Merle Haggard Had No Idea Who Don Henley Was When They Met, Asked Him If He Had A Band: “Yeah, It’s The Eagles”

Only Merle Haggard could get away with this.

Of course, he is a country icon and legend who produced so many classic country songs, coming from a rather troubled background to become one of the most successful country artists of all time.

Merle was born the third child of Flossie Mai and James Haggard in 1937, and at the time, the family was living in a converted railroad boxcar, which his father purchased from the Santa Fe Railroad in Oildale, California, where he was working. Their life, while not the easiest, was alright until James died of a brain hemorrhage when Merle was nine.

As you’d expect, the loss of his father at such a pivotal age weighed heavily on him for the rest of his life and was only made worse by his mother having to re-enter the workforce to make a living for the family. While the time spent unsupervised lead to his initial love of music, diving into the collection of records at home with names like Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank Williams, and learning to play guitar, it also lead to a pattern of behaviors that continually devolved until the law got involved.

At 13, The Hag started shoplifting and stealing, which lead to a stint in a juvenile detention center. The next year he and a friend ran away from home and made their way down to Texas by hopping trains and hitchhiking. When they got back later in the year, they were accused of robbery and sent to jail until the real criminals were found, though he didn’t stay free for long and found himself behind bars again not long after.

This time he made his first of many prison escapes and hightailed it down to Modesto, California, where he built a weird little life for himself as a cook, hay pitcher, oil well shooter, and truck driver. It was also in Modesto that he first played music in public, at a bar called “Fun Center”, where they paid him $5 and gave him free beer (guess underage drinking wasn’t a big deal back then).

He was in and out of jail for a while, but eventually, he got on the right path and started pursuing a career in country music.

There are so many great stories about him, but his son Ben, who appeared on the Drifting Cowboy Podcast recently, told a hilarious one about his dad, which happened when Ben was around 17. Merle had just finished a show, and his driver walked to the back of the bus to ask if Don Henley could come say hello.

Of course, Henley is a founding member of the Eagles, and just as much a legend in his genre as Merle is in country. But Merle didn’t recognize his name, or who he was when he walked onto his bus… and when Henley suggested they do some shows together, Merle asked if he had a band.

Henley replied that he did, and it was called the Eagles:

“We were on the road somewhere, I was 17-years old, maybe. Out bus driver, Ray McDonald, comes up, dad’s in the back of the bus doing his thing. after the show routine, rolling a joint.

He said, ‘Hey Hag, Don Henley wants to come say hey.’ He said, ‘Okay.’ So he comes back there, they’re talking… Don’s like, ‘Yeah, Merle, we should do some shows together.’ and dad’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, Don. You got a band?’ Don said, ‘Yeah, it’s the Eagles.’ He knew the Eagles… it was funny.”

Just classic…

Merle was in his own little world, and Ben explained that his dad knew who the Eagles were, but I guess didn’t really know the individual band members or pay much attention to them.

It’s hard to imagine anyone wouldn’t, especially because this was probably around 2009 considering Ben is 32 now and he said he was around 17 when this happened, so The Eagles were WELL past their prime and already considered legends at this point, obviously… it wasn’t like they were just starting out and still a young band trying to make a name.

But it’s Merle Haggard, and he was the type who could do or say whatever he wanted… and honestly, the timing of it just makes it that much funnier and memorable:

@dillon.weldon Hilarious story of Merle meeting Don Henley. #merlehaggard #theeagles #donhenley #benhaggard #countrymusic ♬ I Think I’ll Just Stay Here And Drink – Merle Haggard

Ultimately, the two of them did work together, as Merle was featured on the song “The Cost of Living,” which was included on Henley’s 2015 solo album Cass County. It’s one of Haggard’s last recorded collaborations before his death in 2016.

Check it out, Merle still sounds incredible:

“The Cost of Living”

The post Merle Haggard Had No Idea Who Don Henley Was When They Met, Asked Him If He Had A Band: “Yeah, It’s The Eagles” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.