Merle Haggard

With a title like 40 #1 Hits, it's easy to assume that the collection will contain nothing but number one hits, whether it's from the Billboard charts or Cash Box, and it's also easy to assume that it would contain all of an artist's number one hits. In the case of Merle Haggard's double-disc 2004 collection, neither is true. Using just the Billboard charts as a guide – which is an assumption, since the liner notes do not specify which charts are used, but Billboard is the standard-bearer – singles like "I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall" and "If We're Not Back in Love by Monday" did not top the charts, and singles like "What Have You Got Planned Tonight Diana" that did reach number one are absent.

2013 collection from the Country icon. Merle Haggard is a household name, one of the best-known Country Music singers of all time. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the awards, honors, and accolades in his long career are too numerous to list. Haggard is simply one of the greatest Country stars in the history of the genre. From 'Swinging Doors' in 1965 until the end of the decade, Haggard had an incredible string of hit records. 'The Fugitive' was his first #1 single, and was a composition by Liz Anderson, Lynn Anderson's mother. This collection closes with Merle Haggard's final single of the 1960s: 'Okie From Muskogee.' The song drew strong reactions as Haggard and The Strangers were testing it out on audiences before recording it, and according to pedal steel guitarist Norm Hamlet (Strangers 1967-present), ''The first time we played it, the audience just went crazy. We knew it was going to be huge.'' The single was indeed another #1 smash, but it was also something else entirely. It was the song that would change Merle Haggard's career.

Last Of The Breed is a 2007 collaboration album between country artists Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price. It is a double CD. released on the Lost Highway label.

Same Train, A Different Time (subtitled Merle Haggard Sings the Great Songs of Jimmie Rodgers) is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1969, featuring covers of songs by legendary country music songwriter Jimmie Rodgers. Same Train, Different Time is Merle Haggard's affectionate tribute to Jimmie Rodgers. Haggard provides narration between the songs, offering tales of Rodgers' life and music. While the album is rooted in the past, the key to its success is how Haggard updates these traditional songs without losing sight of their roots. There are contemporary folk, country and blues influences scattered throughout the record, adding depth to the music and proving that Rodgers' music is indeed timeless.

Universally known to his fans and peers as Hag, the late Merle Haggard was one of the prime exponents of the Bakersfield Sound, developed in the early 60s as an alternative to the increasingly smooth and homogenised country music that was coming out of Nashville. As well as having one of the most distinctive and memorable voices of his generation, Haggard was also one of country's most prolific hitmakers and composers, writing more than three quarters of the hundred plus songs he placed on Billboard's Country charts between 1962 and 1990, as well as numerous album tracks.

"Down Every Road 1962–1994" is a compilation album by American country singer Merle Haggard, released in 1996. It covers music from his earliest work in the early 1960s to his Epic releases of the late 1980s. The boxed set includes three CDs of material recorded for Capitol (up to 1977) and one of Haggard's later MCA and Epic recordings. It was ranked at #477 on 2012 updated version of Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, stating that it "is the ultimate collection from one of country's finest singers."

Sing Me Back Home: The Music Of Merle Haggard, an all-star concert event taping at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee took place on Thursday, April 6, 2017 in honor of what would have been Merle’s 80th birthday and the one-year anniversary of his passing.

While Hag keeps the mood light with selections such as "Santa Claus and Popcorn" and more traditional fare, he also has some bite with the high and lonesome "Daddy Won't Be Home for Christmas." His matter-of-fact tale about layoffs at the factory, "If We Make It Through December," has become timeless in tough times.