1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Disgraceland as a production of Double Elvis. The stories about 2 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: Merle Haggard are insane. He turned twenty one in prison, 3 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,760 Speaker 1: not just any prison, but one of the most hardcore 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: prisons in the country, San Quentin, and though he wasn't 5 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,479 Speaker 1: doing life without parole like the song says, he did 6 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: serve an indefinite sentence of six months to fifteen years. 7 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: He was what authorities called a repeat offender. He was 8 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: arrested for riding trains, for skipping school, for stealing cars, 9 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: for robbing a gas station, for attempting to knock over 10 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,839 Speaker 1: a restaurant on Christmas Eve. He was committed to juvenile halls, 11 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: correctional facilities, and reform schools seventeen times, and every time 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: he escaped. This all happened before Merle Haggard ever great music, 13 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: music that many would consider the platonic ideal of country music. 14 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: Music that went all the way to number one on 15 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: the country charts thirty eight times. Unlike that clip I 16 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: played for you at the top of the show. That 17 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: wasn't great music. That was a preset loop for my 18 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: melotron called Unpainted Maricopa MK one. I played you that 19 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,839 Speaker 1: loop because I can't afford the rights to April Love 20 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: by Pat Boone, And why would I play you that 21 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: specific slice of white buck clean cut cheese? Could I 22 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:36,640 Speaker 1: afford it? Because that was the number one song in 23 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 1: America on December twenty fifth, nineteen fifty seven, And that 24 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: was the day that Merle Haggard was arrested for the 25 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: last time, then sent away to do the hardest time 26 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: of his life on this episode, riding trains, skipping school, 27 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 1: stealing cars, doing hard time. In country Music's repeat, Fender 28 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:28,519 Speaker 1: bru Haggard, I'm Jake Brennan and this this disgrace slam. 29 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 1: He stood at the railroad tracks and waited for the 30 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: next train. He listened for the lonesome whistle, the rumble 31 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:39,640 Speaker 1: of an engine, the high pitched squeal of steel on steel. 32 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: He knew those sounds by heart. They were the sounds 33 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: of escape, of freedom, sounds that took him far away 34 00:02:46,919 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: from here, anywhere but here. When he was just a kid, 35 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: before he ever stepped foot on a freight, he watched 36 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 1: people climb aboard the Southern Pacific. He wondered what life 37 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: would feel like to just go leave everything behind. He 38 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:05,519 Speaker 1: imagined it would be just like it was in the 39 00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:09,799 Speaker 1: Jimmy Rogers songs. He imagined places miles and miles down 40 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: the track. Places there weren't Oildale, this dirt poor help 41 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: of dust bowl migrants, Oakie's and archies too broke to 42 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: find refuge nearby Bakersfield. His father was one of those okies, proud, hardworking, 43 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: a provider. But his father was dead. Merle Haggard was 44 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: just nine when his daddy passed. His mama tried to 45 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: raise him better, but well, with his daddy gone and all, 46 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: she was busy working full time to make ends. Me 47 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: Meurle felt like a loner, like he was in someone 48 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,400 Speaker 1: else's skin. Oildale meant nothing to him. He passed the 49 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: time down at the train tracks, watching the box cars 50 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: barrel by. He wrote his first box car at age eleven, 51 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: took him all the way to Fresnow. That was a 52 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: day for the books, not just because it was his 53 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: first time hopping a free It was the first time 54 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,240 Speaker 1: Merreau Haggard wound up police custody, and it would be 55 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: far from the last. He kept writing Amarilla vegas La. 56 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: He left time and time again with nothing but a 57 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: guitar on his back, and if leaving home at occasionally 58 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,160 Speaker 1: getting roughed up by the cops, tossed into the back 59 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: of a patrol car, thrown into a jail cell. Any 60 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,559 Speaker 1: of that was better than the fucking school. Merle could handle. 61 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: The cops. Cops were a temporary nuisance. Now the people. 62 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: The cops handed him over to the teachers, the truant officers, 63 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: his mama. They were persistent. They'd never let up. In turn, 64 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: they made Merle Haggard persistent in his pursuit of freedom. 