Happy Birthday Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard was born on April 6 in 1937 in Oildale, California. In honor of his birthday, check out this Austin City Limits performance of “Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today.” Happy birthday Hag.

Haggard appeared on a number of TV shows during the 1970s. We have previously mentioned his appearance on the Centennial mini-series in 1978. You may check out another 1970s TV appearance on a 1976 episode of The Waltons, where Haggard sings “Nobody’s Darlin’.”

What is your favorite Merle Haggard song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Highwaymen Reunite at Grammys (Sort Of)

    Sunday night the 56th Annual Grammy Awards had various moments, including what was billed as a reunion of The Highwaymen. The two surviving members of the supergroup — Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson — were joined by Merle Haggard and Blake Shelton. But the performance was only partly a tribute to the band that released three albums and a recognition of its deceased members Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, as most of the performance acknowledged the individuals on stage. That was okay, though, as it was good to see the three legends on stage with Blake Shelton giving the group a little shot of “youth.”

    As you may see in the following video, the performance opens with the two surviving Highwaymen singing a little of the group’s hit “Highwayman,” a song about reincarnation written by Jimmy Webb. Then, they are joined by Haggard and Shelton, singing Haggrard’s “Okie from Muskogee” and “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys,” which had been a hit for Nelson and Jennings.

    Many years ago, I saw the original Highwaymen perform at the Houston Astrodome. It was a memorable experience to see the country music legends all together, and at that performance they did a lot of individual songs too. So in a sense, the reunion continued that tradition of being more than just about songs by the Highwaymen. With Cash and Jennings gone, of course the band can never be the same. But like another Grammy sort-of reunion of another great quartet that had Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr playing together, we will take what we can get, while also remembering those who can no longer perform.

    What was your favorite performance at the Grammys? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    A Story of the Land and the People: Centennial Miniseries

    Centennial This week, Alex Karras, a defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions passed away. Many will remember him for his excellent play on the field or his nights in the Monday Night Football booth. Or maybe they will remember him as Mongo in Blazing Saddles (1974) or as George Papadapolison the TV series Webster (1983-1987). But to me he will always be Hans Brumbaugh, the immigrant who started out as a gold miner and ended up as a Colorado farmer in the miniseries Centennial.

    I have already written about one of my favorite TV miniseries, Lonesome Dove, but another one of my all-time favorites is the 1978 12-part Centennial, which originally ran on TV in two and three hour segments over a four-month period. The show dramatized the settling of the West over centuries by focusing on one town in Colorado. Like many of the 1970s miniseries, the show was a who’s who of TV stars and others, including: Chief Dan George, Robert Conrad, Richard Chamberlain, Lynn Redgrave, Sharon Gless, Timothy Dalton, Barbara Carrera, Robert Vaughn, Brian Keith, Raymond Burr, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, Donald Pleasence, Dennis Weaver and Alex Karras. Another two of the stars, Andy Griffith and Chad Everett, also recently passed away. Rotten Tomatoes reports that at the time, Centennial was the most-expensive, the longest, and most complicated miniseries up to that time, with four directors and more than 100 speaking parts.

    When the miniseries first ran, I rushed out and bought the very long book by James Michener, who wrote many other novels adapted for film or TV like South Pacific (1958) and Hawaii (1966). Like many of Michener’s other books, Centennial tells the story of an area in Colorado beginning with the land and following animals and generations of people through centuries. In the TV version, the land formation information is condensed down to a few minutes in the opening clip below and we begin following the people on the land. But even the mentions of the animals and the land foreshadow how they will affect the humans on the land in later episodes. The story really begins when the narration drops off and Robert Conrad appears as a trapper around the 6:30 mark.

    While the miniseries and novel are not about real people, many of the characters are based upon real people and many of the events reflect real events. One of the things that makes the series work so well is that Michener and the producers convey real history while also telling compelling stories about people using fiction’s freedoms. Among other things, Michener’s practice of doing extensive research results in a tale that incorporates many people often underrepresented in Westerns. The series’s portrayal of strong pioneer women and the struggles they faced, as well as its portrayal of the tragedies heaped upon the Native Americans will likely go beyond what you might expect from a 1970s TV miniseries.

    It is hard to tell a compelling story when a large time period and generations are covered, but the miniseries keeps the focus on several characters from youth to old age. Some of the episodes, such as one about a cattle drive, seems to digress to a new group of characters, but eventually you see the connections. If there is a weakness in the series, it is when it finally jumps ahead to modern times in the final episode and tries to tie all of the history together through a local election. While the final episode does not quite live up to what it should be for such an outstanding miniseries and it does not give the payoff you should get from a 26-1/2-hour series, it does not diminish the enjoyment of the rest of the show. I like what the writers tried to do with the final episode, even if it does not live up to the rest of the series, and the final show goes out on a high note with a touching performance by Merle Haggard. (Spoiler Warning: This segment shows the ending of the series, but it does not really ruin much.)

    Conclusion: If you like tales of the American West and do not mind history mixed with fiction if it tells a good story with interesting characters, then check out Centennial, an excellent Western and human saga in the form of a mini-series. The series is available on DVD.

