Biography

As a performer and a songwriter, Merle Haggard was the most important country artist to emerge in the 1960s, when he became one of the leading figures of the Bakersfield country scene. His music was a melting pot that drew from all forms of traditional American music -- country, jazz, blues, and folk -- and as a performer, singer, and musician, he was one of the best, influencing countless other artists. Not coincidentally, he was the best singer/songwriter in country music since Hank Williams. Throughout his career, he has been a champion of the working man. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Top Tracks

• Click on the track to launch in Spotify

• (my Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers

• 5:01 Blues

• A Friend In California

• A Place To Fall Apart

• A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today

• All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers

• Always On My Mind

• Are The Good Times Really Over (i Wish A Buck Was Still Silver)

• As Time Goes By

• Back To The Barrooms Again

• Bad Actor

• Big City

• Blue Christmas

• Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain

• Blue Jungle

• Blue Yodel

• Blues Stay Away From Me

• Brain Cloudy Blues

• Branded Man

• Bring It On Down To My House, Honey

• Burning Memories

• California Blues

• Carolyn

• Chicago Wind

• Chill Factor

• Cocaine Blues

• Daddy Frank (the Guitar Man)

• Don't Be Cruel

• Don't Get Around Much Anymore

• Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

• Down At The End Of The Road

• Down On The Houseboat

• Dream Baby

• Everybody's Had The Blues

• Family Bible

• Farmer's Daughter

• Footlights

• Gambling Polka Dot Blues

• Going Where The Lonely Go

• Grandma Harp

• Gypsy

• Haggard (like I've Never Been Before)

• Heartaches By The Number

• High On A Hilltop

• Hobo's Meditation

• Holding Things Together

• Honky Tonky Mama

• Hungry Eyes

• I Always Get Lucky With You

• I Don't Want To Sober Up Tonight

• I Forget You Every Day

• I Had A Beautiful Time

• I Made The Prison Band

• I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am

• I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink

• I Threw Away The Rose

• I Wonder If They Ever Think Of Me

• If I Could Only Fly

• If We Make It Through December

• If We're Not Back In Love By Monday

• I'm A Lonesome Fugitive

• I'm Always On A Mountain When I Fall

• I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can

• In My Next Life

• Irma Jackson

• It Always Will Be

• It's All In The Movies

• It's Been A Great Afternoon

• It's Not Love (but It's Not Bad)

• It's Only Make Believe

• I've Seen It Go Away

• Jesus, Take A Hold

• Jimmie Rodgers Blues Medley

• Jimmie Rodgers' Last Blue Yodel (women Make A Fool Out Of Me)

• Jimmie's Texas Blues

• Just Between The Two Of Us

• Kentucky Gambler

• Kern River

• Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde

• Leonard

• Let's Chase Each Other Around The Room

• Life's Like Poetry

• Linda On My Mind

• Listening (to The Wind)

