Day 25: Was it Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings? Another Four Questions

Who sang "Okie from Muskogee?"  Who was touring with Buddy Holly on "the day the music died."  Who had more #1 country hits? Who had a hit with "Good Hearted Woman?"

If you have ever asked these questions, you are in the right place. You have heard of Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings but aren't necessarily big fans. You know the hits and some of their story. But sometimes you get a little confused. Donsbasement is here for you.

The year is 1937.  On April 6 , Merle Ronald Haggard was born in Oildale, California, a small town north of Bakersfield. On June 15 of that same year, Waylon Arnold Jennings was born in the even smaller town of Littlefield, Texas just south of the Texas panhandle. Both men had their share of hard times.

Merle Haggard's parents moved from Oklahoma to California in 1934 after their barn burned down.
His father died when Merle was 9 and his mother worked as bookkeeper to support him and his siblings. This set him on a path that Haggard called "illegal motion"-hopping a freight train when he was 10, arrested for robbery, truancy, petty larceny, shoplifting, check forgery and car theft.  He was arrested for armed robbery of a cafe in 1958.


After an escape attempt, he was transferred to San Quentin, where (fans may have guessed this), he turned 21. On January 1, 1959, Johnny Cash played his first prison concert at San Quentin. According to legend, Haggard sat in the first row and  "when he walked away, everyone in that place had become a Johnny Cash." Upon his release in 1960, Haggard began his career in Bakersfield's club circuit.

While not quite as harrowing as Haggard's early years, Waylon Jennings did not have it too easy. He remembers picking cotton in the fields as a teenager and it shaped his outlook on the lives of working people."There was just no difference in a poor country boy and black people in my mind. I worked in the fields with black and never paid much attention to it."

Jennings dropped out of school at age 16 after numerous disciplinary infractions. (I couldn't find what they were but I'm guessing truancy and fighting). He moved to Lubbock and became a disc jockey and it was there in 1956, that he met Buddy Holly.


1. Okie From Muskogee

After a string of #1 country hits, Merle Haggard crossed over into my consciousness in 1969 with Okie From Muskogee.  It also crossover hit on the Billboard hot 100, peaking at #41. The song with its provocative anti-drug, anti-hippie lyrics was a big hit with my drugged out friends.

Enjoy Merle from 1969. (It gets less blurry after 20 seconds or I do anyway.)

The 1968 tune Mama Tried, as referenced above, became part of my repertoire, such as it is ,because of this 1971 Grateful Dead version.

2. The Day the Music Died

Waylon Jennings played bass for Buddy Holly for his Winter Dance Party tour. As most everyone knows, Holly chartered a plane for himself, guitarist Tommy Allsup and Jennings. J.P. Richardson, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens were 'suffering from flu-like symptoms' and asked to take Allsup and Jennings place.

When Jennings told Holly that he was going to take the bus, Holly jokingly told him he hoped the bus broke down, to which Jennings replied, “I hope your ol’ plane crashes.”

Which is why you should never make plane crash jokes. Or flu jokes for that matter.

3. Who had more #1 country singles?

Merle Haggard-38. Waylon 16.

Of all the clips I've seen of these two great artists, this one of Merle Haggard is my favorite. Actually, it's one of my favorite things I've seen ever.

4. Good Hearted Woman

In that pivotal year of 1969, reportedly Waylon Jennings saw a TV ad for a concert promoting an Ike and Tina Turner concert. He joined Willie Nelson at a poker game and talked about writing a song.  That song, "Good Hearted Woman" released  as a single by Jennings in 1972 and remixed in 1975 with Nelson were both giant country hits as well as helping Waylon and Willie to crossover to all of America and the world. Their collaborations include Wanted! The Outlaws with Jessie Colter  and the Highwaymen with Kris Kristofferson and Johnny Cash.




Like the Four Questions at Passover, there are so many more stories left to tell. And so many of their songs left to sing.

Merle Haggard: April 6. 1937-April 6 2016

Waylon Jennings: June 15, 1937-February 13, 2002