Merle Haggard Slams The “Boogie Boogie Wham-Bam” in Country
Call it Bro-Country, call it just plain bad, but Merle Haggard apparently prefers to call the puss oozing from the open sore that is modern-day radio country “Boogie Boogie Wham-Bam.” And hey, he’s Merle freaking Haggard, so he can call it whatever the hell he wants.
While speaking with David Menconi of Chapel Hill’s News Observer ahead of his show at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Memorial Hall Saturday night, when asked if he listens to much modern country, Merle Haggard said:
“I’ve gotta be honest, I don’t really listen to the radio at all anymore. Once in a while, I’ll scan it and I don’t understand what they’re doing. I can’t find the entertainment in it. I know these guys, occasionally play shows with them and they’re all good people. But I wonder if that record they’re making is something they can actually do. Too much boogie boogie wham-bam and not enough substance. It’s all the same musicians, too, probably eight to ten musicians play on every record you hear. For a musician hearing things that way, you can tell when a certain guitarist is playing. I know more about the musicians than the artists, actually.”
It’s all the same eight to ten songwriters too, and this is one of the many reasons most modern-day radio country sounds the same. Merle’s observation that “I wonder if that record they’re making is something they can actually do” is similar to Tom Petty’s recent observations about modern music and the infiltration of electronic elements when he said, “You put your name on it, but you didn’t do that.”
Though Merle says the “lack of radio play for the new stuff makes it difficult,” he is still working on new music, and has multiple projects planned.
“We’ve got four different album projects that are all almost finished, and we’ll bring them out in continuity … You know, if they put on a new song of mine, they’ve gotta take off ‘Mama Tried.’ So I’m kind of fighting myself on new releases.”
Merle has also been rumored to be a part of a “Three Musketeers” project with Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.
Merle is not known for being as outspoken about the direction of country music as some of his elder country peers, but he has been known to get heated in the past. In one legendary moment, he told CBS Records executive Rick Blackburn, “Who do you think you are? You’re the son-of-a-bitch that sat at that desk over there and fired Johnny Cash. Let it go down in history that you’re the dumbest son-of-a-bitch I’ve ever met.”
August 24, 2014 @ 9:24 am
Leave it to Merle Haggard to come up with a better name than bro country. I don’t like the boogie boogie wham bam either, Mr. Haggard. Can we all agree to call it this instead of bro country for now on?
August 24, 2014 @ 1:27 pm
Bro-country fits it to a T except for the fact that many of those songs have no country whatsoever in them. Maybe we should just call them bro, pop, or brop.
http://www.vulture.com/2013/08/rise-of-bro-country-florida-georgia-line.html
http://jezebel.com/the-united-states-of-bros-a-map-and-field-guide-1550563737
August 24, 2014 @ 9:37 am
Love Merle Haggard. I know most people on here won’t like this, but Eric Church introduced me to Merle’s music. Merle was one of his influences. Also how I got introduced to The Band. Honestly, I’ve only heard some of Merle’s more popular songs. Can anyone give me a few of his best albums? I want to give them a test ride.
August 24, 2014 @ 9:43 am
For albums I’d have to say Strangers (his first album), and his Jimmie Rodgers tribute album. Two songs you should check out are All My Friends are Gonna Be Strangers & I Can’t Hold Myself in Line.
August 24, 2014 @ 10:15 am
I’d recommend starting with the Down Every Road box set.
August 24, 2014 @ 10:51 am
Agreed. A really well done box set.
August 24, 2014 @ 10:56 am
Well, the first Merle song in my music collection was Mama Tried covered by the Grateful Dead.
The picture above is from his If I Could Only Fly album from 2000. Very good album.
August 24, 2014 @ 11:02 pm
i really like Serving 190 Proof
August 25, 2014 @ 8:49 pm
Well I got hooked with his Kick’n Out The Footlights Again with The Possum. A solid collab from start to finish. Think I’ll Just Sit Here And Drink is probably my FAVORITE drinking song ever. All the “given up” they put into that version is just phenomenal! His catalog is huge so there is much to discover.
September 3, 2014 @ 4:09 am
Scott–do yourself a favor…..spend a few bucks and invest in the Bear Familyy box set–grab any capitol LP with a rainbow colored label [like the classic Beach Boys and Beatles LPs–and grab a few Buck Owens and Red Simpson LPs too]–any Capitol 45 with a yellow and orange swirl label–and anyting on the Tally label.
August 24, 2014 @ 10:23 am
I’d check out “Roots of My Raising” or one of his live albums.
August 24, 2014 @ 11:09 am
He has a song called Too Much Boogie Woogie on one of his newer albums. There’s a line in it that says “there’s too much boogie woogie and not enough Connie Smith.” I agree with that.
August 24, 2014 @ 12:50 pm
You don’t have to read “The Grapes of Wrath” to understand the effects of
the Depression and the Dust Bowl. All you have to do is listen to “Hungry
Eyes”, a simple and powerful statement and as good a piece of songwriting and singing as you will ever hear.
