By Bob Barney
I have listened to Merle Haggard since I was a boy. I liked rock and roll, but grew up in a total country and western household. Listened to Hank Williams (and that is SR) and Ernest Tubb; but one star I really did like was the early songs of Merle Haggard. So back in the day when I would listen to Garner Ted Armstrong on the radio, he would frequently mention that Haggard was one of his best friends. After Garner Ted died, I came across some interviews with Haggard where he talked about his friendship with Ted, and was especially shocked to find out that Merle's largest hit, was in fact inspired by a Garner Ted radio show.
According to Merle Haggard, his 1969 hit, "Oakie From Muskogee," his biggest hit ever, started out as a joke and was written over a period of time, but the total time spent writing the song was probably no more than twenty minutes!
Merle said, "We were on the road, coming out of Arkansas and the bus passed a sign that read "Muskogee-19 miles." And somebody, I don't remember who, said "I bet they don"t smoke marijuana in Muskogee." Everybody thought that was funny. Roy Burris who was our drummer at the time – and I – started adding to that. Several days later, I was listening to a Garner Ted Armstrong radio program and he talked about the smaller colleges just didn't have the problems like drugs and riots-all those things you heard about happening at the larger colleges."
The two were fast friends, and spent time hunting together in Colorado, Wyoming and Montana. Garner Ted would often talk about their friendship and how Haggard's songs reflected the good and bad about American middle class society. He once joked about Haggard's song "If we can make it through December" about a married couple that basically was always on the verge of breaking up – an American moral dilemma, especially worrisome in the 1970's.
For his part, Haggard had said of Armstrong, “He was like a professor to me. What education I have, I owe to him."
Haggard said after he heard of the death of Garner Ted Armstrong, "after Johnny [Cash] died, I lost a real close friend in Garner Ted Armstrong. There was a period where I didn't even want to watch the news to see who else was gone."
Haggard's manager, Frank Mull, said Haggard died at home in Palo Cedro, California, of pneumonia. The death came just a few days after the singer canceled his April concert dates after suffering from a recurring bout of double pneumonia. In a statement issued by his publicist last week Merle said: 'I want to thank my fans for their prayers and well wishes. 'I hope to be back on the road in May, but I'm taking it one day at a time.'
The statement said that his doctors wanted him to take one more month off the road to rest and recover. The singer of hits like Okie From Muskogee, Mama Tried and Workin' Man Blues had also cancelled dates in February and March. He had a battle with lung cancer in 2008 but despite illness and his advancing age kept up an ambitious touring schedule. Indeed, his 2015 tour schedule saw him perform in over 30 cities.
RIP Merle. It's a blessing, and a good sign from God to die on your birthday!