On this day (November 7) in 1970, Merle Haggard was at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart with The Fightin’ Side of Me. The LP retained the top spot for seven consecutive weeks. Earlier that year, his first live album, Okie from Muskogee, spent five weeks at No. 1. Both albums were released to capitalize on hit singles.
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Haggard released “The Fightin’ Side of Me” in January 1970. The song was, at the same time, pro-Vietnam War and anti-hippie. Much like his previous smash hit, “Okie from Muskogee,” Hag’s jingoistic tone captured the ear of country music’s more conservative fans and rode their support to the top. “Fightin’ Side” spent three weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. However, their success with conservatives wasn’t the only thing the two songs had in common.
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Shortly after finding success with the studio version of “Okie from Muskogee,” Haggard released a live album of the same name. It became a multi-week No. 1 in the summer of 1970. So, after “The Fightin’ Side of Me” became a hit, Haggard and his label chose to run the same strategy a second time. The Fightin’ Side of Me, recorded during a February concert in Philadelphia, hit record store shelves in July, just a few months after the single’s three-week run at No. 1 ended.
The Label Pushed Merle Haggard to Release “The Fightin’ Side of Me”
“Okie from Muskogee” became a massive hit for Merle Haggard, launching his career to new heights. The single also painted the singer/songwriter into a corner. He didn’t initially plan to follow it with another right-wing anthem. In fact, he hoped to release something that, for the time, was incredibly progressive.
Haggard wanted to release the song “Irma Jackson” as a single. The song’s lyrics are from the perspective of a white man who is in love with a Black woman. If my lovin’ Irma Jackson is a sin / Then I don’t understand this crazy world we’re livin’ in. / There’s a muddy wall between us standin’ high / But I’ll love Irma Jackson ‘till I die, Haggard sings in the chorus.
According to Rolling Stone, Ken Nelson, the head of Capitol Records’ country music division, talked Haggard out of releasing the song. The label didn’t want to compromise his right-wing image with a song about interracial love.
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