4 Dolly Parton Songs Merle Haggard Recorded Including Two He Released Before His One-Time Crush

In the early 1970s, Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard toured together and often ended up in close quarters, hanging out on one another’s tour bus, playing cards, talking about life and the music business. It didn’t take long before Haggard became smitten and fell in love with the young country legend. He even wrote a song for her, “Always Wanting You,” which he played for her on the phone one morning at 3 a.m.

Released on his chart-topping album, Keep Movin’ On, “Always Wanting You” also gave Haggard another No. 1 on the Country chart. “My favorite image of America’s sweetheart is not all that glitter and show, but the kidlike creature who used to sit herself down on a pillow on the floor of my bus aisle, lay her head on my knees, and talk on and on about her dreams and that plan of hers to be a star,” recalled Haggard in his 1981 memoir Sing Me Back Home. “She was so sure of herself, so positive, and God, she just glowed with confidence and excitement.”

Of Haggard’s affection for her, Parton said: “I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or flattered. … I had no idea his feelings for me were as deep and true as he said. Well, if so, it’s only fair since I had admired him for so long, if I had been a single woman and he a single man at the time we met, who knows what kind of trouble we would have wound up in? Maybe another Bonnie and Clyde.” 

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Though their love wasn’t meant to be, a friendship and musical connection endured, and Haggard later appeared on Parton’s late-’80s variety show, Dolly.

During the earlier years of his career, Haggard also recorded four songs by Parton, including two he released before her, and one she wrote especially for him, and his love affair with locomotives.

[RELATED: The Love Song Merle Haggard Wrote for His Crush Dolly Parton, Then Sang to Her Over the Phone, “Always Wanting You”]

“In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)” (1968)

The title track of Parton‘s 1969 album In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad) tells the story of the lessons she learned about what mattered in life from her impoverished upbringing—No amount of money could buy from me / The memories that I have of then. 

Haggard, who grew up poor and was raised by a single mother after his father’s death, also connected to the song and released it on his 1968 album Mama Tried, several months before Parton released her version.

“Kentucky Gambler” (1975)

Not only was Haggard in love with Parton after spending more time with her on tour in the early ’70s, but he also landed a big hit with Parton’s song, “Kentucky Gambler.” The song appeared on his chart-topping album with his band the Strangers, Keep Movin’ On from 1975, and earned Haggard his nineteenth No. 1 on the Country chart. It also marked Parton’s first No. 1 as a songwriter for another artist.

That same year, Parton released her version of “Kentucky Gambler,” which she originally recorded in 1973, on her album The Bargain Store. The song followed the story of a miner who left his family to gamble in Reno, Nevada, inspired by her grandfather’s gambling habit, and topped the Country chart.

“The Seeker” (1975)

In 1975, Parton released her sixteenth album, Dolly, featuring the gospel-filled single “The Seeker,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Country chart. Described by Parton as her “talk with God,” the lyrics read from the perspective of someone repenting their sins and seeking a better way in life. A year later, Haggard recorded “The Seeker” for his No. 1 album, It’s All in the Movies.

More artists followed. By 1976, the British pop group The New Seekers also covered the song, along with Shelby Lynne in 2003, and Parton’s sister Stella in 2016.

“My Love Affair With Trains” (1976)

Haggard first hopped a train at the age of 5, since his earlier years revolved around the rails. His father, Jim Haggard, was a Santa Fe Railroad carpenter and died when the country singer was 9 years old. Long after his father’s death, Haggard’s lifelong love affair with trains continued. On his twentieth album, My Love Affair with Trains, Haggard reflected on his love of locomotives. Parton also wrote the title track for Haggard, which opens the album.

Every time I hear the sound of a train
Coming down that railroad track
I get that faraway look in my eye
And I’d like to throw my hammer down
And take off to some distant town
And not even take the time to say goodbye

I’ve got to think about my babies
About my job and my old lady
And how much she’d miss me if I was gone
And I love them more than anything
But I got this feeling near by trains
And sometimes I wish I was on that train and gone

In 1985, Haggard briefly leased a dome rail car for an ill-fated campaign for Farm Aid, which would transport artists including Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan, along with farm officials, and the press. Unfortunately, Haggard couldn’t find the funding, nixing the tour-by-train campaign.

As of April 2025, Haggard’s dome car is now part of the Virginia Scenic Railway lineup, offering three-hour scenic tours through Shenandoah Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains and 360 views of the surrounding landscape.

Photo: Merle Haggard Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images