Haggard’s Classic Collection Remains a Firm Favorite

There are so many classic albums and songs – decades worth of listening, Occasionally, Augusta Today columnist Chris O’Kelley will venture into the archives and cast a new light on an old favorite. This week: “Songs I’ll Always Sing” by Merle Haggard and the Strangers.

Perhaps you have been at a party or gathering, maybe even work, and the question is, if you are on a desert island and can only bring one movie, book, or record with you, what would that be? This conversation came up here recently and it got me thinking about the things that are important to me.

Old records rank pretty high.

  Most Saturday nights wrap up with me sitting in my music room listening to old country music on vinyl. Each album is as unique as the artist that recorded it. They are a keyhole peek at a specific creative moment in time. Recently, inspired by the desert island conversation, I reached deep into my stack of Merle Haggard records and quietly listened as the Hag began to sing. His album, “Songs I’ll Always Sing,” could be my desert island pick.

“Songs I’ll Always Sing” by Merle Haggard and the Strangers is a 20 cut double album originally released in 1977. It peaked at No. 15 on the country charts, and Haggard, at the time, wasn’t enjoying a lot of success. The good news, greatest hits packages often don’t have, or need, great chart success.

These 20 songs were selected from Haggard’s nearly 12-year run making music at Capitol Records. Yes, there are some big hits on this album. Others, however, were just some of Haggard’s favorites to sing. In that run at Capitol, Haggard had a string of 24 No. 1 songs and 23 albums.

If you look at the track list for “Songs I’ll Aways Sing” you’ll see the hits: “Okie from Muskogee,” “Mama Tried,” “Fighting Side of Me,” and so on. But you will also find songs like “Sing A Sad Song” written by Wynn Stewart. It was the very first Merle Haggard and the Strangers single, but it didn’t see chart success. It was only on the charts for three weeks and peaked at No.19, but it was the first and Haggard sang this song at almost every show until his passing.

“Songs I’ll Always Sing” also has a Merle Haggard/ Lynyrd Skynyrd connection. Haggard wrote the song “Honky Tonk Night Time Man” in 1974. It was not a radio single or a hit for Haggard, but Ronnie Van Zant, the original lead singer for Lynyrd Skynyrd and authentic southern rock royalty, was often quoted as saying that Merle Haggard was his favorite singer and influenced Van Zant.

Van Zant and the band loved “Honky Tonk” so much, the band recorded it twice. The first time was an early Lynyrd Skynyrd outtake entitled “Jacksonville Boy,” which was basically a carbon copy of the “Honky Tonk” arrangement. Skynyrd record “Honky Tonk Night Time Man” again for the album “Street Survivors,” released three days before the plane crash that took the life of Ronnie Van Zant and other members of the band.

If you go back and listen to Skynyrd’s version of “Honky Tonk Night Time Man” you hear an almost identical version of Haggard’s. Because of his love and respect for Haggard, Van Zant wanted it to be as close to Haggard’s version as possible. Although Skynyrd was a southern rock band which mixed country sounds into rock music, “Honky Tonk Night Time Man” is the most country sounding song Lynyrd Skynyrd ever recorded. Haggard later went on to give Van Zant a co-writer credit on the song in honor of Van Zant and the success of “Street Survivors.”

 That’s just one of the cool stories associated with “Songs I’ll Always Sing.” It’s loaded, including a song Dolly Parton wrote for Haggard and a song Haggard wrote about being in love with Parton.

So, if for some reason you find yourself stuck on the same island as me, come on over to the camp site. We will share a bottle of George Dickel and listen to “Songs I’ll Always Sing” in honor of the Hag.