1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a 2 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: story about survival. It's about a branded man with a 3 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: guitar in one hand and a pistol in the other, 4 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:26,320 Speaker 1: about a joke that was taken seriously and a country 5 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: poet whose sense of humor was taken the wrong way. 6 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:34,239 Speaker 1: A story about death threats and unexpected pardons. And it's 7 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: also a story about losers, about houseboats and hedonism, cocaine 8 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: and come to Jesus clarity. It's about wanting a girl 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:47,560 Speaker 1: named Dolly and needing a guy named Willie, and about 10 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:51,200 Speaker 1: a friend who didn't make it through the night. This 11 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:55,639 Speaker 1: is a story about Merle Haggard, So of course it's 12 00:00:55,680 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: about great music, some of the greatest, most authentic country 13 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: music of all time. Unlike that clip I played for 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,559 Speaker 1: you at the top of the show. That wasn't great music. 15 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: That was a preset loop from my melotron called love 16 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: Boat Blues MK. Two. I played you that loop because 17 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:18,759 Speaker 1: I can't afford the rights to Midnight Train to Georgia 18 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,320 Speaker 1: by Gladys Knight and the Pips. And why would I 19 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,759 Speaker 1: play you that specific slice of that nitty gritty red 20 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: eyed cheese? Could I afford it, because that was the 21 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: number one song in America on October twenty seventh, nineteen 22 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: seventy three, and that was the day that Merle Haggard 23 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: released if We Make It Through December, an unorthodox Christmas 24 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: song on an otherwise unorthodox Christmas album, a song that 25 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: would become his sixteenth single to climb to the top 26 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: of the country charts, and a song whose bleak outlook 27 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:59,320 Speaker 1: would soon come dangerously close to mirroring Merle's own life. 28 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: On this a special two part episode Cocaine, Pistols, death Threats, Houseboats, Hedonism, 29 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: and Merle Haggard. I'm Jake Brennan and this, this disgraced 30 00:02:13,639 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: land Graham Parsons is a pussy. Merle Haggard was pissed off. 31 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,119 Speaker 1: He paced angrily around his room at the Los Angeles 32 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: Holiday Inn, his dark sunglasses barely masking the rage that 33 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: was burning behind them. He was pissed at this kid, 34 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: this flying Burrito Bird, or whatever the hell he was. 35 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:05,239 Speaker 1: This Graham Parsons was too drunk to meet and finalize 36 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: the paperwork for Merle to produce his debut solo album, 37 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,960 Speaker 1: But he was equally upset at himself. He'd been had 38 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:14,919 Speaker 1: duped into thinking that the kid was the real deal, 39 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: an authentic country star in the making. And furthermore, the 40 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,000 Speaker 1: idea that through some kind of musical osmosis, Merle taking 41 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,919 Speaker 1: Graham under his wing and all that that somehow Merle 42 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:30,119 Speaker 1: could bridge the gap between his own traditional country audience 43 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 1: and the long Hairs. But Graham was green, and Graham 44 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: couldn't hold his liquor. Graham, in Merle's eyes, was not 45 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: a serious person. And Merle Haggard took this shit very seriously. Sure, 46 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: bottoms up, smoke him if you got him, but you 47 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: got to be able to tie one on and still 48 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: make the meeting on time. There would be no Graham 49 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: Parsons record produced by Merle Haggard. And you can be 50 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: sure that as soon as word reached Graham over in 51 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: his room at the Roosevelt Hotel, Merle's ears would start burning. 52 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:02,360 Speaker 1: As that when he's something cosmic cowboy called thirty five 53 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: year old murrele every name under the sun. A lot 54 00:04:06,560 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: of people have called Merle Haggard a lot of things. 55 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: Bob Dylan once said that Merle was Shakespeare in cowboy boots. 56 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: Chris Christopherson called him the poet of the common man, 57 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: and Merle himself said he was the guy who stood 58 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: up for the people who didn't have the nerve to 59 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: stand up for themselves, the losers, as he put it, 60 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,200 Speaker 1: And when it came to losers, it took one to 61 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: no one. Merle had done the loser thing when he 62 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: was younger. He'd even done hard time at sam Quentin. 