The day the music died.

[murphy1244]

Why ya gotta be like that???

I'm sorry I asked especially after clicking on the link.

 

[PhysAssist]

Drugs got him bad but the "time in prison" is not true. The most time he ever spent locked up was overnighters in county jails.

From his own personal Bio-page on his official web site: http://merlehaggard.com/bio.html

He left home at 15 with a friend, and the two were picked up as suspects in a robbery. Though innocent, he ended up in jail for two-and-a-half weeks. It was the first time he tasted prison life, but it wasn稚 the last. In and out of jail over the years for small crimes, he found himself doing serious time in San Quentin at the age of 20.

敵oing to prison has one of a few effects, he told Salon in 2004. 的t can make you worse, or it can make you understand and appreciate freedom. I learned to appreciate freedom when I didn稚 have any.?br>
His musical ability offered hope for a future. A fellow inmate at San Quentin, nicknamed Rabbit, saw that clearly. When Rabbit came up with an escape plan, he told Haggard that he could come along, but probably shouldn稚, since he had a good shot of making a career from his singing.

As Rabbit had predicted, Haggard痴 music was his way out of a dead-end life of small crimes and intermittent jail time. Released from San Quentin in 1960, he joined the then thriving Bakersfield country scene, which eschewed the smooth country-politan sound coming out of Nashville for a harder-hitting honky-tonk groove.

From his wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard

Haggard committed a number of minor offenses, such as thefts and writing bad checks. He was sent to a juvenile detention center for shoplifting in 1950. When he was 14, Haggard ran away to Texas with his friend Bob Teague ...Haggard was later sent to the juvenile detention center, from which he and his friend escaped again to Modesto, California.

His debut performance was with Teague in a Modesto bar named "Fun Center", being paid US$5, with free beer. He returned to Bakersfield in 1951, and was again arrested for truancy and petty larceny and sent to a juvenile detention center. After another escape, he was sent to the Preston School of Industry, a high-security installation. He was released 15 months later, but was sent back after beating a local boy during a burglary attempt?br>
?arried and plagued by financial issues, he was arrested in 1957 shortly after he tried to rob a Bakersfield roadhouse. He was sent to Bakersfield Jail, and, after an escape attempt, was transferred to San Quentin Prison on February 21, 1958?/span>

?hile in prison, Haggard discovered that his wife was expecting a child from another man, which pressed him psychologically. He was fired from a series of prison jobs, and planned to escape along with another inmate nicknamed "Rabbit". Haggard was convinced not to escape by fellow inmates. Haggard started to run a gambling and brewing racket with his cellmate. After he was caught drunk, he was sent for a week to solitary confinement where he encountered Caryl Chessman, an author and death row inmate.

Meanwhile, "Rabbit" had successfully escaped, only to shoot a police officer and return to San Quentin for execution. Chessman's predicament, along with the execution of "Rabbit", inspired Haggard to correct his life. Haggard soon earned a high school equivalency diploma and kept a steady job in the prison's textile plant, while also playing for the prison's country music band, attributing a 1958 performance by Johnny Cash at the prison as his main inspiration to join it. He was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960.

In 1972, after Haggard had become an established country music star, then-California Governor Ronald Reagan granted Haggard a full and unconditional pardon for his past crimes?br>
In my understanding, serving 3 years for attempted burglary and attempted escape is not an "overnighter", but does it really matter?

For me the point is more that not too many people have stones they are qualified to throw.

I'm out.
Thomas

 

[DieselnHooters]

Prince was a notorious abstainer of everything back in the '80s when he first made it big, no drugs or alcohol. He was generous, down to earth and well liked in his community.

Being 5 foot 2'' he always wore hi-heels that's what got him while doing his usual dancing /gymnastics on stage, hurt his hips I believe and got hooked on pain killers.

I never cared much for his music myself but then there is something like this >>>

 

[MossRoad]

Drugs got him bad but the "time in prison" is not true. The most time he ever spent locked up was overnighters in county jails.

He spent three years in jail/prison...
Merle Haggard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Married and plagued by financial issues,[12] he was arrested in 1957 shortly after he tried to rob a Bakersfield roadhouse.[18] He was sent to Bakersfield Jail,[11] and, after an escape attempt, was transferred to San Quentin Prison on February 21, 1958.[19] While in prison, Haggard discovered that his wife was expecting a child from another man, which pressed him psychologically. He was fired from a series of prison jobs, and planned to escape along with another inmate nicknamed "Rabbit". Haggard was convinced not to escape by fellow inmates.[20] Haggard started to run a gambling and brewing racket with his cellmate. After he was caught drunk, he was sent for a week to solitary confinement where he encountered Caryl Chessman, an author and death row inmate.[21] Meanwhile, "Rabbit" had successfully escaped, only to shoot a police officer and return to San Quentin for execution.[20] Chessman's predicament, along with the execution of "Rabbit", inspired Haggard to correct his life.[21] Haggard soon earned a high school equivalency diploma and kept a steady job in the prison's textile plant,[21] while also playing for the prison's country music band,[22] attributing a 1958 performance by Johnny Cash at the prison as his main inspiration to join it.[23] He was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960.[24]

 

[murphy1244]

