all the grand music

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Reader Comments in the New York Times, on Merle Haggard obit. --




> >  Charles   San Jose, Calif.


"I wish a buck was still silver,
It was back when the country was strong....
Wish a Ford and a Chevy
Would still last ten years like they should....
I wish coke was still cola,
And a joint was a bad place to be....
Is the best of the free life behind us now,
And are the good times really over for good?"




> >  Clement Morton   Burman University, Canada
...The gift of his music will resound through the generations to come, he will not be forgotten.




> > Richard Bucci   New York


Johnny Cash did not "merely" play at San Quentin.  He was deeply committed to raising public awareness of the plight of the imprisoned and to helping prisoners, with his songs and visits, to fight the hopelessness that the prison system engenders. 


Furthermore Merle Haggard was in the audience at Johnny Cash's concert at San Quentin in 1958, and he credited this experience with starting him on the path of a country music career.


> >  Charles   San Jose, Calif. ----------------- Merle was making a virtue of necessity that day.




 


> >  lamplighter55   Yonkers, NY
I had the pleasure of seeing him perform about 10 years ago.  A great show by a great artist with a great band.  He's known as a country artist, but I think this is another one for Rock 'N' Roll Heaven.




> >  alex   nyc
The problems that shaped merle haggard's life still exist today.  so why don't we get artists that can tell it like merle and his generation told it?  any ideas?




> >  Ben Yardley   Yarmouth, ME


His ballads are some of the greatest songs that have come out of our country.  It's so sad that there had to be an exit, so soon, for the runnin' kind.




> >  still rockin   west coast
I got swingin' doors jukebox and a bar stool, but mamma tried!   RIP




> >  Margaret Doherty   Pasadena, Ca


Mr. Haggard, ...Thank you for all the grand music.  I'm playing old LPs as I write.




> >  Allan   Capistrano Beach
Merle is riding those Silver Wings to Heaven.
Loved the Hag's music.




> >   Sam Palmer   Montreal, Canada
When I first heard "sing me back home" I started crying.  Really crying.


I am crying again now.  Thanks all for sharing your wonderful comments.  He touched many lives.




> >  Connie   NY
I was listening to Merle's song Big City, and it seems to pertain to what a lot of people are feeling now days.
["Big City" lyrics typed in] ... Yeah, big city turn me loose, and set me free




> >  skateboardgumby   Reno
Merle was one of the last of the genuine, "old time country" singers.  Merle was much more interested in substance than style, unlike all those ridiculous "country singers" now days who have to have fireworks, laser lights, and fog machines.  Merle could easily "hold an audience" without a bunch of silly pyrotechnics.




> >  Tim Denver, CO


What Happened ?  It used to be Andy & Barney Fife
Now it's Howard Stern and the brothel life
Too much crap can drive the world insane
Everybody's singing the jailhouse blues
Don't believe a word of the evening news




> >  Glen   Texas
Pancho and Lefty is one of the all-time great duets, across all musical genres.




bikegeezer   moabut
You have left us, Merle....I'll listen to your music until I leave.




> >  Jonathan Krause   Oxford, UK


First thing I remember knowin', was a lonesome whistle blowin', and a young'uns dream of growin' up to ride....


...he sure did write some great songs....I found his music through the Grateful Dead...




> >  Daniel Kinske
West Hollywood
Such a talent,...that spirit is immortal.




> >  Lisa Krohn   Edina, MN
Such an amazing performer and we so enjoyed having him perform on our State Theatre stage in Minneapolis.




> >  Gaynor Powell   North Dakota
I just read an interview with him in Garden and Gun.  He was talking about touring and working with Sturgill Simpson.  What a loss....




> >  Chris Bartle   Dover, MA
The real deal.  People as honest, talented and as rooted in the best of America and its music are very, very rare.  It's tempting to say we'll never see his like again, but I sure hope we do.




> >  Carol H   Washington State
the line that made this English Major a big fan of the poetry inherent in Merle Haggard's music was "the only thing I can count on are the fingers of my hand" - Sorry to see this poet go.




> >  Bobby Jones   in transit


"I want to die along the highway and rot away like some old high-line pole
Rest the ramblin' Fever in my soul."


...One of the very greatest artists America has produced.





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