• Lost Highway

• Love Don't Hurt Everytime

• Love Me Tender

• Mama Tried

• Mama's Hungry Eyes

• Me And Crippled Soldiers

• Mexican Bands

• Misery And Gin

• Mississippi Delta Blues

• More Than This Old Heart Can Take

• Must've Been Drunk

• My Favorite Memory

• My Home Is In The Street

• My Life's Been Grand

• My Lovin' Gal Lucille

• My Own Kind Of Hat

• Natural High

• Night Life

• No Show Jones

• Okie From Muskogee

• Old Man From The Mountain

• One Day At A Time

• Out Among The Stars

• Pancho And Lefty

• Peach Picking Time In Georgia

• Pick Me Up On Your Way Down

• Ramblin' Fever

• Reasons To Quit

• Red Bandana

• Right Or Wrong

• Runnin' Kind/lonesome Fugitive

• Sam Hill

• San Antonio Rose

• Santa Claus And Popcorn

• Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town

• Shade Tree

• Shelter Of My Arms

• Shopping For Dresses

• Sick, Sober & Sorry

• Sidewalks Of Chicago

• Silver Bells

• Silver Wings

• Sin City Blues

• Sing A Sad Song

• Sing Me Back Home

• Skid Row

• Slowly But Surely

• Soldier's Last Letter

• Some Of Us Fly

• Someday We'll Look Back

• Someday When Things Are Good

• Someone Told My Story

• Stardust

• Stay A Little Longer

• Stop The World And Let Me Off

• Swingin' Doors

• Swinging Doors

• T.b. Blues

• That Silver Haired Daddy Of Mine

• That's All Right

• That's The News

• That's The Way Love Goes

• The Bottle Let Me Down

• The Fightin' Side Of Me

• The Fugitive

• The Girl Turned Ripe

• The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde

• The Old Rugged Cross

• The Race Is On

• The Roots Of My Raising

• The Way I Am

• Things Aren't Funny Anymore

• Things Have Gone To Pieces

• This Cold War

• This Cold War With You

• Today I Started Loving You Again

• Too Much Boogie Woogie

• Trouble In Mind

• Tulare Dust

• Turnin' Off A Memory

• Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star

• Uncle Lem

• Walking The Floor Over You

• Way Back In The Mountains

• What A Friend We Have In Jesus

• What Am I Gonna Do (with The Rest Of My Life)

• What Happened?

• Whiskey River

• White Line Fever

• Why Am I Drinkin'

• Why Me Lord

• Winter Wonderland

• Wishing All These Old Things Were New

• Workin' Man Blues

• Workin' Man's Blues

• Working In Tennessee

• Worried, Unhappy, Lonesome And Sorry

• Yellow Ribbons

• Yesterday's Wine

• You Don't Have Very Far To Go

• You'll Always Have Someone

Discography

• Click on the album to launch in Spotify

• Working in Tennessee

  Vanguard / Welk

  2011

• I Am What I Am

  Vanguard

  2010

• The Bluegrass Sessions

  McCoury Music

  2007

• Last of the Breed

  Lost Highway

  2007

• Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again

  Bandit Records

  2006

• Chicago Wind

  Capitol

  2005

• Unforgettable

  Liberty / EMI Music Distribution

  2004

• Live at Billy Bob's Texas: Ol' Country Singer

  Smith Entertainment

  2004

• Like Never Before

  Hag

  2003

• Roots, Vol. 1

  Anti / Epitaph

  2001

• Cabin in the Hills

  Relentless Nashville / Madacy

  2001

• If I Could Only Fly

  Anti / Epitaph

  2000

• Live at Billy Bob's Texas: Motorcycle Cowboy

  Smith Entertainment / Image Entertainment

  1999

• 1996

  Curb

  1996

• 1994

  Curb

  1994

• All Night Long

  Curb

  1991

• Blue Jungle

  Curb

  1990

• 5:01 Blues

  Epic

  1989

• Chill Factor

  Epic

  1987

• A Friend in California

  Epic

  1986

• Amber Waves of Grain

  Epic

  1985

• Kern River

  Epic

  1985

• It's All in the Game

  DCC Compact Classics

  1984

• That's the Way Love Goes

  DCC Compact Classics

  1983

• Pancho & Lefty

  Epic

  1983

• Heart to Heart

  Polygram

  1983

• A Taste of Yesterday's Wine

  Epic

  1982

• Going Where the Lonely Go

  Epic

  1982

• Rainbow Stew: Live at Anaheim Stadium

  Universal Special Products

  1981

• The Way I Am

  MCA

  1980

• Back to the Barrooms

  MCA

  1980

• Serving 190 Proof

  MCA

  1979

• I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall

  MCA

  1978

• The Way It Was in '51

  Capitol

  1978

• Ramblin' Fever

  MCA

  1977

• A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today

  Capitol

  1977

• The Roots of My Raising

  Capitol

  1976

• My Love Affair with Trains

  Capitol

  1976

• Keep Movin' On

  Capitol

  1975

• It's All in the Movies

  Capitol

  1975

• Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album

  Capitol

  1974

• If We Make It Through December

  Capitol

  1974

• I Love Dixie Blues...So I Recorded Live in New Orleans

  Capitol

  1973

• Totally Instrumental (With One Exception...)

  Capitol

  1973

• Let Me Tell You About a Song

  Capitol

  1972

• It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)

  Capitol

  1972

• High on a Hilltop

  Capitol

  1971

• Sing a Sad Song

  Capitol

  1971

• Branded Man

  Capitol/EMI Records / Capitol

  1967

• Just Between the Two of Us

  Longhorn

  1966

• Swinging Doors and The Bottle Let Me Down

  Koch Records

  1966

• Strangers

  Capitol/EMI Records / EMI Music Distribution

  1965