Beech Tree News Network

You know how they always say that bad news always happens in three’s? First of all, who is this “they” I keep hearing about? I have no idea.  Last week, Prince unexpectedly died.  Michael Strahan announced he was leaving Live for GMA.  Not death, you say? Technically, not of a person.  It is, however, a death of a partnership.  A pretty bitter death at that, if you’ve been keeping up with the whole ordeal. 
Today, I’ll discuss #3: the death of country music legend Merle Haggard.  What’s even more heartbreaking is that he died on his 79th birthday.  Married five times and a father of six, I got my introduction to the vast Merle Haggard catalog when I was a kid.  Granted, when I was a kid, my station of choice was 96 WSTO(back when pop music was worth a darn).  However, later on in life, I’d get into country music.  Then I started taking guitar lessons from Greg Drake in Morgantown.  That’s when I really learned Merle.
We played everything from “Fightin’ Side of Me” to “Workin’ Man Blues”.  I probably got a little tired of it at the time but, hey, I was learning.  You never really think of everything an artist does or all the awards they’ve amassed in their career until they’re gone. 
His awards include 1970 CMA Entertainer of the Year, 2006 Grammy Lifetime Achievement, 1999 Grammy Hall of Fame and way back in 1984, he won Grammy Best Country Male for “That’s The Way Love Goes”.  He won Best Country Collaboration with vocals in 1998 for “Same Old Train”, on which he was joined by numerous artists, including those he influenced, such as Dwight Yoakam.  He was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Recording Academy in 2006.  The Hag was inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 1977 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994.  He was also among the honorees receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in 2010. 
“Merle Haggard was an uncommon hero in country music”, said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow.  “Merle’s massive success was rooted in his masterful ability to celebrate the outlaws and the underdogs.” 

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