Country legend Merle Haggard has died at the age of 79

http://www.cmt.com/news/1764853/merle-haggard-dead-at-age-79/

Hi Oldiesmann
Thank you for letting us know about the passing of Merle Haggard.
RIP

Kelly

Michael, thank you for the news about Merle Haggard and the wonderful article about his life.  So many of the songs in the article were/are very familiar, as well as the other country artists that were mentioned.

I have a regular Sunday "date" with a music station in North Carolina that plays the old country music, up to about 1970, for 2 hours - never long enough to suit me.  I'm sure much of this Sunday's show will be a tribute to Merle Haggard

I have quite a few of his earlier records.  Few of my favourite singers now gone. Don't really collect any of the newer ones coming up.

I had never heard this before. Seems a lot of the singers back then started out this way.

Country and Western Singer, Songwriter. One of the most popular country music performers of the late 20th Century, he had more than three dozen number one country hits in a musical career that spanned six decades, from the 1960s into the 2010s. Poverty marred his childhood and he began a career of theft and burglary in his teenage years. After his release from San Quentin prison in 1960, he turned to music in Bakersfield, which was becoming an important regional country music center. He began recording in the early 1960s and in 1965, started producing hit recordings

I was fortunate to see him in concert.  Sat in 3rd row.  He put on an amazing concert.  His music lives on, thanks always for the memories.  He always honored those who served and always included songs in his concerts relating to honor and patriotism.