Merle Haggard Once Said Reagan ‘Gave Me a Second Chance at Life’

[Geee]

Heritage Foundation:

Merle Haggard, the country music icon who died Wednesday, credited President Ronald Reagan for playing a central role in helping him realize his dreams.

 

“He was a wonderful man in my life. He gave me a second chance at life in the form of the pardon he gave me,” Haggard said in a CMT interview after Reagan’s death in 2004.

 

Haggard, an acclaimed songwriter and performer, was a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and one of the most influential figures in popular music —not just in country circles.

 

Haggard died at home in Northern California on the morning of his 79th birthday, his agent told reporters. Diagnosed with lung cancer in 2008, he had battled pneumonia since December.

 

[Geee]

MERLE HAGGARD, RIP

 

I’ve celebrated the life and work of Merle Haggard here several times over the years. Today I write in sadness to note his passing at the age of 79 — to be exact, on his seventy-ninth birthday. The Los Angeles Times marks his passing here. The Times also compiles reactions to his death here.

 

Like Elvis Presley and Ray Charles, Hag was a singer in whose voice one could hear all the strands of American popular music, but his writing establishes his legacy. A few years back the Los Angeles Times published a perceptive profile of Haggard by Times music critic Robert Hilburn. Hilburn’s profile focused on Haggard’s songwriting. Hilburn opened the profile with a visit to Haggard from the tax man:

 

Merle Haggard, the country music star who really did turn 21 in prison, just like it says in one of his songs, figures it cost the IRS nearly $100,000 the day an agent came to his ranch near here to try to figure out what goes into writing a hit.

 

Haggard’s tax return was apparently kicked out by the computer for too many business deductions, and the agent wanted the songwriter to show him how the 200-acre spread in the mountains helped him do his work.

 

During a walk around the grounds, Haggard explained how a creek inspired one song, a flowerbed led to another, and a bulldog jump-started a third.

 

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/04/merle-haggard-rip.php

[RandyM]

One of the great ones. RIP, Hag.