MUSIC: Haggard, after surgery, back with less lung, more fiddlin'

By Jack Hill

LITTLE ROCK — Merle Haggard reckons he is one lucky guy.

Not only did the legendary singer-songwriter-guitarist-fiddler survive lung cancer surgery in November, but also he did not have to undergo radiation or chemotherapy afterward.

"I'd say I dodged a bullet," the 72-year-old Haggard says from his northern California ranch. "It was about this time last year when I got the sorry diagnosis, and we had it pulled. It's still sort of painful when I play the rhythm guitar, so I've been playing the fiddle more often. It's easier on me.

"Probably I should tell the folks why I'm doing it that way, especially how special the fiddle is. Bob Wills gave it to me, and it has a special tone to it. Plus I play the acoustic guitar more than before."

Haggard is taking care of some unfinished business with a central Arkansas tour stop that will, in effect, square things with fans who were disappointed to learn last year that he had to cancel a headlining spot on the first night of the 2008 Riverfest, due to his health emergency. Although he didn't make it back for Riverfest this year, he's not far from the river, with another show at Robinson Center, where he performed a few years ago.

He also opened for the most recent Rolling Stones show in central Arkansas when that veteran band performed at Alltel Arena. He notes that he has heard the recent Keith Richards contribution to a Haggard classic, the one where Marianne Faithfull wraps up her latest album with her take on a Haggard hit, "Sing Me Back Home," on which famed Stones guitarist Richards backs her on vocals.

"I wanted to hear him play guitar, but he's a good guy, so we have to let him slide," Haggard laughs, noting that Richards' vocals have sometimes gotten him some gentle ribbing. "Well, beauty is up to the beholder and all that."

Haggard could have been as much of an Arkansan as Johnny Cash, but for the accident of birthplace. He sings in his 1972 song "Grandma Harp" that his grandmother Valines "was born down in Newton County, Arkansas," but later moved to Oklahoma; Haggard's parents - who were labeled "Okies" - moved on to California during the Depression.

"One of the times I was doing shows in Branson, I went down to look around in Newton County and it's a real pretty place," Haggard says. "There weren't many folks left, though, from Grandma Harp's time."

Not content to slow down or rest on his laurels, Haggard is wrapping up a new album, which is being produced by Bob Dylan's drummer, George Receli, a New Orleans native who played on several songs on Haggard's 2007 album Working Man's Journey.

"It's all new stuff," Haggard says. "I always like to work with a great rock 'n' roll drummer. That way, the beat is poppin'."

Known for his outspoken views, which in recent years have included his questioning of wars in the Mideast, Haggard posted on his Web site in January "A New Song" about hopes being high as a new president took office. Now he's beginning to wonder.

"I didn't vote for a bunch of inflation," he says. "I'm disappointed in how they're printing that money. And all our jobs seem to be going elsewhere. I'm on an IRS trip these days, and I'll be doing a couple of years worth of shows for them. I had a guy doing my books who was supposedly doing the right thing, but I guess he didn't.

"But the road is still fun, especially with the eight-piece band I have. My 16-year-old son is up there playing guitar, even if it's with his cell phone in his ear. So I got a mix of the ol' boys and the young boys."Merle Haggard 7 p.m. Sunday, Robinson Center Music Hall, Markham Street and Broadway, Little Rock Tickets: $50, $40, $30 (501) 975-7575, Celebrity Attractions and Ticketmaster locations, www.ticketmaster.com

Weekend, Pages 40 on 06/04/2009