    What do you think of Centennial? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Buck Owens: Don’t Judge a Man’s Music By His Overalls

    Buck Owens Hee Haw On March 25 in 2006, Buck Owens, who was born Alvis Edgar Owens Jr., passed away. When I was a kid, I thought Buck Owens was just a goofy guy who wore his overalls backwards and joked around on Hee Haw with Roy Clark. But as I grew up and learned more about classic country music, I discovered that Owens was a legend who made great music with his band, The Buckaroos.

    Along with Merle Haggard, Owens was one of the first to stand up against the slick Nashville music to help create and popularize a rock-influenced honky tonk music called “the Bakersfield sound” that influenced and continues to influence many great country artists like Brad Paisley. In the clip below, Owens and his long-time legendary guitarist Don Rich performed “Love’s Gonna Live Here” in 1966 on the Jimmy Dean Show.

    One of the artists touched by Owens is Dwight Yoakam. After Owens lost his friend and guitarist Don Rich in a motorcycle accident in 1974, Owens drifted out of the spotlight and eventually stopped recording music. In 1988, though, Dwight Yoakam helped bring Owens back to popularity when the two recorded a new version of Owens’s 1973 hit written by Homer Joy, “Streets of Bakersfield.”

    The collaboration between Yoakam and Owens on “Streets of Bakersfield” gave Owens his first number one song in sixteen years. I love this song.

    A Buck Owens biography portrayed Owens, who was married several times as sort of a jerk at times. But like he asks in “Streets of Bakersfield” about walking in another person’s shoes (or overalls), “[H]ow many of you that sit and judge me / Have ever walked the streets of Bakersfield?”

    Country musicians were not the only ones who recognized the talent of Buck Owens and the great Bakersfield sound. In “Far Away Eyes” from Some Girls (1978), the Rolling Stones described driving through Bakersfield on the country sounding song. Creedence Clearwater Revival mentioned Owens in “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” (“Dinosaur Victrola, Listenin’ to Buck Owens”) on Cosmos Factory (1970).

    Even more famously, in 1965 the Beatles covered one of Owens’s songs, “Act Naturally,” on Help! with Ringo Starr singing lead. Years later, Buck and Ringo joined their humor and musical skills to record a new version of “Act Naturally.”

    When Owens passed away in 2006, he was sleeping in his bed. Hours earlier he was not feeling well and considered canceling a performance until he heard some fans had traveled from Oregon to California to hear him. So he stood on stage at his Crystal Palace club and restaurant, singing one last time in Bakersfield.

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    This Week in Pop Culture Roundup (Nov. 5, 2011)

    While you were too absorbed wondering whether or not Kim Kardashian’s wedding was a sham and in pondering the prospects of Herman Cain in light of the sexual harassment allegations, here are some of the pop culture stories you might have missed this week. Check out the links below.

    Movies

    FDR
    "An army without leaders is like a foot without a big toe." -- Stripes

    John Goodman and Justin Timberlake are in cast of upcoming Coen Brothers film about the 1960s folk scene, Inside Llewyn Davis.

    We have nothing to fear but . . . Bill Murray is playing Franklin D. Roosevelt in an upcoming film.

    Albert Brooks turned down roles in Dead Poets Society, Big, Pretty Woman, and Boogie Nights. Regarding the latter, he was up for the Burt Reynolds role, not the Mark Wahlberg role.

    What’s the story of Terrence Malick’s upcoming untitled film with Ben Affleck (in editing now)?

    The new James Bond film, featuring Javier Bardem as the villain, will be called “Skyfall.” I wonder if Bardem will flip a coin. I also wonder why the New York Daily News story at the link still has Bardem’s name misspelled in the headline a day after posting the story.

    James Franco plans to communicate with Tennessee Williams via Ouija Board.

    New movie “Tower Heist” make use of anger at Wall Street.

    In more serious film news, an Iranian appeals court overturned a sentence of prison and 90 lashes for actress Marzieh Vafamehr for appearing in a film.

    Music

    Director David Lynch is releasing his first music CD. Hear it on NPR.

    Writer-critic Chuck Klosterman wrote an article about the new Metallica and Lou Reed album . . . and how it relates to quarterback Tim Tebow.

    The official version of “Smile” from the Beach Boys was finally released. Also, here and you can stream all 40 tracks. (via @ThatEricAlper)

    Fallon spoofs Bieber. It’s not my baby, baby, baby. . .

    Liz Anderson, writer of several hit country songs for Merle Haggard and others, passed away. She co-wrote “I am a Lonesome Fugitive.”

    Television

    60 Minutes
    commentator Andy Rooney passed away on Friday in New York City. Embedding is disabled, but you may watch his final regular appearance on 60 Minutes here.

    Ellen DeGeneres talked about her experience on American Idol in a new interview.

    Conan O’Brien officiated a gay wedding on his late-night show.

    The U.S. State Department is employing a secret weapon to teach tolerance in Pakistan: Sesame Street. But Elmo leaves Big Bird in U.S.

    What’s the deal with this missing Regis guy?” Jerry Seinfeld will be first guest host on Live! with Kelly.

    What was your favorite story this week? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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