63 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: So a year or so after the snuffoo with Graham 64 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 1: Parsons in nineteen seventy three, when Murrell set out to 65 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,880 Speaker 1: write a song for our new Christmas album, Murle wasn't 66 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: thinking about sugar plums and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Instead, 67 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: he chose to write about a loser, a guy who'd 68 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: been laid off around the holidays and couldn't afford to 69 00:04:52,880 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: provide for his family during what was supposed to be 70 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,159 Speaker 1: the happiest month of the year, if we make it 71 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,679 Speaker 1: through December. It became Merle's si sixteenth number one country 72 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: single in just seven years time. Because Merle Haggard was 73 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: no longer the losing kind, at least not when it 74 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,159 Speaker 1: came to the Billboard Country charts, just like he was 75 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 1: no longer an outlaw. Thanks to future United States President 76 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: and current Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, who had issued 77 00:05:18,200 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: Merle a full pardon for the crimes of his youth. 78 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,320 Speaker 1: But although Reagan had wiped his slate clean, Merle Haggard 79 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,880 Speaker 1: was still a branded man because Merle Haggard found himself 80 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: squarely in the crosshairs of the American counterculture, the young 81 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: folks in the New Generation, who at the dawn of 82 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies were equating Merle's Bakersfield sound with the 83 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: sound of authority and conformity. Thanks to one of those 84 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: number one singles of his, the song Ok from Muskogee. 85 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: Oki from Muskogee is one of the most notorious entries 86 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,040 Speaker 1: in the anals of country music. In it, Merle sings 87 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: about how they don't smoke marijuana Muscogee or take trips 88 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:00,480 Speaker 1: on LSD, that the men keep their hair short and 89 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:04,520 Speaker 1: salute the flag and respect authority. Keep in mind. This 90 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: was released in nineteen sixty nine, one month after Woodstock. 91 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: It was embraced by the conservative old Guard, who kept 92 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:13,760 Speaker 1: it at the top of the country chart for four 93 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: straight weeks. But to the so called hippies it sounded 94 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,680 Speaker 1: like the first shot across the bout. The ironic thing 95 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: here is that I think Merrell wrote the song as 96 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: a joke. That just because Merrell wrote it and sang 97 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,680 Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that Merrell agreed one hundred percent with 98 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: the sentiments they are in. I mean, this is songwriting 99 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,320 Speaker 1: one o one. But if he's joking, that didn't stop 100 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: the hippies that the song seemed to vilify from coming 101 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: after Murell. A whole of them tried to topple his 102 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 1: tour bus while he and his family were inside, and 103 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:45,359 Speaker 1: they wanted to kill him, and there were death threats. 104 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: Even deep in country music country Merle Haggard was living 105 00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: that branded man life that he sang about every night. 106 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:00,640 Speaker 1: Merrell walked on stage, his butterscotch telecaster hanging his shoulder 107 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 1: and a cigarette burning between his fingers. The thunderous applause 108 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: for the crowd didn't make him feel completely safe, not here, 109 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: not in the great state of Texas, not even with 110 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: his band the strangers standing up there with him. His 111 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: songs had made him a lightning rod, and now he 112 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: feared he could be struck down at any time. He smiled, 113 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: waved to the crowd, and then turned to look directly 114 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: behind him there, just as he'd asked, someone from the 115 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: rogue crew had placed his tall stool, which had his 116 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,360 Speaker 1: name engraved on the back, and on top of the stool. 117 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: Also as requested, was his loaded pistol. Seeing the gun 118 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: calmed him a bit. Seeing the gun clawed back at 119 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: that feeling he got at times like these, a feeling 120 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: that he was back in San Quentin. Damp floor, rusted steel, 121 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: the walls closing in it made him feel like he 122 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:56,200 Speaker 1: could keep the crazies at bay. But whether it was 123 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 1: some hate Ashbury loon who wanted his head on a 124 00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:03,400 Speaker 1: stick or on the flipsie, the segregationist presidential candidate George Wallace, 125 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: or the Grand Wizard of the fucking KKK David Duke, 126 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,920 Speaker 1: who were gravely mistaken when they came calling thinking that 127 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: Murrell was a friend. All of these people had profoundly 128 00:08:14,080 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: misinterpreted Oki for Muskoki, just like his buddy Ronald Reagan 129 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,240 Speaker 1: would misinterpret Born in the USA about a decade later. 