Merle Haggard: nearing 70 and plain-spoken as ever

You thought "Okie From Muskogee" was controversial — wait'll you hear what Merle Haggard has got coming up.

"I wrote a thing yesterday mornin' and we couldn't get it recorded 'til about noon," the country-music great drawled over the phone the other day from his home in Northern California. "I think it may be the biggest thing that I've written in 30 years. And I'll just give you the title of it and see what you think.

"It's called 'Hillary.' [He laughs out loud]. Tell you what, it's good!"

Haggard wouldn't say whether he'll play it at his show here Sunday night at the Paramount, but he probably won't be doing "Okie," his controversial anti-hippie anthem that topped the charts in 1969.

Concert preview


Merle Haggard, Neko Case, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; $44.50-$49.50 (206-628-0888 or www.ticketmaster.com; information, 206-467-5510, www.theparamount.com or www.merlehaggard.com).

"There are a lot of things that have happened since 'Okie from Muskogee,' and let me say that my viewpoint probably doesn't resemble that," he said. "And it's not because of choice, it's because of information and the years that's under my belt."

In fact, he'll turn 70 in April, which the hard-living Haggard (Johnny Cash may have sung about prison, but Haggard actually spent two years in San Quentin) finds hard to believe.

"I never once give it much thought that I'd live to be 70 years old," he said, turning serious. "And now that I'm approachin' it, it's quite a milestone, let me tell ya'."

He continues to regularly record and tour. He says he can't slow down: "If I do, I'll die."

We'll have to wait to hear what Haggard thinks of Hillary Clinton. But we know well what he thinks of George Bush. Haggard's 2003 anti-Iraq-war song, "That's the News," riled some fans and was banned by some country-music radio stations. Now America seems to be coming around to his way of thinking.

"It'd be foolish to hang on to what he's got to offer," he said of Bush. "I just don't think he has the right plan. Nobody seems to agree with him, and he doesn't seem to care whether they do or not."

Last time Haggard appeared here was in 2005, when he played three nights at the Paramount, opening for Bob Dylan.

"It was a great experience," Haggard said of touring with Dylan. "I just can't get him to pay enough!"

He said he hardly spoke to Dylan.

"Bob, you can't hardly get him out of the bus," he explained. "He's really a recluse. I don't know of anybody that knows Bob. I spent months with him on the road, and I talked to him a couple times, but he's just not really very outgoing. He don't offer much."

The day we talked, Haggard had received a copy of "Last of the Breed," a double album he recorded with Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson and Ray Price, which will be released March 20 on the Lost Highway label, to be followed by a national tour.

"I was really blown away with it," he said of the CD. "Ray Price is just actually singin' his butt off. 'Sweet Jesus' is a Kenny Vernon-Merle Haggard song that we had with us when we went down there, and Ray just fell in love with it and sang the hell out it. It's about a subject matter for traditional Protestant people that has always been a great question. And maybe it's answered in that song."

Haggard said he was looking forward to coming to the Paramount.

"Seattle has always been one of the number-one cities for me, and I'm not just sayin' that. The crowd's always a little nicer, and a little larger than Portland!

"I worked in Seattle for four months one time back in 1963, at a club called The Britannia, and it was probably the dive of the bay, y'know. It was a great experience. Buck Owens played there about five months before I did, and I took his place. That's how I got the job. I love that area, and I'll be glad to come and play there again."

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312 or pmacdonald@seattletimes.com