65 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: Why the hell would he sit and listen to a 66 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: masth teacher drone on about A squared minus B squared 67 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: equals whatever the fuck when he could be out here, 68 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 1: really living. Merle Haggard wanted to be turned loose and 69 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: set free. And it wasn't just school. It was Juvenile Hall, 70 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: or the Fred c Nell's School for Boys, or the 71 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,600 Speaker 1: Preston School of Industry, any of those quote unquote institutes 72 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: for low or education, as Merreau called on. These places 73 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: had tried to hold him down and cure him of 74 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: his restlessness. They were stasis, they were adults. They couldn't 75 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: fucking wait to tell you don't do that. They were bullshit. 76 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: So Merle Haggard escaped from every single one seventeen times. 77 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,359 Speaker 1: Seventeen times he broke out of whatever institution he was 78 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: institutionalized in, and he was caught seventeen times and broke 79 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: out again. No one was going to tell Merle Haggard 80 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: he couldn't run free. Now it was nineteen fifty seven 81 00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: and he was twenty years old. He stared out at 82 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: the empty train tracks, and though he was no longer 83 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,720 Speaker 1: a kid, he still wanted nothing more than to get 84 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: on a freight and leave everything behind. There was just 85 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:44,520 Speaker 1: one problem. It was Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve meant that 86 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:47,240 Speaker 1: no trains were running. If there were no trains running, 87 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: and then Merle Haggard couldn't get out of town. And 88 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,520 Speaker 1: if Merle Haggard couldn't get out of town, well, Merle 89 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:57,600 Speaker 1: Haggard was fucked. He was still drunk, so drunk that 90 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 1: he felt like he was going to be sick. He 91 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:02,280 Speaker 1: doubled over in anticipation of spilling his guts all over 92 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: the dirt ground. He thought about Leona, how he just 93 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: left her in the car with the baby, took off 94 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:09,600 Speaker 1: on foot as soon as the patrol car rolled up 95 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: behind them. He didn't even know why. Leona came with 96 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: him in the first place. She was in one of 97 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:16,919 Speaker 1: those moods where she was busy hating his guts, not 98 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,279 Speaker 1: that he could blame her. His life as a struggling 99 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: musician was constantly being overshadowed by his life as a 100 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: struggling criminal. He couldn't stop doing dumb shit, stealing cars, 101 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: stealing money, even sleeping around. The sleeping around and the 102 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: stealing cars he did just to do, But the stealing 103 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,279 Speaker 1: money that was necessary because he and Leona were broke 104 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,040 Speaker 1: as shit with one baby and another baby on the way, 105 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,080 Speaker 1: and there were no good jobs for an honest man anymore. 106 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: And Merle Haggard was an honest man. But you want 107 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,640 Speaker 1: to talk honesty, real honesty, A man's going to do 108 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: what a man's going to do. To Merle Haggard, that 109 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,720 Speaker 1: was honesty. And so tonight Murrow and his buddy planned 110 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: a break canto a restaurant after hours and take all 111 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,880 Speaker 1: the cash in the register. If Leona wanted to tag along, 112 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: whatever he knew better than I argue with a pregnant woman, 113 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: especially on Christmas Eve. Leona turned out to be the 114 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: least of Merle's problems. He was so drunk that he 115 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 1: thought it was later in the evening that it actually was. 116 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: He thought the place was closed up and empty, and 117 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: he realized his mistake after turning to pry open the 118 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: back door with a crowbar. He struggled to jimmy the 119 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,080 Speaker 1: door free, and then suddenly the thing swung wide open, 120 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: no thanks to Merle's drunk an effort. Standing before him 121 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 1: was the owner of the Giant. Merle peeped inside. The 122 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,280 Speaker 1: place was packed. The owner laughed, why don't you boys 123 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: try the front door like everyone else. Merle panicked and 124 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:44,640 Speaker 1: ran back to the car. He climbed in the driver's seat. 125 00:07:44,800 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: His buddy jumped to the passenger seat. Leona was yelling 126 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,320 Speaker 1: from the back seat, and the baby was crying. The 127 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: owner of the restaurant was on the phone of the cops. 128 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:55,160 Speaker 1: Merrell backed up quickly and then threw it into first. 129 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: He slammed his boot down on the gas. The wheels 130 00:07:58,040 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: kicked up dirt, and the car shot off into the night, 131 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: leaving behind a plane of California dust. The cop hanging 132 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: out a few blocks away saw a car fly by 133 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: without its headlights on. He hit his bright as shit 134 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: red lights and fired up the siren. Merle knew the 135 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: police weren't going to arrest the pregnant woman and her child, 136 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: but they'd throw the book at him if they caught him, 137 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: and not just for attempting to break into a restaurant. 