Merle Haggard: Skewers Bush; pines for Clinton

Variety ^ | 3/5/02 | By John Carmen

[BigTime]

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Twenty-five years ago, a bill like this one would have been inconceivable.

Merle Haggard, the one-time king of country, supported by an all-black gospel vocal group and a Dylan/Woody protege from Brooklyn -- ha! But in 2002, legendary and American-rootsy is a wide spectrum, and these three acts are compatible in that all uphold venerable traditions -- that, and most of their kudos come from somewhere besides the radio, which doesn't play them very much if at all. In the case of the headliner, country radio's almost total blackout on the man who had more hits in the 1960s and early '70s than anyone is amazing. But Haggard's music is beloved by an amazing cross-section in age, from neo-rockabillies in their early 20s all the way to septuagenarians who were there back when ``Swinging Doors'' and ``Mama Tried'' were hits. Both of these were assayed, as well as ``The Bottle Let Me Down, ``Silver Wings'' and ``Okie From Muskogee,'' which the 64-year-old Haggard admitted onstage ``means nothing anymore.''

Unlike other good old boys, however, Hag made more than one political jab at George W. Bush (``another Bush war going on, I guess'') while heaping mountains of praise on Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, of whom Haggard said, ``Wasn't life wonderful then, when we was making a living and only worrying about Monica and not Osama?'' In the heartland, this might have drawn stone silence; at the El Rey, there was massive cheering.

[BigTime]

Here's today idiot celebrity Bush basher. It really is amazing the way the liberal mind works. Just like an infant: out of sight is out of mind. It was precisely because we were thinking about Monica and not Osama Bin Laden that we are in the predicament of today.

[eureka!]

I guess the old drunk missed the newscasts last September...

[Howie66]

Obviously the result of far too many DRUGS and too much booze. The human brain is just not designed to handle all of the abuse that some people choose to engage in.

[boomop1]

I would trash all my Merle Haggard recordings if I had any, the drunk senile old moron ought to stick to yodeling.

[sailingfreeper]

Merle, Say it ain't so!

I guess we can attribute it to abuse or senility. Didn't Goldwater go bad as well?

[fix]

I detected a hint of sarcasm there. Y'all sure he wasn't kidding?

[KansasConservative]

It's amazing how these so called celebrities continue to embarrass themselves. What a moron.

[ohioman]

I thought Merle was dead?

[oldvike]

Hey Merle, you traitor, stay out of the South.

[oldvike]

No, Waylan's the one that died.

[grammymoon]

merle@merlehaggard.com
I just let Merle know is is now off my music buying list and that the clintons he longs for are nothing but grifters.

[linn37]

hey merle you old goat maybe Bubba should have kept his pants up and his concentration on our enemys instead of Bill Gates and hummers.?????

[Slyfox]

Merle should be really really pi$$ed off that he went to San Quentin
for doing only a teensy, tiny fraction of what Clinton got away with.

[sheik yerbouty]

He's "proud to be a dopey from Muskogee."

[scooter2]

I've got three Merle Haggard CD's at home. Now they are going to make good rifle targets. Little else to do with them since Merle just took himself off the list of country artists I listen to.

[usconservative]

Hey Chesty .....

Seems like one of your redneck buddies is high on clinton (and apparently something else..)

now, go bust up all your Merle Haggard records or you ain't a real Southerner...

now git!

[christine]

oh, say it ain't so!! merle has always been a favorite of mine. well, another celeb gets crossed off my list. :(

[wildehunt]

Talk about
"Forgetting where you came from and who put you there.."

[jungleboy]

Merle, your walkin on the fightin side of me.

[TADSLOS]

Adding Merle to my growing list of no nothing artists whose music I enjoy but whose soapbox antics I detest. Just sing and play Merle, just sing and play...