Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 139

Introduced by Senator Gaines

(Coauthors: Senators Fuller, Nielsen, and Pan)

May 5, 2016

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 139—Relative to the Merle Haggard Memorial Highway.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 139, as introduced, Gaines. Merle Haggard Memorial Highway.

This measure would designate a specified portion of Interstate 5 from Kern County to Shasta County as the Merle Haggard Memorial Highway. The measure would also request the Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.

Fiscal committee: yes.

WHEREAS, Merle Ronald Haggard was born to James and
Flossie Haggard on April 6, 1937, in Oildale, just north of
Bakersfield, California. Merle’s father was a railroad worker, and
Merle grew up during the Great Depression. He lived with his
family in a boxcar that they had converted into a home. As a child,
Merle suffered from a respiratory condition that frequently kept
him out of school and confined to bed rest; and

WHEREAS, James Haggard died from a brain tumor when
Merle was nine years of age. After his father’s death, Merle became
rebellious. In an attempt to straighten her son out, his mother put
him in several juvenile detention centers, but it had little effect on
Merle’s behavior; and

WHEREAS, As a teenager, Merle fell in love with country
music, particularly Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Williams.
When he was 12 years of age, Merle was given his first guitar by
his older brother. He then taught himself how to play by listening
to records. Continuing to rebel, he went to Texas with his friend
Bob Teague and, after returning to California, he moved to
Modesto, where he made his performing debut with Teague at a
bar named the Fun Center. The two were paid five dollars and
given all the beer that they could drink; and

WHEREAS, In 1958, at 20 years of age, Merle was sent to San
Quentin State Prison after being convicted of burglary and
attempted escape from county jail. While serving a
two-and-one-half-year term, he played in the prison’s country band
and took high school equivalency courses. He also was a member
of the audience when Johnny Cash made his legendary 1959
performance at the prison. Merle Haggard would later be officially
pardoned in 1972 by then-Governor Ronald Reagan; and

WHEREAS, In 1962 Merle Haggard signed with a small label
called Tally Records for whom he recorded five songs, including
his debut single, “Sing a Sad Song,” which rose to No. 19 on the
country music charts. In 1965 he formed his own band, The
Strangers, before signing with Capitol Records, and later that year
the band released their debut self-titled album. Their followup
album, “Swinging Doors,” reached No. 1 on the country music
charts the following year, and in 1967 their single “I’m a Lonesome
Fugitive” did the same. Later that year, Merle Haggard continued
his runaway success with “Branded Man,” his first self-penned
No. 1 song; and

WHEREAS, During the remainder of the 1960s, Merle Haggard
produced a string of No. 1 singles, culminating with what would
become his signature song and his most controversial recording,
“Okie from Muskogee.” Released in 1969, the song became an
anthem for middle Americans whose patriotism and traditional
values were under attack from Vietnam War protesters and hippies.
“Okie from Muskogee” crossed over to the pop charts and in 1970
earned Merle Haggard the Country Music Association’s awards
for Single, Entertainer, and Top Male Vocalist of the Year. The
album of the same name also won Album of the Year; and

WHEREAS, Merle Haggard released nearly 70 albums and 600
songs, 250 of which he wrote himself. Among his most memorable
albums were “The Fightin’ Side of Me” (1970), “Someday We’ll
Look Back” (1971), “If We Make It Through December” (1974),
and “A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today” (1977). In 1982
he recorded a duet album with George Jones called “A Taste of
Yesterday’s Wine,” which yielded the chart toppers “Yesterday’s
Wine” and “C.C. Waterback.” The following year, he collaborated
with Willie Nelson to record the widely praised compilation
“Pancho & Lefty.” In addition to an impressive title track, “Pancho
& Lefty” featured the touching ballads “It’s My Lazy Day,” “Half
a Man,” “Reasons to Quit,” and “All the Soft Places to Fall”; and

WHEREAS, Merle Haggard was elected to the Songwriters Hall
of Fame in 1977. In 1994 his wealth of artistic achievements,
including 38 No. 1 hits, earned him induction into the Country
Music Hall of Fame. Though his musical output waned over the
years, he continued to find success with albums such as “If I Could
Fly” (2000), “Haggard Like Never Before” (2003), and his 2015
reunion album with Willie Nelson, “Djano & Jimmie,” which
placed him atop the country music charts one more time; and

WHEREAS, In 2008 Merle Haggard was diagnosed with lung
cancer and underwent surgery to remove a tumor. Reflecting on
the situation, he referred to it as “the greatest test of my fortitude”;
and

WHEREAS, Merle Haggard was married five times. At the time
of his death, he was married to Theresa Lane, whom he married
in 1993. He had three children from his marriage to Leona Hobbs
and two children with Lane; and

WHEREAS, Merle Haggard died at home on his northern
California ranch in Palo Cedro in Shasta County on April 6, 2016,
his 79th birthday. He had been suffering from double pneumonia
and had to cancel a string of scheduled concerts with Willie Nelson.
The 11 days he spent trying to recover from his illness had become
so difficult that he reportedly told his friends and family that he
would die on his birthday; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
portion of Interstate 5 from the junction at State Route 46 in Kern
County to the junction at State Route 44 in Shasta County as the
Merle Haggard Memorial Highway; and be it further

Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested
to determine the cost of appropriate signs consistent with the
signing requirements for the state highway system showing this
special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources sufficient to cover the cost, to erect those signs; and be it
further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author
for appropriate distribution.