138 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:23,960 Speaker 1: There was that gas station he knocked over a while back. 139 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: They hadn't fingered him for it yet, but they would. 140 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: And there was the hard time he just did nine 141 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: long months in the Ventura County jail for grand theft auto. 142 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: At some point the law was going to lock him 143 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:37,680 Speaker 1: up and throw away the key. Merle figured he could 144 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 1: escape such a fate by doing what he always did, escape, 145 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 1: So as soon as he saw those red lights behind him, 146 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: Murrell hit the brakes, put it in park, opened the 147 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: driver's side door, and ran. But now there was nowhere 148 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: else to run to, no trains to hop, nothing to 149 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,840 Speaker 1: do but accept what he had coming. He turned around, 150 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: the train tracks now at his back, and raised his 151 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: hands in the air, and then he was taken to 152 00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: a place he knew all too well, a jail cell. 153 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:12,720 Speaker 1: The next morning, on Christmas Day, kids in Oildale and 154 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,920 Speaker 1: Bakersfield woke up to presence under their trees, just as 155 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: they had expected. At the police station. However, cops found 156 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 1: not that something had bent delivered, but that something was missing. 157 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: The prison cell was empty, just like old Sandy Claus, 158 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: and just like a train. Merle Haggard was gone. If 159 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,240 Speaker 1: he sat perfectly still, the irons clamped around his legs 160 00:09:57,240 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: and his wrists would stop rubbing against his skin. It 161 00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: gave him a brief moment to close his eyes and 162 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: pretend he wasn't here. Then the bus who'd hit a 163 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: bump in the road to the guy who was shackled 164 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,080 Speaker 1: to would wiggle around, and he'd feel it again, cold 165 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: steel biting into his ankles in his hands, and it 166 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: wasn't just touching his physical body. The irons were clamped 167 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: around his mind, and that was clamped tight. He knew 168 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:25,440 Speaker 1: he'd fucked up. He fucked up when he tried to 169 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 1: break into that restaurant and again when he busted out 170 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: of that Baker's Field jail cell on Christmas Day. In 171 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: his defense, the cell door was wide open. He just 172 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: walked out. He knew that didn't make it right, but 173 00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:39,320 Speaker 1: it sure has hell made it hard not to do. 174 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,160 Speaker 1: The chief of police put out an apb Merle's picture 175 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: was all over the news. He kept low and made 176 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: his way to his older brother's house. He rang the doorbell. 177 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:52,440 Speaker 1: He could hear Carol's being sung inside. The door opened, 178 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: and the warm smell of the holiday feast wafted out 179 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: into the cold night. He looked up the deputy with 180 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:01,800 Speaker 1: a shotgun aimed at orl chest wished him a merry Christmas. 181 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,439 Speaker 1: A local judge didn't have to look at his rap 182 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: sheet twice. Shit was as long as a California highway. 183 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,439 Speaker 1: Merle was persona non grata. There was only one place 184 00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:17,319 Speaker 1: left for him to go. The drive up from Chino 185 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:21,480 Speaker 1: took hours. He could see San Quentin for miles there 186 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:24,560 Speaker 1: in the distance, a monster of lights and smoke that 187 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: lurked in the january rain. At one point, the bus 188 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 1: stopped for food, but he couldn't eat. His stomach was 189 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: in knots. He was nine years old again, a boy 190 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 1: without a daddy, a stranger in someone else's skin. Once 191 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: inside the prison walls, the knots grew tighter. He was 192 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: still living out those Jimmy Rodgers' songs, all right. But 193 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:46,960 Speaker 1: instead of waiting for a train, he had moved in 194 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:51,439 Speaker 1: the jailhouse now, and in the jailhouse the fear took hold. 195 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: The fear took hold in the form of those invisible 196 00:11:54,240 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: irons clamped around his mind. Even after the ones around 197 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:59,679 Speaker 1: his legs and hands were removed, they put him in 198 00:11:59,679 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: an eye of five sell catcalls and whistles bounced off 199 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: the walls. Blood curling screams of absolute terror echoed to 200 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:11,079 Speaker 1: the halls, and the screams of violent penetration and subhuman 201 00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: violation it began to shake them. No one was coming 202 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: to help. He was on his own in every possible way. 203 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:20,400 Speaker 1: Forget about lasting for the entirety of his indefinite sentence, 204 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 1: a sentence of six months of fifteen years. What the 205 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: hell was that all about? There was no way in 206 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:26,959 Speaker 1: hell he was going to get through one night in 207 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: this place. But Merle Haggard had an upper hand inside 208 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: sant Quentin that many of the other condemned men did not. 209 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: He spent the majority of his teenage years locked up somewhere. 