130 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: But I digress. Knowing that the pistol was safely laying 131 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: there on the stool, hidden in the shadows, Murrell was 132 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: able to pull it together. The fear melted away. He 133 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,680 Speaker 1: turned to face the audience and took a step forward 134 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: to the microphone and said, Okay, who ever sent me 135 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,760 Speaker 1: the death threat? Come on, And then he motioned to 136 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,560 Speaker 1: the strangers, counted off the intro, and launched into his 137 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight hit Mama Tried. It was very likely 138 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 1: that Mama Tried was also being performed that very same 139 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: night somewhere in the US or the UK by the 140 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,600 Speaker 1: Grateful Dead, who had been including it in their live 141 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: sets for years. The Dead's Bob Weir was one of 142 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: the few in the counterculture to get the joke, to 143 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: know that Merle's true intent with Oki from Muskogee was 144 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 1: not to draw a line in the sand, but to 145 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:16,119 Speaker 1: simply poke fun at the divide. Ditto the Green Graham Parsons, 146 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 1: who would get the Birds to cover Merle's life in 147 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: prison on their excellent nineteen sixty eight album Sweetheart of 148 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: the Rodeo. But this was late nineteen seventy three, which 149 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: meant that Graham Parsons, who never got to make a 150 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:34,000 Speaker 1: record with his hero, was dead, and Merle with If 151 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,400 Speaker 1: We Make It through December now creeping into the top 152 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: third of the Billboard Hot one hundred. It was pushing 153 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:43,720 Speaker 1: past all that Oki paranoia and cementing his reputation as 154 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: country music's Shakespeare. It was a reputation that wasn't so 155 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: easily won. First, Merle Haggard had to navigate his way 156 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,800 Speaker 1: through multiple divorces, potential financial ruin, and a whirlwind romance 157 00:09:55,840 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: with drugs that would make one of them Muskogee boys blush. 158 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 1: Merle Haggard had to stop himself and become just another loser. 159 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:29,439 Speaker 1: Freddie Powers emerged from his houseboat with a can of 160 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 1: beer in his hand and his own poodle, Grandma by 161 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: his side. She had to grow into that name over 162 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:40,040 Speaker 1: the years, and only now toothless, half blind. It was 163 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,040 Speaker 1: a tongue that hung out of the side of her mouth. 164 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: The Grandma truly fit her, just like Lake Shasta here 165 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 1: in northern California now truly fit Freddy. Shasta was not Reno. 166 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: Reno was penthouse sweets and playing in the house band 167 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: with the casino knocking back Cutty Sark with wise guys 168 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: like Frank Lefty Rosenthal and Tony the Auntspilatro. Reno was 169 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,160 Speaker 1: TNA twenty four to seven. Here on the lake in 170 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: Northern California, life for Freddie powers was pretty much the 171 00:11:08,800 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: same as it happened in the city now. However, he 172 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,520 Speaker 1: had vistas and horizons to look at, not to mention 173 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: that big, beautiful sky painted by the big man upstairs 174 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,439 Speaker 1: night after night. On this particular evening, the sunset in 175 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,080 Speaker 1: dramatic fashion, streaks of red and orange that he couldn't 176 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: help but look at all thumbfounded, like, just as Grandma's 177 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: drooling face was looking at it now. But just because 178 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: he was no longer in the biggest little city in 179 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 1: the world didn't mean that Freddy didn't party any longer. 180 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: On the contrary, it was then that he heard the 181 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,319 Speaker 1: familiar sound of women laughing, giggling, teaking, accompanied by their 182 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: excitable footsteps coming down the dock. It was Wednesday night, 183 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: and like every Wednesday night, once the nearby nightclub shut down, 184 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,760 Speaker 1: the crowd made their way here to the three story 185 00:11:54,800 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: houseboat docked right next to Freddy's, the houseboat that belonged 186 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 1: to none other than his songwriting part partner Merle Haggard. 187 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,280 Speaker 1: And it was on that boat that Meurle and Freddie 188 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,199 Speaker 1: hosted Lake Shasta's most popular weekly event, the Wet t 189 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:13,200 Speaker 1: Shirt Contest. It was nineteen eighty one, the same year 190 00:12:13,200 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: that Merle Haggard, at forty four years old, began smoking 191 00:12:16,280 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: weed on his doctor's recommendation. Even though a lyric from 192 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: one of his new songs that year long for a 193 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 1: time when quote a joint was just a bad place 194 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 1: to be unquote. But Merle the man, not Merle the 195 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: guy on the song, was riding high. And I'm talking 196 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: about more than the stuff they turned their noses up 197 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:36,839 Speaker 1: bad in Muskoki. Merle was also riding high on the 198 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: kind of music career that most could only dream of. 199 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 1: He just scored his twenty seventh number one country single 200 00:12:43,360 --> 00:12:46,280 Speaker 1: in fifteen years with the title track to his most 201 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: excellent