Fifty-seven years ago today, Merle Haggard walked into a Los Angeles recording studio to cut one of his most memorable songs.

Julien Baker and Torres turned 21 in prison doing life without parole. No one could steer them right, but mama tried. Mama tried, mama tried to raise them better, but her pleading they denied. That ...

In his 1968 song Mama Tried, Merle Haggard sang of turning 21 in prison. Haggard, who died Wednesday in California on his 79th birthday, had done just that, though not, as he sang in the song, “doing ...

Merle Haggard was one of the greatest country singer/songwriters to walk the earth. He was also one of the only (reformed) criminals in the Outlaw Country movement. Haggard also helped to bring the ...

Eli "Paperboy" Reed grew up immersed in the country music of his father's extensive record collection, learning names like George Jones and Waylon Jennings. Among all the albums, one artist stood out: ...