No Merle Haggard tribute thread?
- Thread starter Belldozer1
- Start date
Not many Okies from Muskogee on this board,great singer for country western music,God Bless him and family members,RIP.
Take all the money in the bank....think I'll just stay here and drink.
Sorry, I'm not over the passing of The Possum yet.
As far as legends go. Haggard was pretty much the last from that era in my opinion. Willie is still here and an icon but I don't think he's up there as a singer with Buck Owens., jones, Haggard, Ray Price. Just my opinion but for me the true legends are gone.
Buck Owens over Willie???? You have lost your mind!
You actually are putting sometime who was best known for being on hee haw ahead of Willie?
Really you think so? Geez. Buck and Merle were very instrumental and I would go as far as saying the innovators of the Bakersfield sound. Google and Youtube Buck in the 60's and 70's if you really believe that. It didn't get much better than him and Don Rich. Together Again ring a bell? If it wasn't for Rich's untimely death Buck no doubt would have continued to record and travel to shows fulltime and more than likely never been on Hee Haw.Pretty accomplished musician and innovator. Just my opinion though.
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The good times are really over, for good.
I was going to see Hagg & Willie in New Braunfels......sad day.
RIP Merle
I was going to see Hagg & Willie in New Braunfels......sad day.
RIP Merle
Laugh if you want....but when I went to Europe in 1966, every pub or bar I went in that had a juke box (yeah....they had em) had at least 2 Buck Owens songs on em and some had more. Dont kid yourself Buck was a big name every where before Hee Haw was ever dreamed of.
Besides....you had to respect a guy that every show he did, started singing exactly when he said it would start when you bought your ticket.
Besides....you had to respect a guy that every show he did, started singing exactly when he said it would start when you bought your ticket.
I had to read Belldozer's post twice to make sure that was what he said. Nothing against Buck Owens, but, he doesn't hold a candle to Willie. I will say that Buck hung around some beauties on HeeHaw and he has that over Willie.
In what regard? If you say Willie is a more accomplished songwriter then I can agree with that but as far as their overall impact as a performer and innovator/legend, I can't agree. I think Willie is an icon no doubt but not in the same class as the others I listed above--at least not in my opinion. Johnny Paycheck is awfully far up there in my opinion too. Before you laugh look at his discography and listen to him when he was in George Jones band and Bucks band etc. He wrote some big time songs too.
I'll have to agree to disagree. Mainly, because I just don't know enough about all of that history you mentioned. My respect to all of those legends.
This has gone too damned far. To even talk about johnny Paycheck in the same breath as Willie boggles the mind.Merle was great, Buck was great, but Willie is WAY more than "just" an icon....As a song writer he is in the very rare air of hank Williams. He is famous world wide beyond belief. Lots of singers do the National Anthem at ballgames and such, but he was asked to do it at the Democratic national convention.
Willie single handedly changed country music forever......Before the Outlaw album, a MONSTER country album sold 250,000copies....outlaws sold 500,000. From there on EVERY album Willie did sold millions. Top singers of many genres wanted to make records with him...Merle Haggard included. Yeah...Merle was huge...just dont try and make Willie less than he is.
Willie single handedly changed country music forever......Before the Outlaw album, a MONSTER country album sold 250,000copies....outlaws sold 500,000. From there on EVERY album Willie did sold millions. Top singers of many genres wanted to make records with him...Merle Haggard included. Yeah...Merle was huge...just dont try and make Willie less than he is.
Oldhorn Willie is/was a great songwriter I admitted as much. Have you heard Willie sing in the last Oh.... Say 30 years? He doesn't sing he talks through the songs and butchers them all up. Not anywhere near the vocalist the others listed were including Paycheck. His songs he wrote for Ray Price, patsy Cline, Faron Young were great. I will say when he was a clean cut member of Ray Prices Cherokee Cowboys very early in his career he was a pretty good singer but that's not the case and probably hasn't been since the album San Antonio Rose he did with Ray Price in 1980. You've never done any research on Paycheck to not consider him in the same class as a writer as Willie and exceeded him greatly as a singer. These new country acts attract a lot of attention to but they ain't legends. Willie is an icon but for different reasons than the others listed. The others listed kept it country their whole career.
Bell....I just read the wikipedia article on Paycheck and was blown away. Not by Paycheck....by you. If you think those piddling songs 'friend do take her shes all I got"....or slide off of your satin sheets were big hits...well...I cant help you.
All those greats...Ray Price included did Willies songs for some of their greatest hits. Hell...Paycheck even tried and did change his image to outlaw because of Willie and that is where he had his greatest success. Over 100 artists recorded "Crazy"...I doubt if 100 recorded all of paychecks songs. How many records did Paycheck sell anyway?....
