Merle Haggard - Impersonating Marty Robbins, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens

During his career, Merle Haggard accumulated 38 number one singles, eighteen major music awards and composed dozens of songs. Haggard and his band The Strangers helped advance the Bakersfield Sound of the West Coast. While Merle's music remained traditional country, his music was drawn from various forms of original American music and in the process he developed a distinctive style of his own. He wrote and recorded a body of songs that enabled him to rule the country music charts from the mid-60s through the mid-80s.


Merle Haggard was born on April 6, 1937 in Oildale (Bakersfield), California. Haggard's father died when he was nine years old. During his early teens, Merle began committing petty crimes. His mother tried to rein him in, but Merle was relentless. As a teenager, he became fond of country music and taught himself to play the guitar. Merle continued to have minor skirmishes with the law. After escaping from a juvenile detention center, he went to Modesto, California, where he worked odd jobs and began performing locally. Eventually, as his criminal activity lingered and the severity of his offenses elevated, he was sentenced to San Quentin prison. In 1960, Merle was paroled from prison.


After his prison release, Merle began performing again and became a relief singer for a band led by Johnny Barnett at the Lucky Spot club in Bakersfield. From that experience, Merle was able to secure a recording contract with Tally Records. In 1962, Haggard was in Las Vegas visiting Wynn Stewart's club. Stewart was not at the club, having left to find a replacement bass player. During the show Haggard was invited to sing a couple of songs. Wynn returned during Merle's onstage performance and promptly offered him a position in his band. Later on Merle heard Wynn singing a song titled, Sing a Sad Song and asked Wynn if he could record it. Stewart agreed and Merle charted the song for Tally Records (1964).


In 1965, Merle assembled a band (The Strangers) and charted his first major single, My Friend's Are Gonna Be Strangers (Tally, No. 10, 1965). Capitol Records bought out Merle's contract from Tally that year. In 1966 Merle's singles began regularly appearing in the top-ten, starting with Swinging Doors (No. 5, 1966), The Bottle Let Me Down (No. 3, 1966), his first number one, I'm a Lonesome Fugitive (No. 1, 1966) and his biggest chart single, Okie From Muskogee (No. 1, 1969). These songs accompanied a remarkable string of number singles, including Hungry Eyes (No. 1, 1969). Merle capped the decade by winning the Country Music Association (CMA) Entertainer of the Year award (1970).

In 1972, Governor Ronald Reagan granted him a full pardon. As Merle's reign on the top of the country charts continued, Merle scored 36 consecutive top-ten hits, including 24 that peaked at number one. It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) (No. 1, 1972), If We Make It Through December (No. 1, 1973), Things Aren't Funny Anymore (No. 1, 1974) and Always Wanting You (No. 1, 1975), kept his name in the national spotlight.

Merle left Capitol in 1977 and signed with MCA Records, where he continued to place upper chart singles, including Bar Room Buddies (with Clint Eastwood, No. 1, 1980) and My Favorite Memory (No. 1, 1981). During his time with MCA (1977 -- 1981), Merle scored several upper chart hits, including, If We're Not Back in Love by Monday (No.2, 1977), I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall (No. 2, 1978) and It's Been a Great Afternoon (No. 2, 1978). The next few years would produce more chart topping singles such as My Favorite Memory (No. !, 1981), Going Where the Lonely Go (No. 1, 1982), That's The Way Love Goes (No. 1, 1983) and Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room (No. 1, 1984).

Merle wrote dozens of songs, including the majority of his best known and most successful recordings. In 1980, The Way I Am (No. 2, 1980) and Misery and Gin (No. 3, 1980), two selections from the Clint Eastwood movie Bronco Billy, reached the top-ten. His two biggest singles with MCA were Bar Room Buddies (No. 1, 1980) and I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink (No. 1, 1980). In 1981 Merle charted the single, Leonard (No. 9, 1981), a tribute to his old friend Tommy Collins. Merle kept the hits flowing that year as he joined the Epic roster and released the up-beat, Big City (No. 1, 1982).

During his heyday (1965 -- 1983), Merle racked up eighteen music awards. He continued to have major hits into the mid-80s, but then his chart activity diminished as the music landscape had changed dramatically with fresh blood now ruling the charts. Merle's Natural High (No. 1, 1985), was his final number one single. In 1990, he was recording for Curb Records, but by then his commercial momentum had largely dried up. In 1993, Record Research ranked Merle No. 5 among country music's all-time most successful recording artists. Haggard was inducted into the CMA Hall of Fame in 1994. ~RJB: Country Music Historian, 9/2010.

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• Hank Snow

[FAUSTORICCARDO]

Oh flash , it is Great, thanks

[flashbell]

Thank you.

[patjesse]

I have heard him do impressions before, but this is just amazing! Thanks for posting.

[TonyForsyth]

That's incredible!

[OleWarhorse]

Merle Haggard is one talented rascal!! Thanks for share'n this!

[MrGerardnl]

100.000th ! sick impersonations

[djs259]

I think his hank snow is better than his cash

[Kennymurraycampbell]

Wow.



[Royelsworth]

I don't know I think his johnny cash is amazing

[Kennymurraycampbell]

Merle is amazing!

[nhoj1948]

This really made me smile!

[TheOriginalShredneck]

wow that sounds JUST like buck owens!

[nina1823]

Merle is very talented, love his impersonations.

[Patti86314]

Awesome!

Everything Merle does is AMAZING !