album, Big City. The record was produced by his 202 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,640 Speaker 1: good friend, who was Tally one of the first to 203 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:54,560 Speaker 1: take a chance on Murreau way back when he was 204 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:56,319 Speaker 1: nothing but an ex con with a guitar and a 205 00:12:56,400 --> 00:13:00,640 Speaker 1: launder list of offenses. These days, Lewis was just Merle's 206 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,560 Speaker 1: producer and close confidant. He was the guy in charge 207 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: of spraying the chests of young women with water every 208 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:09,280 Speaker 1: Wednesday night on Merle's house park. Merle had moved up 209 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: north from Bakersfield to a ranch house at nearby reading 210 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:15,040 Speaker 1: a few years prior, But these days he spent most 211 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: of his time living on the lake. He'd invested some 212 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: of that country music money in the Silverthorne Resort, a 213 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:23,720 Speaker 1: marina there on Lake Shasta that had been a bait shop, 214 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: a restaurant, in a nightclub. They said it was a 215 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: risky financial move, but then Merle had been taking risks 216 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,240 Speaker 1: ever since the first time he hopped a train bound 217 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: for nowhere, back when he was just a kid. Everything 218 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,440 Speaker 1: he did was a risk, like that one time when 219 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:40,400 Speaker 1: he walked into Harahs and Rena and immediately lost over 220 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,480 Speaker 1: one hundred grand gambling while Freddy's old friends Tony the 221 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:46,760 Speaker 1: Ann and Lefty Rosenthal sucked down Paul Mall somewhere in 222 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: the shadows. But when he went on on tour with 223 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:52,600 Speaker 1: Dolly Parton back in nineteen seventy four, I mean, have 224 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:56,240 Speaker 1: you seen any photos of Dolly Parton in nineteen seventy four, 225 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: she was Marilyn Monroe with a guitar. Quote Merle, he 226 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: knew the risk he was taking when he asked her 227 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: to tour with him. He knew better. Just one year earlier, 228 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: he was working on a song about Dolly called Always 229 00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 1: Wanting You. He finished writing it at three in the 230 00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: morning and then called her right then woke Dolly up, 231 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: woke up Dolly's husband too, while Merle's own wife, Bonnie, 232 00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: was sleeping next to Merle in their bed, so that 233 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 1: Merle could sing the song he just wrote for Dolly 234 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:29,440 Speaker 1: over the phone, a song called always Wanting You. Merle 235 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: Haggard just shooting his shot in the middle of the night, 236 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:34,440 Speaker 1: like he and Dolly were the only two people in 237 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:37,880 Speaker 1: the world. So you won't be surprised to learn that 238 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: Merlele pursued Dolly so much that she eventually left the 239 00:14:41,080 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: tour early. Nor will you be surprised to know that 240 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't long before Bonnie, who was Merle's second wife, 241 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: left him and took the kids, the ones from his 242 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: first marriage, the ones that Bonnie helped to take care of. However, 243 00:14:54,440 --> 00:14:56,920 Speaker 1: you might be surprised to learn that Bonnie was then 244 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:02,360 Speaker 1: a bridesmaid in Merle's next marriage, his third, to a 245 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: woman named Leona, his second Leona. That is, I know 246 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: this is super confusing, and look, as much as I'm 247 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,960 Speaker 1: curious how that conversation went down, Like, hey, honey, you 248 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: know who should be in our wedding party the woman 249 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: I just divorced. The fact of the matter is, we 250 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: just don't have time to get into all that here. 251 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: Suffice it to say that Merle Haggard had an eye 252 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: that wandered about as far and wide as his tour 253 00:15:27,160 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: bus wandered to the lonesome highways of America. Back on 254 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 1: Lake Shasta. That roving eye didn't have far to wander, 255 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: just the distance from the Silverthornes nightclub back to Merle's 256 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: house po which at eighteen feet wide, was three feet 257 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: wider than was legally allowed on the lake, in which 258 00:15:45,040 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: boasted a lover's layer down in the bottom deck, which 259 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 1: is where Merle and Freddy had given a private tour 260 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: to some of those wet T shirt winners Throughout the years, 261 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: and Merle Haggard led a completely hedonistic lifestyle on Lake Shasta, 262 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: a lifestyle of weeds, smoking, beer, drinking, and routine philandering, 263 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: while simultaneously cashing in on a meat and potatoes rule 264 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,480 Speaker 1: following above board American mail image that made him more 265 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: money than any table or slot handle ever had in Reno. 266 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: But it wasn't all winning hands. All these soaking wet 267 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 1: women running around his and Freddy's houseboats were now posing 268 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,480 Speaker 1: a similar threat to Merle's domestic bliss as Dolly Parton 269 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:28,600 Speaker 1: once had, and so it wasn't long before Merle's third 270 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 1: marriage ended. Leona number two left, and she hired the 271 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: notorious lawyer Melvin Belly, one time attorney for Mickey Cohen 272 00:16:36,200 --> 00:16:38,480 Speaker 1: and Jack Ruby, who was able to get her alimony 273 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: before the ink was even dry on their divorce papers. 