New York Times best-selling author Marc Eliot knew the subject of his latest released biography, "The Hag: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard," for 25 years before his death in 2016. The ...

Author Marc Eliot knew the subject of his latest released biography, "The Hag: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard," for 25 years before his death in 2016. The writer's exposure to music, ...

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Haggard's biographer Marc Eliot about his book: The Hag. Haggard spent his early years going from family tragedy to odd jobs to broken marriages to petty crime to prison.

On July 15, 1935, James Francis Haggard departed Checotah with his wife, Flossie, and their two children, James Lowell and Lillian, by way of a Chevy. Like other Okies, they migrated west in search of ...

The late Merle Haggard sang about breakups, working, loving, fighting, American flags, getting drunk and working some more. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "WORKIN' MAN BLUES") HAGGARD: (Singing) Well, hey, hey, ...

Only 7% of LAist readers currently donate to fund our journalism. Help raise that number, so our nonprofit newsroom stays strong in the face of federal cuts. Donate now. HAGGARD: (Singing) Well, hey, ...