May 12--While still recuperating from double pneumonia in February, Merle Haggard returned to the studio for what turned out to be the final time to record a new song, "Kern River Blues," which premieres at 2 p.m. Thursday on SiriusXM satellite radio.
The song, to be unveiled on Willie's Roadhouse on Channel 59, expresses Haggard's feelings about leaving Bakersfield in the late 1970s, after which he made his home in Northern California near Lake Shasta.
I'm flying out on a jet plane
Gonna leave this town behind
They've done moved the city limits
Out by the county line
Put my head close to the window
Watch Oildale fade away
The blues back in the '30s
Just like the blues today
He references Oildale, the town adjacent to Bakersfield where he was born and spent much of his youth, long before becoming one of country music's most respected songwriters and vocalists.
In characteristically to-the-point language, Haggard evokes the changes he witnessed in the region over time, and concisely expresses his thoughts about one of the reasons behind those changes.
Well, they used to have Kern River
Runnin' deep and wide
Then somebody stole the water
Another politician lied
Following the SiriusXM premiere of the song, it will be available to download on Haggard's official website, and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to charities aiding the homeless.
The recording session came two nights before he returned to the stage, having canceled several shows because of illness. He performed with Kris Kristofferson at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. Two nights later, they both performed in Oakland, before Haggard's illness flared up again and prompted him to cancel other scheduled dates. It was his final public performance.
Haggard died April 6 -- on his 79th birthday. Kristofferson recently announced that he will resume touring, backed by Haggard's longtime band, the Strangers, to fulfill commitments for several shows Haggard was set to play before he developed pneumonia.
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