210 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 1: He knew how to live on the inside. He also 211 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:42,880 Speaker 1: knew how to break on through to the outside, and 212 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: so Merle Haggard did. In fact, turned twenty one in prison, 213 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:49,240 Speaker 1: but not before he found himself once again thinking about 214 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: freedom and about escape. Sometimes escape was in a few 215 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,319 Speaker 1: chords on his Martin guitar. The guitar was the only 216 00:12:57,360 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: thing he brought inside San Quentin, and then with good 217 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,960 Speaker 1: behavior came the chance to play it out in the yard. 218 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:05,760 Speaker 1: The music took him somewhere else, somewhere beyond the walls 219 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: of the prison. It took him back to four years earlier, 220 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,079 Speaker 1: when he was just sixteen, holding an entirely different guitar 221 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,440 Speaker 1: in his hands, a guitar with an oversized Gibson J 222 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: two hundred body, Bigsby neck, fender headstock, the pick guard 223 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,560 Speaker 1: with the name of its owner etched in gold. Lefty 224 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 1: Frizelle's guitar was as unique as Lefty, not unlike Merle. 225 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,840 Speaker 1: Moreau could sing just like Lefty. It wasn't a parlor trick, though. 226 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,760 Speaker 1: It was pure talent, as pure as the sound of 227 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: his voice. No bum notes, no flats, no sharps, just pure, 228 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: just like Lefty. Merle wasn't supposed to meet Lefty that night, 229 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: just watching perform at the Rainbow Gardens in Baker's Field, 230 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 1: but his friend insisted they bust into Lefty's dressing room 231 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: so that Moreau could impress the man with this impression 232 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,520 Speaker 1: Merle fully expected Lefty's entourage to kick their asses out 233 00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: the door and onto the street. But Lefty had a 234 00:13:55,679 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: few pops in him, and he was curious. Go ahead, son, 235 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,320 Speaker 1: let's see what you got left. He liked it so 236 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: much that he asked Merle to go up on stage 237 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:06,319 Speaker 1: right then in there and open his show. But Sam 238 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: Quentin wasn't the Rainbow Gardens. Merle picked a grin for 239 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: a few minutes in the yard before the party was over. 240 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: He was a flight risk. Thus he was placed on 241 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: what they called close custody. That meant back to your 242 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: cell by four in the afternoon every day. That man 243 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: shut the fuck up playing that guitar. That meant you 244 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: didn't get to sit in with the prison band at 245 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: the wardens show at night. With no music to take 246 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: him out of his own mind, Murle was stuck fixating 247 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,160 Speaker 1: on his tiny cell and this fucked up existence. The 248 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: roaches under your bunk and that rat shet in your food. 249 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: The guys who got killed before your very eyes not 250 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:44,760 Speaker 1: killed the legal way either, not by the gas chamber, 251 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: but by the hands of other inmates. They hit, they clawed, 252 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: they stabbed, they bit. Some asshole got a shake shout 253 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 1: into his chest because he said the wrong thing. The 254 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: blood spurted like water from a kinked up garden hose. 255 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 1: Someone else was scalded to death in the laundry room. 256 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:02,840 Speaker 1: Others just went crazy, like shitty Fred Name because he 257 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: was literally covered in his own shit. Twenty four to seven. 258 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:09,520 Speaker 1: Murrell had something else all over him, a fungus multiplying 259 00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:12,120 Speaker 1: on his fingers from working in the laundry room. It 260 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: ate holes through his nails. It was fucking gross. He 261 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: wanted nothing more than to get out. The fact that 262 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:23,040 Speaker 1: no one had escaped from San Quentin in thirteen years 263 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: only made him want to do it more, and Rabbits 264 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: plan seemed fool proof. Rabbit aka Jimmy Kendrick was doing 265 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: time for robbery. He told Merle he was going to 266 00:15:33,280 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: break out of the joint at a desk. It was huge, 267 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: solid wood, heavy as a motherfucker who was built for 268 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: a judge by the prison furniture factory. That was rich, 269 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: and that night the truck was going to pick it 270 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: up and drive it away. The desk was so heavy 271 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:49,520 Speaker 1: that no one was going to notice a couple hundred 272 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:53,000 Speaker 1: extra pounds inside. In fact, the desk was so big 273 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: that two people could fit inside, seem like a shirt thing. Rabbit, however, 274 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: wasn't so sure about Mrle getting involved. You're welcome to 275 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: come with me, Rabbit told him. But I think he'd 276 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:07,680 Speaker 1: been making a huge mistake. Merle gave him a puzzled look. Look, man, 277 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: I'm doing life without parole, Rabbit explained, there's no chance 278 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 1: I'll ever get out of here. But you have a chance. 