All those greats...Ray Price included did Willies songs for some of their greatest hits. Hell...Paycheck even tried and did change his image to outlaw because of Willie and that is where he had his greatest success. Over 100 artists recorded "Crazy"...I doubt if 100 recorded all of paychecks songs. How many records did Paycheck sell anyway?....
I feel your pain. I had my tickets to see Merle at Choctaw in June. Sad indeed.
Again you have no idea what you are talking about as far as Paycheck goes. Ever hear of A-11? Huge hit for Buck, How about "Once you've had the best" huge hit for Jones just to name a couple off the top of my head for Paycheck. Geez. If you want to say that Willie was a more accomplished songwriter that Paycheck, I can agree and have said as much but you have never listened to a Johnny Paycheck record if you think vocally they are the same. Google Johnny Paycheck when he was recording under the "Little Darling" sessions if you want to hear Paycheck. YouTube his last live performances. Wikipedia is a horrible resource. To be considered country in my book an artist has to have a steel guitar player in the band. Merle has had Norm Hamlet playing steel since the 60's in his road band and is top notch still. Ray Price had Jimmy Day and Buddy Emmons primarily in his road bands and both are considered 2 of the greatest to ever play. Jones had some great ones over the years as well but can't remember off the top of my head. The fact remains they all carried a steel player in the band except Willie. Willie replaced a steel player in the 80's with a harmonica player....a freaking harmonica player. Yes a real country legend.
Willie is a folk hero no doubt. His greatness is rooted in his ability as a songwriter and his crossover appeal. That being said, I've seen Willie a few times live and it was mostly underwhelming. His collaborations are what I think he's done best.
Not sure how many records Paycheck sold but he had close to 60 albums. He was not a saint and that cost him a lot of notoriety by all accounts
Great song but for whatever reason that Asleep at the Wheels band backing Merle except for one of the fiddle players Scott Joss. Still a great job by Merle keeping it country till the end.
Line up 100 country music fans and 99 will say Willie is head and shoulders above Paycheck and Buck Tiger by the tail Owens. I can name song after song that Willie did.......and people would know of them. You can't do that for Owens...and for paycheck it is basically 2 songs...take this job and shove it and the only hell my mama ever raised. They don't hold a candle to Willie.
California born Haggard over Texan Willie...yeah that's par for Belldouche
Texas born Buck over Willie any day and that's not just me, that's pretty much a worldwide sentiment. And btw you even insinuating that ranking Haggard over Wilie is somehow wrong just tells how uneducated you are about accomplishments. Good grief.
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If they are "country" fans you are flat out wrong. If they are crossover folk country or current pop country perhaps. Billy Ray Cyrus was labeled a country singer and sold a lot of recordsI guess you would say achy breaky heart is a staple of "country music too. Willie has his place no doubt but it ain't quite at the top where the others are, sorry. That's just my opinion and we'll just have to agree to disagree I suppose.
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Steel guitar this, harmonica that. You boys must have forgotten a simple truth to Texas country.
If yer gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.
If yer gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.
Steel guitar this, harmonica that. You boys must have forgotten a simple truth to Texas country.
If yer gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.
Twin fiddles!
Hook'em
I've got a bunch of Willie CD's. and no Buck CD's so I really prefer Willie's music to Buck's.
But, those that think the only reason Buck was around was because he was on Hee Haw just don't know anything about country music. Buck said no to Nashville and stayed in Bakersfield California and continued recording real country music rather than the overproduced "Nashville Sound" that eventually ruined country music. Merle was part of the Bakersfield sound that he and Buck developed, much different than Nashville music. Just look at the hits Buck had if you think he was just a prop on Hee Haw.
To each his on as far as music tastes go, but make no mistake Buck Owens was a superstar of the 1st degree in Country music.
And rest in peace Merle Haggard. I don't think there is any argument he was a superstar in country music.
But, those that think the only reason Buck was around was because he was on Hee Haw just don't know anything about country music. Buck said no to Nashville and stayed in Bakersfield California and continued recording real country music rather than the overproduced "Nashville Sound" that eventually ruined country music. Merle was part of the Bakersfield sound that he and Buck developed, much different than Nashville music. Just look at the hits Buck had if you think he was just a prop on Hee Haw.
To each his on as far as music tastes go, but make no mistake Buck Owens was a superstar of the 1st degree in Country music.
And rest in peace Merle Haggard. I don't think there is any argument he was a superstar in country music.
I have a friend that lives and dies music. He contends that the only true country music done today is by Allen Jackson and geaoge Straight. His thought is they are the only ones that have the correct rythm to dance to. He wont listen to garth brooks. Now if you are making that argument I will at least see that you have integrity. However if you continue to push Johnny Paycheck ( and all those songs you say are classics that I never heard of) then I see why you are so challenged in talking football.
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