Merle understands about “less is more”.
I’m with you, Mr. Haggard.
August 24, 2014 @ 1:27 pm
Out of curiosity, I just listened to “Hungry Eyes” for the first time.
Wow, what a gorgeously written song. You can feel both the pain and the pride of his upbringing.
This is a true songwriter of the greatest order.
The sad thing is that the current recession could truly use some songs like this instead of the bro-country garbage we are getting. However, I am sometimes reminded that the Depression itself was full of upbeat music (in both the pop and the then nascent country worlds), while the deep songs about poverty came decades down the road from those who grew up during the Depression.
Who knows, maybe sometime in the future, people will be singing about how life was during the Great Recession…
August 24, 2014 @ 1:43 pm
Maybe, but I doubt it. For the most part people aren’t starving or homeless like many were during the depression.
August 24, 2014 @ 2:03 pm
Maybe not starving (thanks to the Food Stamp program), but there are quite a few people whose houses got foreclosed and who fell into homelessness as a result, especially in places such as California’s Central Valley (where Merle is from, ironically), Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Orlando.
August 25, 2014 @ 5:30 am
What I just read from Eric is a testament to the importance of your site, Trigger.
I don’t know Eric’s age or background, but the fact that he had never heard “Hungry Eyes”, listened to it and loved it makes me feel as though the world can still appreciate the classic singers and songs.
Personally, my favorite Merle album is “The Greatest Hits Of The 80’s” There is more soul in one line of those songs than all of the new music put together.
August 24, 2014 @ 6:29 pm
Way to go Merle. I saw him this summer and he still kicks ass on stage. Of course I fully expect what he said here to fully be ignored or written of as “an old has been”. Shame, but I’ve seen it happen enough time.
August 24, 2014 @ 7:51 pm
The problem with listening to a Merle Haggard song ( George Jones , Cash, Lefty Frizell , Kristofferson and many many others from when Country music meant something ) is that NOW you have something to compare all of this ” Boogie Woogie Wham Bam ” stuff to and NOW it sounds even worse than it did BEFORE you got a taste of the real stuff .
The problem with being around for a while ( as have I and , no doubt , many others who drop by here ) is that you’ve actually witnessed the decline of creativity and substance in a country song over the years . You’ve probably heard the best stuff that will ever be written in the best way it could be offered up .
The interesting part of this downward slide in the music is that for years now , pop-country bands have come AND GONE !! I know I’ll get jumped on for this but bands like Sawyer Brown , Blackhawk , Alabama , Diamond Rio , Desert Rose Band …all POP-country .. all had their run . YES they were decent runs …but their music hasn’t really survived them the way the music of the Haggards and the Jones’ and the Travis , Kristoffersons , Cashs, has survived . The best stuff still hangs around and surfaces in conversation , in cover versions and in concerts by these legends . The pseudo-country POP stuff is gone 5 minutes after its last ” spin” . I doubt that the Bro stuff will last 2 minutes after its last spin .
August 24, 2014 @ 10:40 pm
The is a reason why Merle Haggard is called “The Working Man’s Poet”. When you listen to songs he has written, you form pictures in your mind. His songs use words, phrasing, rhythm etc to carefully craft a work of art not unlike a painting or a sculpture. They tell a story in about 3 minutes that a film might take two hours, or a book might take 32 chapters, to tell. When you listen you bring your own experience into the equation, and because the songs are about real life, every listener can connect personally and uniquely to the song and the story becomes attached to his or her own personal memories. As time goes by and we reflect back on personal memories, the song is attached and comes to mind as well. The reverse is also true: when the listener hears a song that’s attached to a memory, even years later the song will take you right back to that place in your mind. It’s because they’re relatable, relevant, and written from real life experiences we all have in common–either we’ve been through it, we’re going through it, someone we know has been through it or it relates to human experience and emotion, dream, we all have in common that they have remained relevant over time and will continue to be as long as human history exists. We might not be experiencing the hunger and poverty of the Depression era but we know about it through art: whether it’s books, paintings, photographs, films… or carefully crafted songs. As different as our lives may be from the era during which the song was written, every person can relate to having “Hungry Eyes” in the wanting and wishing for something we don’t already have. Every person in existence eitheris a mother or had a mother, and there is going to be some meaning or emotion attached to the words of “Mama Tried”. Families and parenting and relationships are our common experiences, and bring out some of the strongest emotions we possess. As a mom, all I can ever really say is that I TRIED. And looking back we can all think of times when our parents either did or did not try, and again emotions are attached to those memories from love to anger to pride to disappointment or frustration. But we can ALL relate. Because this is a subject at the forefront of the music industry and had been for a while, I have really spent time considering what it is we think is “real” country music. Because the swing/shuffle style of Hank Sr is very different from the old-time yodels of Jimmie Rogers, which are very different from some of the very orchestrated “studio” sound of Ray Price, which are again very different from the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens or the western & rodeo- influenced songs of Moe Bandy or the exquisite harmonies of the Oak Ridge Boys or Dolly/Emmylou/Linda Ronstadt, or the ballads of Little Jimmy Dickens. I could continue to list music styles that ate very distinct and yet most people would say they fit within the parameters v of what most people consider “real” country. The more I think about it the more I believe what it boils down to for me is partly instrumentation–because I’ve heard some great country songs played without it but there’s almost no quicker way to my heart than a steel guitar. Bit it is the STORY created by the song that really says COUNTRY MUSIC to me; not groups of words attached because they Rhyne and fit and match a trend, but carefully chosen, deliberate words crafted in such a way that most people can relate–midday people experience, feel or at least understands. When the words create a picture in my mind me of a person, a place, an event or a time period in my life, in my heart of hearts the truth in those words is what I love about real country music.