279 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: Six months, fifteen years, who knows, But at some point 280 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,440 Speaker 1: you will get out and you can play guitar and sing. 281 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:26,480 Speaker 1: I can't do shit. Don't fuck this up. Merle. Haggard 282 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:30,000 Speaker 1: didn't enjoy being told what to do, even by hardened criminals, 283 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,960 Speaker 1: but Rabbit's words made him feel uneasy. Rabbit's perspective gave 284 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: him pause. Suddenly, the sure thing felt like the wrong thing. 285 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: Merle bailed at the last minute. Rabbit rode that desk 286 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: out of San Quentin all on his own. A few 287 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: weeks after his escape, Rabbit shot and killed a cop. 288 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,560 Speaker 1: He came back to San Quentin a dead man. Walking 289 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: from the yard, Merle looked over towards the north block. 290 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: Everyone in the yard was watching the chimney above Death 291 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: Row coughed up grace. Small gray smoke meant that it 292 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: was done, that the execution had been carried out. Rabbit's 293 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: death weighed heavy on Merle's mind. That could have been him. 294 00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:13,360 Speaker 1: He could have escaped with the rabbit. Maybe he would 295 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: have been there when Rabbit shot that cop. Maybe he 296 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 1: too would have been hauled back here and walked up 297 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: to that same chamber, that same chair, waiting for that 298 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,480 Speaker 1: little sax Si, and I had to fall into the 299 00:17:23,520 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: bucket of acid, and then the world would be gas 300 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: and he'd never see anything again, let alone the outside. 301 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 2: Naw. 302 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,600 Speaker 1: The only way out of this place was the legit 303 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:40,479 Speaker 1: way parole. But the parole board took one look at 304 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: his inability to hold down a job inside the prison 305 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: and decided that he wasn't taking his rehabilitation seriously enough. 306 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: He was far from ready to walk out the front door. 307 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:52,200 Speaker 1: The more he thought about it, the more he wondered. 308 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:54,479 Speaker 1: Didn't even want to see what was waiting for him 309 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: beyond that door. A daughter who would recognize him, a 310 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: son he never met, and Leone pregnant once again, but 311 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: not by Merle, by another man, another man sleeping in 312 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:12,959 Speaker 1: Merle's bed, wearing Merle's clothes, fucking Merle's wife, Merle's head, spawn, 313 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: the prison, Leona, his children, They all gave up on him. 314 00:18:16,680 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: What did it even matter? Fuck good behavior and a 315 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: strong work ethic, and fuck taking the shit seriously. If 316 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: he was going to be in here for the long haul, 317 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:26,840 Speaker 1: he might as well make it interesting, might as well 318 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:30,440 Speaker 1: get good and drunk too. He gathered orange peels and 319 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: apple corus from the trash, mixed them together with some sugar, yeast, 320 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: and water, and made well, I don't know what you'd 321 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: call it. It wasn't beer, and it wasn't wine. It 322 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: absolutely was some rancid yet potent swill made under extremely 323 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:46,879 Speaker 1: unsanitary conditions and served in empty milk curtains. And it 324 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: fucked you. Uh fuck Merle up so good that he 325 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,440 Speaker 1: stumbled when he walked. The guards could smell him coming 326 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: before they saw him, and when they did see him, 327 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: when they saw dozens of prisoners suddenly drinking an unusual 328 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:01,360 Speaker 1: amount of milk, they knew exactly what was going on, 329 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:06,119 Speaker 1: and Merle Haggard knew exactly where he was going. Isolation. 330 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:22,240 Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this word word word. Years later, 331 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: when Merle Haggard was busy sending thirty eight songs to 332 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,400 Speaker 1: the top of the country charts. Johnny Cash told him, 333 00:19:28,520 --> 00:19:32,280 Speaker 1: hag you're the guy people think I am. Johnny Cash 334 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:35,080 Speaker 1: had that outlaw chic on lock. One of the most 335 00:19:35,119 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: famous songs, fulsome Prison Blues, is about shooting a man 336 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,399 Speaker 1: in reno just to watch him die. But Johnny Cash 337 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: didn't live the life of a criminal, not like Merle Haggard. 