Merle tributes makes Muskogee audience proud to be Okies

Oct. 12—Of course Ben Haggard sang "Okie from Muskogee" at the Thursday tribute to his father, Merle Haggard.

And, of course, the audience filled Muskogee Civic Center arena with raucous clapping and singing as they joined the chorus.

This was where Haggard did a live recording of his iconic song on Oct. 10, 1969. Thursday, 55 years to the date of that memorable recording, was a day full of Merle tributes.

It began with the unveiling of the Haggard statue, created by Idaho sculptor Benjamin Victor.

Statue committee member Max Boydstun credited those who helped get the statue produced.

"I'm also stepping in the breach for Mike Martin, Mike's not able to be with us," Boydstun said. "He has also been involved in this, from Day One, including the very very beginning of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. Mike's task in all of this is to get the Oklahoma Music Trail marker that will be dedicated when the company gets through casting it."

Sue Harris, former executive director of the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce, told how she became aware of Boydstun's plan.

"Max emailed me a picture of a statue of former Beatle John Lennon that's in Cuba," Harris said. "Castro unveiled that statue in 2000. Max said 'We should have a statue in front of the Muskogee Civic Center and honor Merle Haggard.' I absolutely loved that idea."

OMHOF board member Ann Ong relayed a tale on how Merle Haggard and Eddie Burris supposedly got the idea for the song.

"Eddie was asleep on the bus and Merle was awake and maybe a little bit restless," Ong said. "And when he saw the sign that said 19 miles to Muskogee, he woke Eddie and the two of them began trading one-liners about what the people in Muskogee might be like and the things they might or might not do. They came up with a pretty good list, and you know the lyrics."

Several hundred surrounded the statue during the unveiling. Many remained afterwards, catching selfies and portraits.

Joel Randall, who is creating a sculpture of lawman Bass Reeves for Three Rivers Museum, marveled at the Haggard statue when he saw it. He said Victor's excellence and attention to detail was what he expected.

"I knew before I got here it was going to be awesome," Randall said. "I like that there's a stool next to it so people can get their pictures with it."

Thursday night, in the arena where Merle played, Haggard's son sang some of his father's top hits. Muskogee's Swon Brothers joined singer/songwriter Wade Hayes and fiddlers Jana Jae and Shelby Eicher in songs made famous by Oklahoma artists.

Colton Swon said they originally were asked to play Haggard songs.

"And I said, 'respectfully, I don't want to try to sing Merle Haggard when we've got the Haggard boys in the building," Swon said.

Noel Haggard, another of Merle's musician sons was to have joined Ben Haggard at the concert. But Noel was laid up in Dallas, Ben Haggard said.

In a video, Merle's oldest son, musician Marty Haggard, said he wanted to be a part of the concert. He said his aunt had recently died and he felt a commitment to the family.

Country stars Marty Stuart and Vince Gill also paid tribute via video at the concert.

Joined by a band, Ben Haggard said very little, letting his father's songs — including "Silver Wings," "Pancho and Lefty" and "Mama Tried" — speak for themselves. As 10 p.m. approached, he still hadn't sung "Okie."

Finally, Ben Haggard said he had one last song. The audience cheered.

Several concert goers recalled going to Merle's 1969 concert.

Hazel Mosier of Sperry, said she was 16 years old and got Merle's autograph.

"I was up on the stage after the concert to get his autograph," Mosier said. "I had my arm laying on his leg, and I kept saying 'oh, I'm sorry.' And he said 'that's OK sweetheart,' and I loved the man ever since then."

She said her favorite part of that concert was when he sang "Okie from Muskogee."

"I was up in the bleachers, and there was a microphone by us and my dad hollered Yee-Haw and you can hear it on the original album," Mosier said. "I was in Okay, Oklahoma, at the time, and we didn't do all the things he was saying. We actually lived that life in Okay."

Jean Lemons said "I remember seeing the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen in my life. It was such a good show. I think the back of my head actually ended up on the cover of the album. They took the picture from the back of the room toward the stage, and my blonde hair showed up among a lot of other dark heads."

Younger fans also enjoyed the concert. Ryder Cox and Zebulun Lindsey of Checotah brought an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar for the artists to autograph.