Merle Haggard - Working Man Blues

[mix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbEstJ98TcM

[Inchworm]

1. I miss 'em

Now it is a different "blues." ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy_CZDtIuz0#t=2m40s

My sweet baby happens to be a puppy, too

:D

[jobycom]

2. What a voice.

I was glad to see Johnny Cash get so much love before he died, but I always thought Haggard and Waylon Jennings were better singers and deserved a lot more love. Hag's still alive, of course, but he's still not getting the attention Cash did.

[mix]

11. All of them are great, hard to choose...I'd have to go with Waylon.

:hi:

[jobycom]

13. Waylon's my favorite, too. nt

[abq e streeter]

3. Wondered where you been (maybe I just haven't been checking in that much)

getting ready for some serious COLD up there? (hell, it's gonna get down to about 12 tomorrow night here; bet Pecos'll be around zero.)

Edited to say that along with the other leftists of my generation, I at first had great disdain for Haggard and only later came to appreciate the great artist he was and is.

[mix]

5. I love these storms...hope all is well to the south.

That last one, we got 20-25 inches! How are your gigs? I hope to get down to ABQ in a few weeks.

[abq e streeter]

6. Gig with Bobby Keys was incredible; no matter how many times I play with him, it's almost surreal.

Just knowing who he is in the history of rock and roll, and realizing I'm standing next to him, singing songs that millions of people have heard him play is something I can't even describe...Had one guy in the band though that was totally drunk, and almost ruined it,and it pissed me off so bad that I'm quitting that band. I can't stand that kind of un-professionalism especially at that high profile of a show.... The Cadillac Bob gig at the El Rey had a smaller than usual but enthusiastic crowd, and as usual , they were consumate pros...
Cool that you'll be down this way; give me a heads up if you feel like it. Hopefully it won't be right when I'm having some gum surgery in late January or early Feb. Kinda exciting I guess when storms this intense roll in , but one reason I left Chicago all those years ago was from being tired of bitter cold, so not looking forward to that here this weekend.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. Towards the end, my band had 8, sometimes 9 people playing up on stage...

.
.
.
...(my DREAM was to have 6 more musicians -- a 3-pc horn section
and three ENORMOUS belt-'em-out gospel singers in choir robes
singing back-up)...
.
.
.
...and at some of the places we played, the crowd was virtually
nonexistent during our first set -- but might be packed in by
the hundreds shoulder-to-shoulder by the end of the night.
.
.
.
I had a FAVORITE line to use when we would be up there playing
our hearts out for half-a-dozen people.
.
.
.
"The band actually LIKES audiences this small, because if you
start to get ugly... we can kick your ass."
.
.
.

[abq e streeter]

8. Cadillac Bob is a once a year reunion and we have; um...I actually have to count

let's see, 3 female singers, drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, trumpet, sax, and me on a little of everything (some vocals, some sax, some harmonica) ...and we usually have an electric violin ,but he was so sick that night he couldn't get out of bed (I don't think he's ever missed a gig with anyone before) , so usually eleven I guess. Small for this show was about 120-150 people; we usually have anywhere from 250-400, but the band member in charge of the business end of it got carried away with what he thought people were willing to pay, and jacked the ticket prices up at the same time so many people are hurting financially and it came back to bite us. Band sentiment was overwhelmingly against raising the price but the way it's set up is that it's his decision.
Meanwhile ,the storm we're talking about that's coming in is going to have heavy snow plus near-record cold---Tucson sounds like a pretty good place to be for the next few days(mix lives in the high country up past Santa Fe, and they must be about ready to get clobbered; even in Albuquerque we're supposed to go down to single digit temperatures, or at least near, the next two nights).
P.S....... the place where this band made its reputation locally in the mid to late 70's as the house band was a wild place where somebody was kicking someone else's ass regularly, with fortunately only sporadic stabbings or even rarer shootings (although the fact that the crowd was generally as stoned as they were drunk helped mellow it out a little).

[mix]

10. Very cool about your Keys gig, a lot of interesting people in NM.

I met Rickie Nelson's drummer from the early TV years a few days ago...I want to check out the Hispanic Museum in ABQ and the new fresco there, let's try to meet up for lunch, hopefully before or after your surgery (hope it goes well).

Pecos is snowed in and cold this morning, nothing like Chi-town though.

[abq e streeter]

14. Rick Nelson's drummer; how cool.

I am a big Rick Nelson fan. I still vividly remember hearing the news on the radio about the plane crash; my god, that'll be 25 years ago tomorrow....I was in a hotel room in Taos getting dressed for the New Year's gig. Just knocked the wind out of me. I had a chance to see him a few years before at the Caravan East here in Albq, and I don't know why, but didn't go. I of course, could kick myself now.
I'm not surprised Pecos is snowed in. We're just getting light snow and flurries here but still allegedly going to get 2 to 4 inches tonight . And Chicago is supposed to FIFTY THREE degrees tomorrow.
Meeting for lunch sounds good...

[SCantiGOP]

4. Very timely

There's an interview with him about his receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Kennedy Center the other night from the President. Here's part of what he said about Obama and his detractors:

What was the highlight for the whole thing for you?

I probably enjoyed meeting the presidents, especially Bill (Clinton).

Is he a big fan of yours?

Well he said he was, and he never lied to me (laughs). It was also nice to meet Obama and find him very different from the media makeout. It's really almost criminal what they do with our President. There seems to be no shame or anything. They call him all kinds of names all day long, saying he's doing certain things that he's not. It's just a big old political game that I don't want to be part of.

Here's the link to the full story:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/12/29/merle.haggard.kennedy.honor.roll/index.html?iref=allsearch

[RandomThoughts]

9. I agree, I don't want to be part of those games either.

But when they get people to be part of it, and they don't even know it, seems you have to say something.

But saying something does not have to be judgmental of some person on a side, if possible observational comments seems to be better, with acknowledgment that they can be wrong or right.

[mix]

12. You got me. I saw that too and thought: post some Haggard nt