Lyrics | Artists | Merle Haggard

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Merle Haggard

One of the great country music outlaws, Merle Haggard stands as a rebel soul with a swaggering purr and a killer turn of phrase. Raised in Oildale, California, his father's death when Merle was nine resulted in his teenage years being spent in and out of juvenile detention centres. His wild lifestyle continued when he was imprisoned in San Quentin for three years, but he turned his life around upon release and found success when his version of Wyn Stewart's Sing A Sad Song became a small hit in 1963. Alongside Buck Owens, Haggard became key in defining the Bakersfield Sound, a ha...