He spent three years in jail/prison...
Merle Haggard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Married and plagued by financial issues,[12] he was arrested in 1957 shortly after he tried to rob a Bakersfield roadhouse.[18] He was sent to Bakersfield Jail,[11] and, after an escape attempt, was transferred to San Quentin Prison on February 21, 1958.[19] While in prison, Haggard discovered that his wife was expecting a child from another man, which pressed him psychologically. He was fired from a series of prison jobs, and planned to escape along with another inmate nicknamed "Rabbit". Haggard was convinced not to escape by fellow inmates.[20] Haggard started to run a gambling and brewing racket with his cellmate. After he was caught drunk, he was sent for a week to solitary confinement where he encountered Caryl Chessman, an author and death row inmate.[21] Meanwhile, "Rabbit" had successfully escaped, only to shoot a police officer and return to San Quentin for execution.[20] Chessman's predicament, along with the execution of "Rabbit", inspired Haggard to correct his life.[21] Haggard soon earned a high school equivalency diploma and kept a steady job in the prison's textile plant,[21] while also playing for the prison's country music band,[22] attributing a 1958 performance by Johnny Cash at the prison as his main inspiration to join it.[23] He was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960.[24]

A little too late Moss. Missed it by that much.

 

[smstonypoint]

Drugs got him bad but the "time in prison" is not true. The most time he ever spent locked up was overnighters in county jails.

From his own personal Bio-page on his official web site: Merle Haggard | Merle Haggard Official Website | Home of The Hag | Bio

I thought turnkey4099 was referring to Johnny Cash.

Steve

 

[houstonscott]

Why ya gotta be like that???

Surprised Clinton make the list...HS

 

[AchingBack]

Prince was a notorious abstainer of everything back in the '80s when he first made it big, no drugs or alcohol. He was generous, down to earth and well liked in his community.

Being 5 foot 2'' he always wore hi-heels that's what got him while doing his usual dancing /gymnastics on stage, hurt his hips I believe and got hooked on pain killers.

I never cared much for his music myself but then there is something like this >>>

He was truly a genius. He did not read or write music. On his albums he played every instrument. I've been around a long time, and I know talent when I see it.

Certainly dancing in hi-heels is damaging to the hips and the feet, most often causing the development of Morton's neuroma, a very painful condition.

I do not believe he was a 'junkie', but rather a victim of pharmaceuticals.

 

[MossRoad]

I always looked at Prince as a freak, one or two hit wonder. Always thought he was physically deformed, his 9 year old looking chest and deformed head, thought he was deformed. Don't see what the all fuss is about, worthy of a mention in the news for a night, not much more. Certainty not on the list of great musicians. HS

One or two hit wonder??? Apparently you are ignorant of the facts, so here goes...

According to Billboard Magazine...
Prince's catalog of Hot 100 hits, which includes huge smashes like "Purple Rain," "Kiss" and "When Doves Cry," is staggering. The Purple One has claimed 47 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, including 19 top 10s -- with five of those going all the way to No. 1. In the 20 year span between 1980 and the end of 1999, Prince charted more Hot 100 entries (44) than any other act.

Ranked #27 of The Top 100 by Rolling Stone magazine.
1 Greatest Artists | Rolling Stone
In 2004 50 years after Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studios and cut "That's All Right" Rolling Stone celebrated rock & roll's first half-century in grand style, assembling a panel of 55 top musicians, writers and industry executives (everyone from Keith Richards to Questlove of the Roots) and asking them to pick the most influential artists of the rock & roll era.

Ranked #18 of Greatest Of All Time Artists by Billboard magazine.
Greatest of All Time Hot 1 Artists : Page 1 | Billboard
These all-time rankings are based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 (from its launch on Aug. 4, 1958 through Oct. 10, 2015) and Billboard 200 (from Aug. 17, 1963 when we combined our two leading pop album album charts for stereo and mono releases into one all-encompassing weekly chart through Oct. 10, 2015). Titles are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower rungs earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates over various periods. Artists are ranked based on the combined point totals, as outlined above, of all their Hot 100 or Billboard 200 chart entries.

Ranked #16 of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time by VH1.
VH1 1 Greatest Artists Of All Time - Stereogum

 

[houstonscott]

One or two hit wonder??? Apparently you are ignorant of the facts, so here goes... According to Billboard Magazine... Prince's catalog of Hot 100 hits, which includes huge smashes like "Purple Rain," "Kiss" and "When Doves Cry," is staggering. The Purple One has claimed 47 entries on the Billboard Hot 100, including 19 top 10s -- with five of those going all the way to No. 1. In the 20 year span between 1980 and the end of 1999, Prince charted more Hot 100 entries (44) than any other act. Ranked #27 of The Top 100 by Rolling Stone magazine. 1 Greatest Artists | Rolling Stone In 2004 50 years after Elvis Presley walked into Sun Studios and cut "That's All Right" Rolling Stone celebrated rock & roll's first half-century in grand style, assembling a panel of 55 top musicians, writers and industry executives (everyone from Keith Richards to Questlove of the Roots) and asking them to pick the most influential artists of the rock & roll era. Ranked #18 of Greatest Of All Time Artists by Billboard magazine. Greatest of All Time Hot 1 Artists : Page 1 | Billboard These all-time rankings are based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 (from its launch on Aug. 4, 1958 through Oct. 10, 2015) and Billboard 200 (from Aug. 17, 1963 when we combined our two leading pop album album charts for stereo and mono releases into one all-encompassing weekly chart through Oct. 10, 2015). Titles are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower rungs earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates over various periods. Artists are ranked based on the combined point totals, as outlined above, of all their Hot 100 or Billboard 200 chart entries. Ranked #16 of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time by VH1. VH1 1 Greatest Artists Of All Time - Stereogum

When you learn music sales are driven mainly by 12 year girls you'll understand why all the above means squat. HS