Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music songwriter, singer, guitarist, fiddler, and instrumentalist. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band the Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the twang of Fender Telecaster and the unique mix with the traditional country steel guitar sound, new vocal harmony styles in which the words are minimal, and a rough edge not heard on the more polished Nashville sound recordings of the same era. By the 1970s, Haggard was aligned with the growing outlaw country movement, and he continued to release successful albums through the 1990s and into the 2000s. In 1994, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

Links To Peel
Peel would often play Merle Haggard's patriotic country hit "Okie From Muskogee", which took a dim view of student protests, hippies and draft-card burners. As Peel had lived in Oklahoma City he could sympathise with the "Okies", and Haggard had also recorded the original version of "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive", a song which Peel enjoyed singing, as Sheila Ravenscroft relates in Margrave of the Marshes. In the end Haggard's authenticity as a country singer won him respect with sections of the US rock audience. There was even a British variant of country rock, with bands like Matthews' Southern Comfort, Brinsley Schwarz and Starry Eyed And Laughing all doing sessions for Peel's programmes.

Shows Played
1972 1983 1995
 * 29 August 1972: Okie From Muskogee (LP - The Fightin' Side Of Me) Capitol, EMI
 * 12 December 1983: Okie From Muskogee (7") Capitol
 * 18 February 1995: The Bottle Let Me Down (album - Swinging Doors (And The Bottle Let Me Down)) Koch
 * 25 February 1995 (BFBS): 'The Bottle Let Me Down (LP-The Best Of Merle Haggard)' (Capitol)
 * 25 February 1995 (BFBS): 'Swinging Doors (LP-The Best Of Merle Haggard)' (Capitol)