Haggard released Pancho & Lefty, a duet album co-starring Willie Nelson, with the title track becoming a big hit for the pair. Seashores of Old Mexico, a second less popular LP, was also released in 1987, and the pair performed together with Ray Price in 2007, releasing the album Last of the Breed. Django and Jimmie is the band's sixth and final duet album released in 2015. Haggard and Nelson were caught in a recording studio smoking joints in the album's lead single, "It's All Going to Pot," a subtle reference to smoking marijuana, and the music video for the song showed Haggard and Nelson smoking joints.

Haggard obtained permission from Epic Records in 1983 to work with then-wife Leona Williams on Polydor Records, releasing Heart to Heart in 1983. The album, which was backed by The Strangers, was not a success, peaking at number 44.

Haggard's album Two Old Friends, released in 2001 by Albert E. Brumley, was released in 2001. Haggard produced a CD called California Blend in 2002 with longtime friend and fellow recording artist Chester Smith (founder of television broadcasting company Sainte Partners II, L.P. and owner of several stations in California and Oregon). Both Smith and Haggard's classic country, western, and gospel tracks are included on the CD.

Haggard appeared on Gretchen Wilson's album "Politically Uncorrect" in 2005, earning a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. He has also performed a verse on Eric Church's "Pledge Allegiance to the Hag" in 2006.

Haggard appeared on Blaine Larsen's album "If Merle Would Sing My Song" in 2005. Haggard appeared on Don Henley's album "The Cost of Living" in 2015.

In the documentary film Hempsters: Plant the Seed directed by Michael P. Henning, Haggard was included alongside Ralph Nader, Willie Nelson, Gatewood Galbraith, and Julia Butterfly Hill in 2010.

Haggard appeared in the award-winning documentary The American Epic Sessions directed by Bernard MacMahon in 2017. They performed a song Haggard wrote for the film "The Only Man Wilder Than Me" and Bob Wills' "Old Fashioned Love," which they performed live on the restored first electrical sound recording device from the 1920s. It was the last film appearance of the two performers, with Rolling Stone remarking "in the final performance of Sessions, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard perform the duet "The Only Man Wilder Than Me." Haggard has a look of utter joy on his face during the session in the old-timey recording technology used by his musical heroes."

Haggard's last album, "Kern River Blues," a tribute to Bakersfield's late 1970s and his dissatisfaction with politicians. Ben is the son of Ben, the song was recorded on February 9, 2016, and it features him on guitar. This record was released on May 12, 2016.

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