Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Long Live Merle

The shots at Johnny Cash are unnecessary, but the praise for Merle Haggard is well-deserved.

10 comments:

g_rob said...

Though I love Merle Haggard, this is a terrible article and ridiculous analysis of Cash's music and life. His music can hardly be called "protest" by identifying The Ballad of Ira Hayes as a song of the left. Cash recorded an entire friggin' album of patriotic songs; hardly protest music. He also recorded spiritual and gospel albums and towards the latter part of his life very vocally and visibly touted his Christian faith; harldy a Hollywood type. The song "Man in Black" was not a career move, it was an autobiographical ballad showcasing Cash's lifelong identification with the downtrodden and cast aside and the belief in redemption despite one's sins and shortcomings. If Husock wants to discuss pandering to an audience for popularity he need look no further than his beloved Haggard who is a very vocal advocate of relaxed marijuana laws and an avid user. The concept of penning a song to appeal to a certain demographic plays both ways, in red states and blue.

Stephen said...

Hey, watch what you say about Merle. He is part of the Holy Trinity. I might actually add Lefty Frizzell but that would be four.

g_rob said...

I got nothing against Merle. The author of this article conveniently fails to recognize the hypocrisy of calling Cash a poster boy for the left while Haggard stands squeaky clean on the right. If you want to talk about Holy unions, Cash, Waylon and Willie.

Tom said...

Greg,

Sorry to upset you. I don't know why he felt the need to go after Cash to make his point about Haggard.

What's up with your blog?

g_rob said...

I'm not upset. My blog has been put to rest.

Stephen said...

Let me set you straight. If you go beyond the big three the list goes:
Hank, Johnny, Merle, Lefty, Buck, and Willie. Beyond the top five gets tricky. I don't think Waylon makes the top ten though-- top 12 maybe.

g_rob said...

I would rank Willie higher.

Stephen said...

But who do you listen to the most? I probably listen to Merle, Johnny, or Lefty at least once/week. Everyone else is once/month. This is probably due to the singalolng factor. Lefty and Merle are in my range.

And by-the-by both Merle and Buck are Central Valley. Lefty's longtime guitar player is also from the Central Valley. Central Valley rules.

g_rob said...

Central Valley does not rule. I listen to alot of Willie. Red Headed Stranger is a great album.

Stephen said...

Red Headed Stranger is a classic, of course. But listen to the Merle Haggard box set and the Willie Nelson box set back to back. I have. Haggard by a mile. And there is not a bad song on the Lefty Frizzell collection. Nothing wrong with Willie. I love Willie. But Merle Haggard is Country Music's Bob Dylan (in the best sense).