274 00:16:41,760 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: So in nineteen eighty three, Murle was coughing up twenty 275 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: five thousand dollars a month to Leona, this on top 276 00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: of whatever alimony he was already paying to his first 277 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: two wives. And then Bonnie, his second wife, announced that 278 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,560 Speaker 1: she was getting remarried, and for some reason, that new 279 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: piece of information just hit mo Gar like a knife 280 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 1: twisted deep into his gut. Merle sat in his house 281 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:09,280 Speaker 1: poke the clouds gathering outside in the rain, just starting 282 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: to pitter patter on the boat's roof. He'd lost to Leona, Bonnie, 283 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: and Dolly, and he was losing money like water down 284 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: a wide drain. He was beginning to wonder if his 285 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:23,800 Speaker 1: Christmas song if We Make It through December had suddenly 286 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 1: and unexpectedly become relevant to his personal life. Losing money, 287 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: losing women, losing face. These were all familiar pains, paines 288 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:37,359 Speaker 1: he once thought he wouldn't have to experience again. But 289 00:17:37,440 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: here he was just plain losing and losing sucked. He 290 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: needed somehow to dull the hurt, the regret, the wacky 291 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:49,240 Speaker 1: tobacci he was so fond of these days. Wasn't going 292 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,200 Speaker 1: to do the trick, not even close. So Merle Haggard 293 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: withdrew two thousand dollars from his bank account. He got 294 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:58,680 Speaker 1: himself as much cocaine as that amount of money to buy, 295 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: and then he found on one of those able and 296 00:18:01,119 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 1: willing Lake Shasta girls and took her down below sea 297 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:06,880 Speaker 1: level on his houseboat and didn't come up for air 298 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: for the next five months. We'll be right back after this. We're, We're, We're. 299 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,880 Speaker 1: The white powder that lay at the feet of Merle 300 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:28,959 Speaker 1: Haggard was Machu Pitcher. It was Kilimanjaro. It was a 301 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 1: mountain of dust that had to be conquered, step by step, 302 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 1: hour by hour, day by day. This was a challenge, 303 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: It spoke to Merle, taunting him, You man enough to 304 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:43,679 Speaker 1: make this all disappear, just like your money, just like 305 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: your wives, Merle Haggard accepted that challenge. He was up 306 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: to his eyeballs in cocaine. The Lake Shasta Chik keeping 307 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,919 Speaker 1: him company down here in the lover's lair area of 308 00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:56,159 Speaker 1: his oversized houseboat rolled over in the bed, grabbed the 309 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: rolled up dollar bill and did another line. She threw 310 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 1: her head back, her wide, bloodshot eyes meeting murles. They 311 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,920 Speaker 1: laughed and swayed to the sounds coming from the cassette deck. 312 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:12,840 Speaker 1: Lefty Frizelle, Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and Willie Nelson and 313 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:17,159 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash. It was Johnny who once saying, let the 314 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:21,760 Speaker 1: cocaine be you know what, Fuck off, Johnny Cash. The 315 00:19:21,800 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: stuff worked for Whalon. Besides, Cash had a head full 316 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: of amphetamines around the clock, So what did he know 317 00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: about it? Merle didn't want to know nothing. He didn't 318 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: want to contemplate the world or his place in it. 319 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,240 Speaker 1: If an alien reached down from the sky above and 320 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 1: tried to make contact, he wouldn't even notice. Not right now. 321 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,960 Speaker 1: He just wanted to snore it and fuck his way 322 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,920 Speaker 1: into oblivion. He heard screams of ecstasy coming from Freddy's 323 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:50,760 Speaker 1: boat dock next door and figured his good friend was 324 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: doing the same, but Murle set the pace. Everyone else 325 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,840 Speaker 1: just locked in with him. As the sound of a 326 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:00,240 Speaker 1: fiddle and then a pedal steel came crying and the 327 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 1: stereo speakers. Merle got a finger full of blow on 328 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:06,480 Speaker 1: his digit and rubbed it all over his gums, pulled 329 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: back the sheets and jumped into bed. The Lake Shasta 330 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: girl was writhing around, talking that dirty talk in his ear. 331 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:17,200 Speaker 1: He closed his eyes and thought of Dolly Parton, thought 332 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:20,800 Speaker 1: of her breath, hot and sweet, and the bandana and 333 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:25,080 Speaker 1: her buoyant blonde