August 25, 2014 @ 12:43 pm
Sharla M, you are a genius. If you are not a professional writer, you certainly should be.
August 28, 2014 @ 3:03 pm
After reading your post I am absolutely speachless, well put you couldn’t have nailed it any better than you just did! Thanks for that breath of fresh air!
August 25, 2014 @ 9:02 am
Well said Merle ! I always thought “Back to the Barooms” was a great Haggard album. Of his later records “If I could only fly” is a stellar piece of work. There is no such thing as a bad Hag record.
August 29, 2014 @ 12:40 pm
FYI, If I Could Only Fly is a great song written by the late Blaze Foley. You should check his work out, if you like that one.
August 25, 2014 @ 12:00 pm
I’ve slowly been coming around to the conclusion that Hank Sr. is the only other person in the argument over who is the greatest figure in the history of country music. Merle is right at the top as singer, songwriter, and icon. He also is a superb guitarist, something you couldn’t really say about Hank.
August 25, 2014 @ 12:53 pm
Sounds like Merle has amnesia or Alzheimer’s. Or maybe he knows just what to say to keep the masses buying tickets. The facts are as followed: It’s always been ten studio aces recording all the songs and ten songwriters writing all the songs. Merle has recorded plenty of songs that have big arrangements like an orchestra or a choir. That was the old school way to “boogie boogie wham-bam” up a track. Plus he has changed the key from the original recordings as well because he can’t “actually perform it”. NOW, I am not knocking him for doing any of those things. I am simply pointing out that things like this have always and will always happen. PS my favorite Merle song is “Branded Man” closely followed by “I’m always on a mountain when I fall”.
August 28, 2014 @ 3:15 pm
I’m guessing the whole article flew waaaaay over your head. There is a huge difference in the artists that Hag is talking about, they don’t write their own music, and when they do it is purely awful, equally as bad as the shit they put out that is written for them.The music has no substance, soul or feeling, and is so over-fucking-produced there is no way in fuck they can ever perform it live. Hell these fucking guys cannot even sing to begin with, so crank it up add drum loops and dance around like a bunch of puberty stricken dumb asses (the age of their fans) and drag Country music’s name through the mud.
And as for Merle adding additional instruments and players to his recordings its simple, He can pull it off live better than the studio could ever portray!
And last, if he needs to drop a key or two to sing some of his songs, Merle is in his fucking 70’s. Your idols Luke Aldean and Eric Bryan have no fucking talent compared to this man, if there was a totem pole in Country music these new aged punks would still be underground.
September 3, 2014 @ 2:43 pm
You sure like the work fuck. Listen, you kind of come off as someone who doesn’t really know anything about modern mainstream country. You say “these guys” don’t even write their own songs. Who are “these guys”? Luke Bryan, as much as people on this site like to hate on him, not only writes for himself but for many others as well. Same goes for Brantley Gilbert. It’s fine not to like these guys but what you are saying is just flat out wrong. Plus, they can sing and they can sound just fine live. But you don’t care about that because I highly doubt you’ve ever actually listened to them with a critical ear. I listen to things as a musician and not a fan so maybe that’s why we have a difference of opinion.
September 3, 2014 @ 3:01 pm
I sure do like the work fuck, the work I get that pays my bills as a Country musician. You are dead right, I don’t listen nor do I care about mainstream Bro-Country as it is NOT Country music, it is half assed hack rock. I do listen to music with a musicians ear and it’s quite clear there is no talent in this awful genre of music, distorted guitars, wallet chains and mowhawks ARE NOT Country. These schmucks wouldn’t know how to play a real Country song if their lives depended on it.
August 26, 2014 @ 2:21 pm
“I”™ve gotta be honest, I don”™t really listen to the radio at all anymore. Once in a while, I”™ll scan it and I don”™t understand what they”™re doing. I can”™t find the entertainment in it.” Amen, preach it Brother Merle!
If you can’t listen to it, then chances are you won’t waste your money buying it… are you listening Blake Shelton?
Someone explain Bro-country to me?!?