338 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: Merle songs, both his originals and the ones he made 339 00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: his own, were all rooted in truth, a truth that 340 00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: he lived. Merle Haggard was authentic. Johnny Cash knew this. 341 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,040 Speaker 1: Merle didn't just sing about being a lonesome fugitive. He 342 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: was a on some fugitive. His mama did try to 343 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: raise him better. He did turn twenty one in prison. Okay, 344 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: it wasn't doing life without parole, but that sounds a 345 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: whole lot better as a lyric than doing an interminate 346 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:16,000 Speaker 1: sentences six months to fifteen years. And as yet another 347 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,280 Speaker 1: Merl song goes, he'd been everywhere he talked about. He 348 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:26,000 Speaker 1: did it all. He even got arrested inside prison. He 349 00:20:26,080 --> 00:20:28,679 Speaker 1: woke up on a cold cement's lab. He tried to 350 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:31,400 Speaker 1: adjust his eyes to the darkness of the tiny room, 351 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 1: but his eyes hurt like hell. His head was pounding, 352 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:37,480 Speaker 1: and that Prisonhoch may have gotten them good in the 353 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:40,360 Speaker 1: shit face, but left behind one hell of a hangover. 354 00:20:41,240 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 1: He remembered hearing the sound of the thirty thirty cocky 355 00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: and then the guard yelling his name from up on 356 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: the catwalk, but he didn't remember being brought down in 357 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: here didn't matter. He knew where he was. Everyone on 358 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:56,199 Speaker 1: the inside knew about this place. They called it the shelf, 359 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: the sixth floor of the North Block. Sometimes the guard 360 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,679 Speaker 1: brought him a mattress. Hours later another guard would come 361 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: take it away. He didn't have a pillow, so he 362 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: used the Bible that he found in the corner for 363 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: a place to lay his head. Seven days of this, 364 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,359 Speaker 1: seven days of being stuck inside his own head. But 365 00:21:14,400 --> 00:21:18,639 Speaker 1: Merle Haggard wasn't alone. He heard voices, voices that weren't 366 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:21,600 Speaker 1: his own. Sometimes they were muffled, and other times they 367 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: were clear as a bell. Jesus, he was going insane. 368 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:28,199 Speaker 1: His own mind finally turned on him, just like the 369 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: parole board and Leona and everyone else. He tried to 370 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: think of nothing, not the ferment, that orange peels, on 371 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: his wife, on a pair of some other girls tits, 372 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:40,360 Speaker 1: and definitely on a train. Just nothing, and that only 373 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,240 Speaker 1: made things worse. Though the voices got clearer. His eyes 374 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,760 Speaker 1: scanned the dark room and there was an air van 375 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,560 Speaker 1: on the wall. He scooted closer to it, and the 376 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,720 Speaker 1: voices got louder. Guess what, goddamn man, the first voice said. 377 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 1: The second voice quickly answered, I can't guess what was it? 378 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 1: I got a life insurance policy. Can you believe that? 379 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,920 Speaker 1: The men's laughter echoed inside the air vent one bone 380 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 1: to five gallows humor. Merle didn't recognize the second voice, 381 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 1: but he knew the first. Everyone on the inside knew 382 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: that voice. Everyone on the outside too. That voice belonged 383 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 1: to the most famous prisoner in America, Carol Chessman aka 384 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 1: the Red Light Bandit. Sam Quentin's celebrity death row had 385 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:30,080 Speaker 1: made for nearly a decade. Now. He was facing the 386 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:32,760 Speaker 1: gas chamber for two counts of sexual as self committed 387 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: during a crime screen. He said he was innocent. He 388 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: fought his fate with appeal after appeal, close to fifteen total. 389 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,000 Speaker 1: Sometimes he was walked down to the chamber just minutes 390 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:44,239 Speaker 1: from death, when a call came through that he'd been 391 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,639 Speaker 1: given another stay of execution. Merle decided at last to 392 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,000 Speaker 1: speak up. He was going to go fucking crazy if 393 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:52,879 Speaker 1: he did not talk to someone else for seven days. 394 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: Jasmine Carol Chessman acknowledged Merle's voice. How's your appeal going? 395 00:23:00,520 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: Very well, Chessman answered, I just talked to my attorney. 396 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:09,640 Speaker 1: He isn't word at all. Chessman sounded so calm, so zen. 397 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: The guy had to be off his nut. A place 398 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:14,520 Speaker 1: like Sant Quentin just didn't give up a guy like 399 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,479 Speaker 1: Carol Chessman. It didn't matter if he was guilty or not. 400 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: He was there now, in the belly of the beast, 401 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,919 Speaker 1: inside a nine by five room on death row, just 402 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: prolonging the inevitable. Merle Haggard could see the inevitable more 403 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,399 Speaker 1: clearly than ever before. It flashed before his eyes, not 404 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 1: his life, at first his death. He thought about five, ten, 405 00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: fifteen more years inside Saint Quentin, if he ever made 406 00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:42,159 Speaker 1: it that long, and he could catch the end of 407 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:45,399 Speaker 1: a sharp knife or a clenched fist, maybe worse. He 408 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:47,280 Speaker 1: saw his own body twitching on the floor of the 409 00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 1: mess hall, bleeding out from his head. He watched as 410 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,680 