hair, the big hoop earings, the denim shirt, 334 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:28,399 Speaker 1: the smile that lay waste to his weak heart, and 335 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: then everything went black. A few months earlier, in the 336 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:39,000 Speaker 1: fall of nineteen eighty two, Merle Haggard was passed out 337 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: on his tour bus, which was parked right outside Willie 338 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: Nelson's recording studio in Petronallis, Texas. He was sleeping like 339 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: a dead man. He felt like one. Two. Merle and 340 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: Willie had been up for five days and five nights, 341 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,080 Speaker 1: chasing weed and booze with shots of maple syrup, lemon juice, 342 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: and cayenne pepper, silvia, ying and yang like the good 343 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 1: would balance out the bad or so on the thinking. 344 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: Merle and Willie were working on a new album together 345 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,399 Speaker 1: with the legendary producer Chips Moment, best known for his 346 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: work with Elvis Presley, Tammy Wynette, and Bobby Womack. Now 347 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: Murle was no stranger to the charts, but he wanted 348 00:21:18,119 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: some of that Willy and Chips juice the kid that 349 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,639 Speaker 1: had recently set Willy's cover of Always on My Mind 350 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,199 Speaker 1: not just the number one on the country chart, but 351 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: to number five on the mainstream Billboard Top one hundred. 352 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: So Merle and Willie got down to business recording a 353 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: bunch of each other's songs. They did Murle's Reason to 354 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: Quit and Willie's Half a Man and Opportunity to Cry, 355 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 1: among others. But as strong as the material was, Chips 356 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 1: didn't hear a hit along the lines of Always on 357 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,919 Speaker 1: My Mind, which, at this point, after being up for 358 00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:51,760 Speaker 1: five days straight, Murle didn't think he could point out 359 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: a hit song in a police lineup. Thus he found 360 00:21:55,119 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: himself snoring away what was left to the night on 361 00:21:58,440 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: the bed inside his big bus. At four in the morning, 362 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: he woke to a loud banging on the bus's door, 363 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:09,440 Speaker 1: and then more banging, just this incessant knocking that would 364 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,520 Speaker 1: not quit Jesus, Merle thought, so he peeled his face 365 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: away from his pillow, his head pounding, and the taste 366 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: of cayenne still burning in the back of his throat. 367 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,840 Speaker 1: Who was waking him up at this hour? He stumbled 368 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: to the door and threw it open in dramatic fashion, 369 00:22:25,800 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: and there was Willie, smiling, stoned, holding a brown paper 370 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: bag in his hand. On the bag were scribbled the 371 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,760 Speaker 1: lyrics to a song by another Texas songwriter named Towns 372 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: van Zan, a song called Poncho and Lefty. It was 373 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: Willy's daughter who had brought the tune to his attention 374 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: through an Emmy Lou Harris album of all things. Goddamn, Merle, 375 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: this isn't the perfect song for the two of us 376 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: to sing. I don't know what is. Merle rubbed his eyes. 377 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: That's what this was about, a song. Merle just nodded 378 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 1: his head, his eyes half closed, told Willie he'd see 379 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,600 Speaker 1: him later, and began to shut the door. Willy put 380 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:07,439 Speaker 1: his hand up and stopped the door from closing. All 381 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:12,760 Speaker 1: the way. You don't understand, Willy said, Chips the band, everybody, 382 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,000 Speaker 1: they're all set up in the studio waiting for us. 383 00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 1: We're doing this now, Merle. The next day, as Merle 384 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: and Willie played a round of golf on Willy's course, 385 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:26,680 Speaker 1: Merle couldn't get Pancho and Lefty out of his head. 386 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,600 Speaker 1: The song was incredible, but the thing was he had 387 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,840 Speaker 1: no memory of recording it that previous morning, even though 388 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:36,719 Speaker 1: Willi said they had. In fact, Willy said they did 389 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: it in one take. Oh God, Merle thought, how fucked 390 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: up was he and how fucked up did he sound 391 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:45,680 Speaker 1: on the track? He asked Willie to get head back 392 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:48,720 Speaker 1: to the studio take one more pass at it not possible. 393 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: Willie responded, Epic Records already has it and they love it. 394 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:57,159 Speaker 1: When it was released in January nineteen eighty three, Merle 395 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: Haggard and Willie Nelson's album Poncho and Lefty was hailed 396 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: by the press as a career highlight for both artists. 397 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: They reached number one on the Country Album's chart and 398 00:24:06,359 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: even cracked the top forty of the pop chart. On 399 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: the title track, especially, Merle Haggard sounded like peak Merle Haggard, 400 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:18,680 Speaker 1: which is to say, warm, weathered, and laid back, even 401 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: though Merle couldn't remember singing a word but peak Merrele Haggard, 402 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: the authentic Merle Haggard. That guy soon became bizarro Merle Haggard. 