The Hag

The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard

By: Marc Eliot

Narrated by: Marc Eliot

The definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard by the New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more.

Merle Haggard was one of the most important country music musicians who ever lived. His astonishing musical career stretched across the second half of the 20th Century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 that made it on to Billboard's Country Top Ten, 13 that went to #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his ample songbook, unique singing voice and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merle's music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music.

The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews. It explores the uniquely American life of an angry rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks bound for a life of crime and a permanent home in a penitentiary, who found redemption through the music of "the common man."

Merle Haggard's story is a great American saga of a man who lifted himself out of poverty, oppression, loss and wanderlust, to catapult himself into the pantheon of American artists admired around the world. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him or hated him. The book celebrates the accomplishments and explore the singer's infamous dark side: the self-created turmoil that expressed itself through drugs, women, booze, and betrayal. The Hag offers a richly anecdotal narrative that will elevate the life and work of Merle Haggard to where both properly belong, in the pantheon of American music and letters.

The Hag is the definitive account of this unique American original, and will speak to readers of country music and rock biographies alike.

A great man

Very interesting. I enjoyed learning more about Merle’s life and what a great person he was.

If you want to understand America…

If you want to understand America… start here. What an extraordinary human. Authentic to the core. Through Merle Haggard’s story, meticulously reported by Marc Eliot, not only do we learn the history of Country and Western music and meet the artists who shaped it, we get a glimpse of “the silent majority” struggles, along with social, economic and political forces that have shaped this country’s history and culture. I have a whole new level of appreciation for The Hag. Highly recommend!

Worth Your time

I have been listening to Merle Haggard for many decades. I've learned some of his songs
and even recorded a few for my own enjoyment. I knew a little about him, once you listen
to this book you will know who he was and how he became a country music superstar!
This is a very detailed account of his life and rise to the top!

the book was great

I loved the book. I had no idea half of the struggles Merle went through. I did not like the way Marc would alter his voice for different peoples recollections. He made men sound like women and women like uneducated loosers. would have been better just to read the whole book in his own voice!

Entertaining yes, but...

The only unforgivable aspect of this book is the fact that he doesn't even mention Haggard's partnership with George Jones. How can you write a definitive book about Merle or George and not at least touch on their work or friendship? I think George's name came up maybe four times in the entire book with no mention of any duets or performing together.

The voice impersonations by the narrator of Willie Nelson, Buck Owens and anybody from Europe were pretty difficult to listen to. Somebody else already brought up "Buddy Holly and the Critics", but I still have to mention it because good lord..

It was a good listen, but if I'm reading a book about Willie Nelson, I want to hear a bunch of stories about him and Waylon. Same goes for Haggard and Jones.