R.I.P. Mighty Merle Haggard

Is it just me, or are we losing important people at a little too quick of a clip right now?  This is going to be an official obituary blog before stupid 2016 is up.

The first time I recall knowing about Merle Haggard was in college, because we sang/screamed David Allen Coe's "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" at just about every party at our crap fraternity hovel, and in that song, Coe mentions that "You don't have to call me Merle Haggard anymore, even though you're on my fightin' side."  I had no clue what that meant, but my small Texas college lead me into those musical side roads soon enough.  By then, I was starting to pay attention to country music for the first time, and like a lot of young country fans, I gravitated towards the outlaws of the sound, instead of the processed garbage riding the radio waves at the time.  I already knew Jerry Jeff and Robert Earl, but that path led me to Willie and Johnny and Merle and Waylon.  If only Merle would have signed on to be in the Highwaymen...

My favorite of the Haggard songs is Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho and Lefty," as done by Haggard and Willie.  Just one of the classic old school country songs (despite the disco intro).

Can't beat that.  "Okie from Muskogee," "The Bottle Let Me Down," "I Think I'll Just Sit Here and Drink," "Silver Wings," Big City," "Mama Tried."  He had some great ones.  I had one of those cheap greatest hits type collections I bought at the used CD store in college to catch up on his tunes, and he combined that great voice with some tangible lyrics.  Love "Big City" still - "tired of these dirty old side walks, think I'll walk off my steady job today."  While I can't say I ever locked in to him the way I did to Willie, he was a classic.  I'm sorry to think that he won't put together another fun compilation of tunes with Willie like last year's Django and Jimmie.