Speaker 1: a withered up shell of his former self wheezed out 411 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: his final breath in the corner of the shelf. He 412 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,639 Speaker 1: heard the hiss of gas in the chambers. The bag 413 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: of cyanide hit the acid. His eyeball started to swell 414 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: until they were too big to fit in their sockets, 415 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:07,640 Speaker 1: and they just burst wide open. Merle shuddered. He didn't 416 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,439 Speaker 1: want to ever find out what any of that felt like. 417 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: He didn't want to end up like Rabbit or like 418 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:18,919 Speaker 1: Carol Chessman. Chessman was eventually let inside San Quentin's infamous 419 00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: gas chamber one last time, and it never came out 420 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: Once again. Merle and the others watched from the yard 421 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: as gray smoke coughed out of the chimney above death row. 422 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:30,960 Speaker 1: He didn't let it get to him. In fact, he 423 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: galvanized him. He was going to get out of San Quentin. 424 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,000 Speaker 1: It would be hard doing anything the honest way. It 425 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:40,000 Speaker 1: was hard, but it wasn't going out like Chessman. He 426 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,480 Speaker 1: took orders and did as he was told. That was 427 00:24:42,520 --> 00:24:45,639 Speaker 1: some bullshit, for sure, but it was necessary. The prison 428 00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:48,199 Speaker 1: textile factory was the hardest gig on the inside. So 429 00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 1: he had a focus, showed him he could do the work. 430 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: He got good marks, his close custody designation was lifted, 431 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,679 Speaker 1: and soon he had more time with his guitar. He 432 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,120 Speaker 1: could play in the warden's band, becoming a model prisoner, 433 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,199 Speaker 1: a guy determined to make a second parole. He was 434 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 1: living his truth. Anyone could see that, even Johnny Cash. 435 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: But on New Year's Day of nineteen fifty nine, Johnny 436 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,239 Speaker 1: Cash didn't know Merle Haggard from a hole in one 437 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:18,560 Speaker 1: of San Quentin's walls. To Cash, Merle was just another 438 00:25:18,600 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: criminal doing time, Another face and a sea of inmates 439 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,400 Speaker 1: gathered to listen to Johnny Cash and his band perform 440 00:25:24,720 --> 00:25:27,479 Speaker 1: right there in prison. Merle Haggard, on the other hand, 441 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,840 Speaker 1: knew exactly who Johnny Cash was. Not the iconic country 442 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: superstar that he would later become, and not the good 443 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: samaritan who was making a habit of performing at prisons 444 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: for a portion of the population that the rest of 445 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,719 Speaker 1: society ignored. Johnny Cash was a man who made Merle 446 00:25:41,760 --> 00:25:44,639 Speaker 1: and every last prisoner in San Quentin forget where they 447 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:49,439 Speaker 1: were that day. Backed by the Tennessee Too Marshall grant 448 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,000 Speaker 1: On Das and Luther Perkins on guitar, along with his 449 00:25:52,040 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 1: future wife June Carter. Johnny Cash made the walls of 450 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:58,879 Speaker 1: that place disappear. His baritone went into his microphone, and 451 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: he came out of the speaker's in the room changed. 452 00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:05,119 Speaker 1: San Quentin was no longer a prison. There were no 453 00:26:05,240 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: blood curdling screams resonating through the hallways, no puffs of 454 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:12,160 Speaker 1: gray smoke rising from the chimney above death row. There 455 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:16,440 Speaker 1: was no death row. There was just music. And where 456 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: there was music, there was escape. Merle Haggard sat up 457 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: front and listened. He heard his escape plan. It was 458 00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,520 Speaker 1: there and Johnny Cash's voice in the click clacking of 459 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:29,719 Speaker 1: Marshall Grant's stand up bass, It sounded like the trains 460 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,760 Speaker 1: used to listen to as a kid. Johnny Cash didn't 461 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: know it, but at that moment he set Merul Haggard free. 462 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:03,399 Speaker 1: The door to the Big Baker's field House swung wide open, 463 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,240 Speaker 1: and Merle Haggard stood in the doorway, the low California 464 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: desert at his back. He had to pinch himself as 465 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:13,399 Speaker 1: he crossed the threshold and stepped inside. He could hardly 466 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: believe that this place belonged to him. It was a mansion, 467 00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:18,760 Speaker 1: the fancy kind of home and the nice part of 468 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,240 Speaker 1: town his family never could have afforded back when Merle's 469 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 1: a kid, back when okies weren't even welcome on this 470 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: side of the tracks. Merle Haggard had three things on 471 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,919 Speaker 1: his side now, time, fame, and money. The money lined 472 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: his pockets. The money kept rolling in, just like the 473 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 1: Southern Pacific headed east. Merle didn't know what to do 474 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: with himself. There was so much of it. Sometimes he 475 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: looked in the mirror and didn't even recognize the guy 476 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,960 Speaker 1: looking back at him. Just four years earlier, in November 477 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,720 Speaker 1: of nineteen sixty, he walked through an entirely different front door, 478 00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: though this time he was headed out and not in. 479 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 1: He left San Quentin in the dust, paroled after two 480 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: years and nine months that indefinite sentence on account of 481 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: good behavior and a strong work ethic. Here in that 482 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:08,400 Speaker 1: parole the hard way, day after day in the textile factory. 