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PEOPLE & ARTS A29
                                                                                         Thursday 7 April 2016

Country icon Merle Haggard, champion of the underdog, dies

KRISTIN M. HALL                In this June 28, 2015 file photo, Merle Haggard performs on Day 3 of the 2015 Big Barrel Country                                       His music was rough yet
Associated Press               Music Festival at The Woodlands on Sunday, June 28, 2015, in Dover, Del.                                                               sensitive, reflecting on
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) —                                                                                                                                               childhood, marriage and
Country giant Merle Hag-                                                                                                                           Associated Press   daily struggles, telling sto-
gard, who rose from pover-                                                                                                                                            ries of shame and redemp-
ty and prison to internation-                                                                                         lungs had forced him to                         tion, or just putting his foot
al fame through his songs                                                                                             cancel several shows this                       down in “The Fightin’ Side
about outlaws, underdogs                                                                                              year. Mull said his family                      of Me” and “I Think I’ll Just
and an abiding sense of                                                                                               was by his side when he                         Stay Here and Drink.”
national pride in such hits                                                                                           died at home and they                           His most beloved songs
as “Okie From Muskogee”                                                                                               were planning a funeral for                     included the prison bal-
and “Sing Me Back Home,”                                                                                              Saturday at his home.                           lad “Sing Me Back Home,”
died Wednesday at 79, on                                                                                              A masterful guitarist, fiddler                  the tributes to his mother
his birthday.                                                                                                         and songwriter as well as                       “Mama Tried” and “Hungry
Haggard’s manager, Frank                                                                                              singer, the Country Music                       Eyes,” the romantic lament
Mull, said the country icon                                                                                           Hall of Famer with the firm,                    “Today I Started Loving
died in Palo Cedro, Cali-                                                                                             direct baritone recorded                        You Again” and such blue
fornia, of pneumonia that                                                                                             for more than 40 years, re-                     collar chronicles as “If We
he had been battling for                                                                                              leasing dozens of albums                        Make It Through Decem-
months. His publicist, Tresa                                                                                          and No. 1 hits.                                 ber” and “Workin’ Man
Redburn, said no official                                                                                             “He was my brother, my                          Blues.” “We’ve lost one of
cause of death has been                                                                                               friend. I will miss him,” said                  the greatest writers and
determined.                                                                                                           Willie Nelson, his longtime                     singers of all time. His heart
He had kept up an ambi-                                                                                               friend, in a statement.                         was as tender as his love
tious touring schedule, but                                                                                           The White House called                          ballads,” said Dolly Parton.
the pneumonia in both                                                                                                 Haggard a “legend” and                          “I loved him like a brother.”
                                                                                                                      said President Barack                           Few faces in country were
                                                                                                                      Obama was sending his                           as recognizable as Hag-
                                                                                                                      thoughts and prayers to                         gard’s, with its wary, side-
                                                                                                                      Haggard’s family. White                         ways glance and chiseled,
                                                                                                                      House press secretary Josh                      haunted features that
                                                                                                                      Earnest said Haggard told                       seemed to bear every scar
                                                                                                                      stories that people from                        from his past.
                                                                                                                      all walks of American life                      General audiences knew
                                                                                                                      could relate to.                                him best for “Okie From
                                                                                                                      “His passing is a loss for                      Muskogee,” a patriotic an-
                                                                                                                      country music, but obvi-                        them released in 1969 at
                                                                                                                      ously is a loss for all the                     the height of the Vietnam
                                                                                                                      people who got to know                          War that quickly became
                                                                                                                      him personally, too,” Ear-                      a cultural touchstone for its
                                                                                                                      nest said.                                      anti-hippie lyrics proclaim-
                                                                                                                      Haggard — along with                            ing “we don’t burn our
                                                                                                                      fellow California country                       draft cards down on Main
                                                                                                                      star Buck Owens — was a                         Street; we like living right
                                                                                                                      founder of the twangy Ba-                       and being free.”
                                                                                                                      kersfield Sound, a direct                       “Okie from Muskogee”
                                                                                                                      contrast to the smooth,                         made him a hero among
                                                                                                                      string-laden country re-                        conservatives, but he
                                                                                                                      cords popular in Nashville,                     softened on the counter-
                                                                                                                      Tennessee, in the 1960s.                        culture and released the
                                                                                                                                                                      lighthearted “Big Time An-
                                                                                                                                                                      nie’s Square,” a tribute to
                                                                                                                                                                      a hippie girl and her “crazy
                                                                                                                                                                      world.” More recently, he
                                                                                                                                                                      was a backer of promi-
                                                                                                                                                                      nent Democrats. In 2007
                                                                                                                                                                      he unveiled a song to pro-
                                                                                                                                                                      mote Hillary Clinton and
                                                                                                                                                                      two years later he penned
                                                                                                                                                                      “Hopes Are High” to com-
                                                                                                                                                                      memorate Obama’s inau-
                                                                                                                                                                      guration. In “America First,”
                                                                                                                                                                      he even opposed the Iraq
                                                                                                                                                                      War, singing “Let’s get out
                                                                                                                                                                      of Iraq, and get back on
                                                                                                                                                                      track.”
                                                                                                                                                                      In 1970, Haggard was
                                                                                                                                                                      named  entertainer  of the
                                                                                                                                                                      year by the Country Mu-
                                                                                                                                                                      sic Association, and “Okie
                                                                                                                                                                      From Muskogee” won best
                                                                                                                                                                      album and single.q
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