OldiesButGoodies

Country

A Heartfelt Tribute Etched in Song: “I Think I’ll Stay” by Ben Haggard Honors a Father’s Legacy with Deep Emotion, Celebrating an Unbreakable Bond of Love and Gratitude Across Generations.

Ben Haggard on Honoring Merle, Traditional Country and Blazing His Own Trail

Introduction:

While the title suggests a song by Ben Haggard, son of the legendary Merle Haggard, titled “I Think I’ll Stay” released on an album as a heartfelt tribute to his father, this information appears to be inaccurate. Extensive research indicates that the song “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” was written and performed by Merle Haggard himself.

The song was released in October 1980 as the second single from his album “Back to the Barrooms”. The genre of the music is unequivocally Country.

“I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” was a significant success for Merle Haggard, becoming his twenty-sixth Number 1 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It held the top position for one week and remained on the chart for a total of twelve weeks. The song is also notable for its memorable saxophone solo performed by Don Markham of The Strangers, Haggard’s backing band.

While Ben Haggard has undoubtedly honored his father’s legacy through his own musical endeavors and performances of his father’s songs, “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” remains a signature song of Merle Haggard’s illustrious career, not a tribute song by his son. It stands as a testament to Merle Haggard’s songwriting and performing prowess within the country music landscape.

Video:

https://youtu.be/4-xPJgH6hCE?si=L8qEJLbNInfqY6OO

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Merle Haggard’s childhood was becoming increasingly chaotic when something entered his life that would eventually change everything: a guitar. His older brother Lowell gave him one when Merle was around 12. Merle began teaching himself, absorbing the records and styles of country heroes such as Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams. There were no expensive lessons preparing him for Nashville. There was simply a troubled California kid listening closely and learning how another man’s sadness could live inside a melody. Merle would still make plenty of mistakes. Music didn’t instantly rescue him from running away, juvenile detention or eventually prison. But the guitar remained. Years later, millions would recognize Merle’s voice within seconds. Perhaps that’s because he wasn’t merely learning how to sing songs as a boy. He was slowly learning how to tell the truth about his own life.

Merle Haggard rarely needed to invent heartbreak. He had known it since childhood. In 1946, when Merle was only nine years old, his father, James Haggard, died following a stroke. For a boy who deeply needed his father’s presence, the loss became a turning point. His mother, Flossie, worked to support the family. Merle, meanwhile, became increasingly restless. He skipped school, ran away, got into trouble, and began a long journey through juvenile institutions that eventually led somewhere far darker. Looking back at his life, it is difficult not to see that nine-year-old boy behind many of the adult Merle Haggard’s songs. People later called him a rebel, an outlaw and a survivor. But before any of those labels existed, there was simply a grieving boy who had lost his dad—and never seemed to completely outrun that loss.

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