403 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: And it happened as nineteen eighty three dragged on, and 404 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:34,919 Speaker 1: he found himself holed up on his houseboat for months 405 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:37,479 Speaker 1: on end, making his way through what felt like a 406 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: bottomless pile a cocaine. For all of his life, Merle 407 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: felt most at home on the open road. He had 408 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 1: to keep moving, going from one town to another, watching 409 00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: America pass him by. It reminded him of his childhood 410 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: hopping trains, which, despite as many run ins with the law, 411 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,680 Speaker 1: was a simpler time, a time of absolute freedom. The 412 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: opposite of freedom was being stuck in one house, one room, 413 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,119 Speaker 1: the same four walls and roof, all conspiring to close 414 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: in on you, suffocate you, and kill you slowly. That 415 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:20,919 Speaker 1: wasn't living out there somewhere anywhere. That was living so 416 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:23,959 Speaker 1: down here in his lover's lair, hidden from the natural 417 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,440 Speaker 1: beauty of Lake Shasta outside, hidden from his family, his exes, 418 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:31,399 Speaker 1: and Merle was slowly dying the death of a man 419 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:35,800 Speaker 1: deprived of that freedom. One day passed, and then another 420 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:41,000 Speaker 1: then another, and soon Murrell realized he'd spent five days 421 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,719 Speaker 1: straight at doing cocaine NonStop with a young, hot, naked 422 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: woman at his side the entire time, and they hadn't 423 00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: had sex once. Was it wailing who said this shit 424 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 1: would turn his crank? Murle's crank wasn't just not turning, 425 00:25:55,400 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: it was broken. It took until the coke ran out 426 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 1: from Earle to hose of this epiphany, but when he did, 427 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: everything was so clear. Fucked the strokes. Fuck feeling sorry 428 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:12,680 Speaker 1: for yourself hidden away in a hole. After five months, 429 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 1: Merle Haggard walked up the steps to the main deck 430 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,840 Speaker 1: of his house boat and out into the California sunshine 431 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:38,879 Speaker 1: started winning again. Hey guys, Earlier in this episode, I 432 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,239 Speaker 1: made this tossed off comment about how Merle was so 433 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,400 Speaker 1: focused on getting wasted that he would even ignore attempted 434 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:49,520 Speaker 1: contact by aliens. Well, here's the thing that wasn't exactly 435 00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 1: just a tossed off comment, because not only did Merle 436 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,040 Speaker 1: Haggard believe in the existence of aliens, he had his 437 00:26:55,080 --> 00:26:57,920 Speaker 1: own story about an alien encounter. And I want to 438 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 1: tell you this story and I will, but to hear it, 439 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 1: you got to be a member of Disgrace sland all access. 440 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,440 Speaker 1: Just go to Disgrace samdpod dot com to sign up 441 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:08,840 Speaker 1: and hear the rest of that one. All right. Now, 442 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: back to our Merle Haggard episode. In the winter of 443 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:16,960 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five, two years after Merle Haggard swore off 444 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: cocaine for the first time, Lewis Tally, Merle's old friend, producer, 445 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 1: press officer, and official T shirt soaker in those notorious 446 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: Wednesday Night contests, let a woman from the Silverthorne Bar 447 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: in Lake Shasta over to Merle's boat. Murle was out 448 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:35,439 Speaker 1: of town preparing to launch another tour, and he had 449 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,240 Speaker 1: graciously allowed Louis to use his boat in his absence, because, 450 00:27:39,240 --> 00:27:41,280 Speaker 1: as you now well know, if you've got to do 451 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: something that you don't want your husband and wife to 452 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:45,200 Speaker 1: know about, you do it in the privacy of Merle 453 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: Haggard's eighteen foot boat, which is exactly the sort of 454 00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: thing Lewis had in mind on this night. He led 455 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: the woman below deck, and then while she was making 456 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:58,119 Speaker 1: herself a little more comfortable, Lewis poured the remaining contents 457 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:00,359 Speaker 1: of one of Murle's bottles of smearing off into some 458 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: glasses next, he pulled a ten dollars bill from his 459 00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,159 Speaker 1: pocket and attached it to the side of the empty 460 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: bottle with a rubber band. Lewis didn't take advantage of 461 00:28:09,280 --> 00:28:12,159 Speaker 1: his friends, and he repaid his debts, and then he 462 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,200 Speaker 1: walked toward the bed and got busy doing the things 463 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,879 Speaker 1: he came here to do. Only he didn't finish what 464 00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: he started, because at some point in the evening, during 465 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 1: this clandestine colonel rendezvous down