Lung cancer couldn’t get the Grammy Award winner and Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard to hang up his hat, nor did the removal of part of his lung in 2009. Just two months later, Haggard tore it up in his hometown of Bakersfield, performing a two-night run at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace. As Haggard’s fourth collaboration with Willie Nelson, Django and Jimmie (inspired by gypsy-jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and country idol Jimmie Rodgers) nears its June 2 release, he turned 78 April 6 and generally indicates there’s no end in sight.
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How’d you celebrate your birthday?
It’s a celebration just to be alive at my age – that’s 78, I think.
What would your birthday wish be?
I’d like ISIS to go away.
What is it that keeps bringing you and Willie Nelson back together?
I think we have a deep respect for each other and we both appreciate the music that we write. It’s an enjoyable task to go record with Willie. It’s a strange deal when we work together, because we also entertain each other. It’s a combination of a job and a concert.
Has it always been like that?
We go back to the ’60s. I met Willie in a poker game in Nashville and we’ve been friends ever since. We admire each other’s talent and all that, but we’re friends.
The first single “It’s All Going to Pot” is about pot going mainstream. What are your thoughts on this?
I’m anti-government and marijuana is a subject we’ve been brainwashed on more than anything that comes to mind. We don’t know anything about it as a society and it’s probably capable of solving more problems than we realize.
Big Pharma may disagree.
I’m sure. And the alcohol companies don’t want to compete with that. They don’t want something that grows in your garden to take the place of a fifth of whisky. Whisky might cause you to get in a fight with a friend. Marijuana might help you make a friend.
Willie’s launching a marijuana line Willie’s Reserve. Did he offer a sample?
No, but he offered a chance to invest in it. It’s going to be a big thing.
What would Merle Haggard’s marijuana line be called?
Good.
Thoughts on the album?
We’ve recorded four times together; I don’t listen to the other three [albums], but I’ve listened to Django and Jimmie 50 times since I got home. It’s not spectacular but it’s really good. Willie sounds like he’s a teenager. He came in there singing so good, it inspired me.
Regarding one of your songs “Missing Ol’ Johnny Cash,” what do you miss?
Johnny was a very funny man, but at the same time sophisticated and deep in a lot of ways. We kept each other in line the last 10 to 12 years of his life. We were good friends and I miss him a lot.
Didn’t Johnny inspire you to become a musician when he played while you were in San Quentin Prison?
I already had a band in San Quentin and we played what they called the “warden’s show” every Wednesday. When Johnny came in 1958, he was not well-accepted to begin with because country music wasn’t popular. We had an eight-hour variety show every New Year’s Day in San Quentin. They had entertainers of all kinds, including strippers – a lot of things an all-male audience would go for. Johnny Cash came in there in the late afternoon after being up all night in Frisco with some friends and he lost his voice. He talked in a whisper. With all that going against him, he was able to capture the attention of an audience of 5,000 convicts. I was totally impressed. When I got out, I wanted to get to know him. I knew we were the same kind of people. Over the years, we became close friends. That’s how it is.
I like how you called out the president of CBS Records for firing Johnny.
I may have lost my temper one time. Rick Blackburn was his name. When I walked into a meeting with him he said, “I still don’t like Kern River.” It was my current release at the time and I said, “That’s about three times now that you’ve told me that.” He said, “It’s more like five.” There was a room full of songwriters there and I opened up on him. I told him, “You have to be the dumbest motherfucker in the world. First of all, I heard that you let Johnny Cash go yesterday and that takes an imbecile.” I said, “That chair you’re sitting in, he paid for it.”
What are you doing when you’re not doing music?
I’ve got six children and several grandchildren and a new granddaughter who’s two months old. I spend a lot of time with her. I’m just a regular guy. I like to fish, I like to play golf. I do whatever I can do to keep from going crazy.
I understand you love pinto beans.
They’re almost the perfect food. When I was a poor boy in Southern California in the late ’40s, I’d come home from school and ask if the beans were done.
What’s a good way to prepare them?
Soak them all night long and then cook them with whatever you want. I use a little chilli powder and celery salt and cook them for two to four hours.
What’s the best advice you’ve heard?
Tell the truth.
What’s the best advice you’ve given?
The same thing.
MERLE HAGGARD 8pm Wednesday, April 29. Golden State Theatre, 417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $46-$86. www.goldenstatetheatre.com.