483 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:12,320 Speaker 1: The work was tough, but with Carol Chessman's departure and 484 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:16,320 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash's arrival weighing heavy on his mind, he persevered. 485 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,960 Speaker 1: He was no longer a lonesome fugitive. He returned home 486 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,040 Speaker 1: and made an effort to work things out with Leona. 487 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,280 Speaker 1: In fact, she was pregnant again by Merle this time, 488 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,720 Speaker 1: but she never really forgave him for doing the things 489 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,000 Speaker 1: he did, for spending so much of their time together 490 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:32,840 Speaker 1: locked up somewhere. He'd even missed the birth of one 491 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: of his children while he sat in the cell, And 492 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:37,640 Speaker 1: just because he was no longer in prison didn't mean 493 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:42,200 Speaker 1: Leona saw much more of him. Merle found work, honest work, 494 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,760 Speaker 1: playing for guys like Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart. Playing 495 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,240 Speaker 1: meant late nights out of the clubs in Bakersfield or 496 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: even touring around California Nevada, while Leona was stuck at 497 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: home playing a housewife. She knew what he did on 498 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: those late nights and long drives. It was an escape 499 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: in more ways than one, an escape from home and 500 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 1: escape from her. Every time he came home, they fought. 501 00:29:04,280 --> 00:29:06,800 Speaker 1: Leoner didn't give a shit about his sturdy voice, the 502 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,680 Speaker 1: one that rang pure as a bell and could mimic 503 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,000 Speaker 1: any of the greats, the one that blew away his 504 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:15,200 Speaker 1: hero left to Frizelle. To her, Merrell's authenticity was not 505 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,240 Speaker 1: a selling point, but instead a black mark on his name. 506 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,520 Speaker 1: Merle knew he could prove her wrong. He was going 507 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: to make her a believer in him. First, he made 508 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:28,560 Speaker 1: Capital Records a believer. They made a bet on an 509 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:30,840 Speaker 1: ex Cohn when they signed Merle to a record deal, 510 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: and the bet paid off huge. The money started rolling in. 511 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 1: One of his first singles, sing a sad Song, went 512 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,160 Speaker 1: to number nineteen on the Billboard Country chart. My Friends 513 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: Are Going to Be Strangers, released in November nineteen sixty four, 514 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,400 Speaker 1: went all the way to number ten. It was his 515 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: latest hit that Merle was hoping to celebrate as he 516 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:53,800 Speaker 1: stepped inside his new Baker's Field home. But something wasn't right. 517 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,440 Speaker 1: He knew it before he even opened the door. His 518 00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 1: fifty seven Chevy was missing from the driveway, The lawn 519 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: was covered in junk, papers and toys and debris were everywhere. Inside, 520 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:09,400 Speaker 1: the rank smell of ammonia hit his nose. Dirty diapers 521 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: were splayed all over the floor, Cupboards were emptied to 522 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:15,640 Speaker 1: chairs were overturned, and trash was strewn on furniture and countertops. 523 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:22,080 Speaker 1: And Leona was gone, so were the kids. From outside, 524 00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: he heard the sound of a lonesome whistle, the clattering 525 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: of box cars banging down the railroad tracks. He wondered 526 00:30:28,280 --> 00:30:30,720 Speaker 1: where the freight was going. He no longer had the 527 00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: urge to run. He didn't do that anymore, hop trains, 528 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: but he did move forward. Every day was a song, 529 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: one that he wrote and another that he lived. There 530 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,840 Speaker 1: was no turning back, even if the road ahead was bumpy. 531 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:51,600 Speaker 1: Forward was the way through, the only way to be free. 532 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,640 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan, and this this disgrace Land. 533 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 2: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 534 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:12,120 Speaker 2: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 535 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 2: found on the show notes page at disgracelampod dot com. 536 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 2: If you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank 537 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 2: you for supporting the show. 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Visit disgracelampod dot com slash Membership for details. 544 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: Rate and review the. 545 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,640 Speaker 2: Show and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook 546 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,600 Speaker 2: at disgracelampod and on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash 547 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:56,720 Speaker 2: at disgracelampod, rock a rolla 548 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: He's a bed well man.