in Merle Haggard's Lover's there 466 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: on Merle Haggard's houseboat, Lewis tally had a heart attack 467 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 1: and died. By the time anyone found his body and 468 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: found that empty bottle of smearing off with a ten 469 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: spot stuck to it, the woman, whoever she was, was 470 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: long gone. Murrell was devastated. One of the last things 471 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: Lewis had shared with Murrell was a tuned by the 472 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: great country songwriter Blaze Fold he called If I Could 473 00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: Only Fly. Lewis told him, merle If this ain't the 474 00:28:54,440 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: best damn song I've heard in about fifteen years. So 475 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,600 Speaker 1: Murrell played it at Lewis's funeral and then again on 476 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,000 Speaker 1: the TV show Nashville Now the following year, and then 477 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: fourteen years later in the year two thousand, when it 478 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:10,520 Speaker 1: became the title track of Merle's fiftieth album, one of 479 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: the best reviewed albums of his entire career. Released when 480 00:29:14,360 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: Merle was a clean and sober sixty three years old, 481 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,600 Speaker 1: it wasn't one of Merle's songs, but it sounded like one. 482 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: It had that deceptive simplicity to it, as well as 483 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:28,080 Speaker 1: that existential longing found in so many of his own songs, 484 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: just like his Christmas song for the Ages if We 485 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: Make It Through December. But Merle knew that particular tune 486 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: wasn't really about Christmas. It was about endurance. It was 487 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:44,960 Speaker 1: about the busted, the broke, the branded, the outlawed. It 488 00:29:45,040 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: was about anyone who had ever felt left behind. And 489 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: that's why Murle mattered, not because he made it through 490 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,440 Speaker 1: many more Decembers, including the one where he put all 491 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: the blow and booze behind him for real this time, 492 00:29:57,400 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: but because he gave the rest of us losers reason 493 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:03,360 Speaker 1: to believe that we could too. To listen to If 494 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 1: We Make It Through December is to be reminded that 495 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: life is sometimes just a string of bad months strung 496 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: together with hope. Survival itself. That's the holiday miracle. And 497 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: though Merle Haggard was no saint, and he certainly was 498 00:30:18,360 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 1: no angel, not on that houseboat, not with that bottle, 499 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: certainly not while high on cocaine, he lived long enough 500 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: to sing his way through one December after another until 501 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:31,920 Speaker 1: it lasts. The longing he felt in that blaze folly 502 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: tune could be felt no more until another loser outlaw 503 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 1: was recast as a legend free from all disgrace. I'm 504 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: Jake Brennan, and this is disgraceland, all right, thanks right away, 505 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:03,040 Speaker 1: Me and Merle on his houseboat in this episode. Question 506 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: of the week, simple one, Who is your favorite country 507 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:10,520 Speaker 1: singer of all time? Man tough to top Merle, George Jones, 508 00:31:10,600 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: Johnny Cash? Who are you talking about? As first? It 509 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: doesn't be songwriter, just your favorite. The guy gotta gets 510 00:31:16,320 --> 00:31:18,320 Speaker 1: in there with his voice. It just really makes you 511 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 1: feel everything. Six one seven nine oh six six six 512 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 1: three eight voicemail and text to get me your answers 513 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,720 Speaker 1: and you might hear yourself on the after Party bonus 514 00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:29,240 Speaker 1: episode coming up right after this. Guys, if you want 515 00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:32,240 Speaker 1: more stories for music history, more crime grime, the dirty 516 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: details that don't make the algorithm or the biopics. Become 517 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,040 Speaker 1: an all Access member of Disgraceland on Patreon or Apple 518 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:42,240 Speaker 1: Podcasts and get bonus and exclusive content, along with ad 519 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 1: free listening and access to me and your fellow discos 520 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: in the Patreon community chat. Go to www dot disgracelampod 521 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 1: dot com to sign up. All right, here comes some credits. 522 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: Disgraceland was created by Yours Truly and is produced in 523 00:31:55,120 --> 00:31:58,520 Speaker 1: partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be 524 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: found on the show notes page disgracelampod dot com. If 525 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,479 Speaker 1: you're listening as a Disgraceland All Access member, thank you 526 00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,440 Speaker 1: for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, 527 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:10,760 Speaker 1: you can become a member right now by going to 528 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: disgracelampod dot com. Rate and review the show and follow 529 00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: us on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook at disgracelampod and 530 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:23,200 Speaker 1: on YouTube at YouTube dot com, slash at disgracelampod, rock 531 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: a rolla he then Land