Okie from Muskogee (song)
"Okie from Muskogee" | ||||
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Single by Merle Haggard and The Strangers | ||||
from the album Okie from Muskogee | ||||
B-side | "If I Had Left It Up to You" | |||
Released | September 29, 1969 | |||
Recorded | July 17, 1969 (studio version) | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:42 (studio version) 3:29 (live version) | |||
Label | Capitol 2626 | |||
Songwriter(s) | Roy Edward Burris Merle Haggard | |||
Producer(s) | Fuzzy Owen | |||
Merle Haggard and The Strangers singles chronology | ||||
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"Okie from Muskogee" is a song recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers, which Haggard co-wrote with drummer Roy Edward Burris. "Okie" is a slang name for someone from Oklahoma, and Muskogee (population 40,000) is the 11th largest city in the state. The song was released in September 1969 as first single and title track from the album Okie from Muskogee, and was one of the most famous songs of Haggard's career.
Background
Haggard told
In a 2010 interview with American Songwriter, Haggard called the song a "character study," his 1969 self being the character: "It was the photograph that I took of the way things looked through the eyes of a fool... and most of America was under the same assumptions I was. As it's stayed around now for 40 years, I sing the song now with a different attitude onstage... I've become educated... I play it now with a different projection. It's a different song now. I'm different now."[2]
Critic Kurt Wolff wrote that Haggard always considered what became a
Written by Haggard and Roy Edward Burris (drummer for Haggard's backing band, and
While it can be viewed as a satire of small-town America and its reaction to the antiwar protests and counterculture seen in America's larger cities,
Chart performance and popularity
"Okie from Muskogee" immediately broke in popularity when released in late September 1969. By November 15, it reached No. 1 on the
The version of "Okie from Muskogee" that reached No. 1 was the studio recording. After the song became widely popular, a live concert recording was issued and although that version never charted, it became very popular as well. The live version's distinguishing characteristics include an enthusiastic crowd and Merle responding with his own quips at the end of at least two verses. The most popular live version, and the only live version released as a single, was recorded during a 1970 Haggard concert in Philadelphia that became the live album The Fightin' Side of Me. The song was included on a couple of Haggard's other live albums from the era, notably "Okie From Muskogee", released in 1969 and "I Love Dixie Blues", released in 1973. However, these recordings are not the live version the general public is familiar with.
"Okie from Muskogee"—along with the album, Okie from Muskogee—was named the Country Music Association Single and Album of the Year in 1970.[7]
Chart history
Chart (1969–1970) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] | 1 |
US Billboard Hot 100[9] | 41 |
Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 3 |
Parodies and cover versions
The song was the subject of parody versions by
Straight cover versions of the song were recorded by the
John Denver performed a live version of the song, with backing vocals provided by Taffy Nivert. Denver modified lyrics from Patrick Sky's parody version, from his album Songs That Made America Famous, in which the Okie wanted to "join the Ku Klux", burn the Hippies, and be loved, or he'd punch you in the mouth.
The
References
- ^ Dunham, Nancy (11 October 2010). "Merle Haggard, 'Okie from Muskogee' - Story Behind the Lyrics". The Boot. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
- ^ Cooper, Peter (4 May 2010). "Merle Haggard: As He Is". Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ISBN 1-85828-534-8)
- ^ Janovitz.
- ^ Malone, Bill, "Country Music U.S.A," 2nd rev. ed. (University of Texas Press, Austin, 2002), p.371.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 146.
- ^ Merle Haggard Archived 2007-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, Country Music Association Awards Database.
- ^ "Merle Haggard Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
- ^ "Merle Haggard Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
- ^ "Hippie from New York City". YouTube. 2010-12-18. Archived from the original on 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
- ^ "Okie" from YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juORzNGr6zI
- ^ "The Only Hippie in Muskogee," http://www.45cat.com/record/35692
- ^ "Hippie From Mississippi," http://www.45cat.com/record/min155us
- ^ [1] Internet Archive Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore East on 1971-04-27
- ^ Teegarden & Van Winkle's "Okie from Muskogee," https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Qol-1iysc
- ^ "David Nelson Band Live at Riverwood Inn on 2005-11-05". 5 November 2005.