|
 Haggard died of pneumonia at his home in Palo Cedro,
California, Mull said.
The country legend had canceled all his concerts for the month
of April due to illness. His son Ben, who played lead guitar in
Haggard's band, said his father had predicted the day of his
death.
"A week ago, Dad told us he was gonna pass on his birthday, and
he wasn't wrong," Ben wrote on Facebook. "An hour ago he took
his last breath surrounded by family and friends."
Haggard became one of the most influential figures in country
music with a repertoire that included songs with traditional
country themes such as drinking and heartache, but he infused
them with more insight and tenderness than most honky-tonkers.
He also broadened the genre by writing about poverty, loneliness
and social issues.
Haggard once said he preferred playing guitar to singing but it
was his voice that made him stand out.
"Haggard's exceptionally true intonation, his command of varied
vocal textures and his insinuating phrasing would make him a
superior vocalist in any idiom," the New York Times said of
Haggard in his prime. "Like Muddy Waters in the blues field and
only a handful of other performers, he both embodies and
transcends his rich American musical heritage."
Haggard's sound drew from traditional country but also touched
on folk, pop, jazz, blues and rock, and his songs were covered
by the likes of the Grateful Dead, Elvis Costello and Lynyrd
Skynyrd.
"I can't remember when I haven't listened to him," said Rolling
Stones guitarist Keith Richards. "Some of the best songs and
best delivery you can get."
Haggard was born April 6, 1937, near Bakersfield, California,
the son of a couple who had been part of the exodus from
Oklahoma's Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Haggard's
father was a carpenter for a railroad, and the family lived in a
converted boxcar.
OFF TO PRISON
Haggard, who was 9 years old when his father died of a brain
tumor, quit school in the eighth grade and began hopping freight
trains. He also took up the guitar and petty crime and
frequently was placed in - and escaped from - juvenile
reformatories.
A few years later he was living out the lyrics of what would be
one of his biggest hits - "Mama Tried," the story of a man who
marked his 21st birthday in prison. He had been sent to
California's notorious San Quentin prison for trying to break
into a cafe - too drunk to realize that at the time it was still
open and serving customers.
Haggard was already a big fan of country star Lefty Frizzell
when he saw Johnny Cash perform at the prison in 1958 and
decided to make a career of music after being paroled almost
three years into his sentence.
"I would've become a lifetime criminal if music hadn't saved my
ass," Haggard said in a PBS documentary. "I'm living proof that
things go wrong in America and I'm also living proof that things
can go right."
During his time as governor of California, Ronald Reagan
pardoned Haggard for his crime.
Haggard returned to his hometown in 1960 and, along with Buck
Owens, helped define what became known as the "Bakersfield
sound" - a more raw, twangy-er country sound than the highly
produced music that was coming out of Nashville at the time.
The subject matter of the songs Haggard wrote was more blunt
than some of his fans were accustomed to - "Irma Jackson" was
about interracial romance - and he rebelled when record company
executives wanted to change his style.
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"I've never been a guy that can do what people told me," he told the
Times. "It's always been my nature to fight the system."
Hits such as "Workin' Man Blues," "Hungry Eyes" and "If We Make It
Through December," the plaintive story of a laid-off factory worker
trying to salvage Christmas for his young daughter, were likened to
the populist works of Woody Guthrie.
Haggard's other hits included "Lonesome Fugitive," "Silver Wings,"
"Sing Me Back Home," "Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)," "The Bottle Let
Me Down," "The Fightin' Side of Me," "I Think I'll Just Stay Here
and Drink," and "Pancho and Lefty," a duet with Willie Nelson.
LONG BUS RIDE
Haggard toured constantly with his band, the Strangers, and once
described his life as "a 35-year bus ride" - and that was in 1996,
long before his bus stopped rolling.
Haggard's fame skyrocketed in 1970 with "Okie From Muskogee," an
anti-hippie song ("we don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee, we don't
take our trips on LSD") that came to be embraced by conservatives.
Haggard said in interviews the song started out as a joke and a
character study and that it did not necessarily reflect his views.
Haggard often told interviewers he was not political but his songs
showed he was certainly opinionated and a libertarian thinker. In
2003 he defended the Dixie Chicks from fans' backlash after they
criticized President George W. Bush and he wrote a song in tribute
to former first lady Hillary Clinton when she was seeking the
presidency in 2007.
He also wrote "Crippled Soldiers and Me" to protest the U.S. Supreme
Court ruling that said burning the American flag was an expression
of free speech and "That's the News" to criticize media coverage of
the war in Iraq.
Stardom took a toll on the man known to his fans as "The Hag" and
his career waned in the late 1980s amid personal problems. He filed
for bankruptcy protection in 1992 after years of hard living, four
divorces, gambling and bad investments. He once estimated that he
had blown $100 million.
"In My House of Memories" he wrote of a sleepless, always-naked
five-day drug binge on his houseboat with an unnamed woman singer.
By his mid-60s Haggard had settled down and spent his spare time
fishing on his ranch in Northern California.
Musicians turned to social media to express their condolences and
pay tribute. Country singer Carrie Underwood tweeted "Merle was a
pioneer...a true entertainer...a legend" while rock pioneer Jerry
Lee Lewis said, "I will miss one of my best friends over all these
years."
Long-time friend and frequent collaborator Willie Nelson told
Entertainment Weekly, "He was my brother, my friend. I will miss
him."
Haggard had part of a lung removed in 2008 because of cancer but was
performing again within two months.
Haggard had six children from his five marriages, including two with
his last wife, Theresa. His son Ben performed with him as lead
guitarist.
(Additional reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Diane Craft
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