You know you're a bad man when people aren't merely stepping up to cover songs by you, but are actually writing songs about you. Alt-country darling Rosie Flores weaves a pickup truck full of Merle son …

Merle's golden years were also the golden years of country music; he played on a big stage, and he played alongside some of the very best. Buck Owens provided Merle with his first big gig and his secon …

For a sound as red-white-and-blue as Merle's, you'd have to dig down deep to the roots of American music . . . and that's exactly what he did. Bakersfield Sound godfather Tommy Collins not only inspire …

The Bakersfield Sound may have achieved its first blush of fame during Merle's career, but it by no means stopped there; self-proclaimed Haggard disciple Dwight Yoakam topped the Country charts with th …

If there was ever any question about Haggard's songwriting skills, these cover classics provide 25 answers. Linda Ronstadt joins bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs in an uncredited appearance on the leavin' …

Haggard's done some of his finest work with some of the finest musicians country has ever produced . . . and we have the proof right here. Merle and Willie Nelson mesh like sagebrush and cowpokes in th …