The guitar doesn't play any more.
Merle Haggard is opening for Bob Dylan tonight and tomorrow in my town. Yet I'm wary. I've seen Merle several times, but only once before as an opening act. It was an excruciatingly hot summer day in 1988 and Merle's set was disappointingly perfunctory. Still, it was far better than the train-wreck by the show's top-billed act. Hank Williams, Jr. lived up to an unfortunate "family tradition" that day. Here's Merle from his 2001's charming Roots, Volume 1, which is more or less a tribute to Lefty Frizzell. It contains three originals, including this laconic number. It's a great vocal, and I laugh every time I hear Merle sing, "I love my guitar like God loves the poor."
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