I met Merle once in an old knife store somewhere south of Fairbanks in 1984(ish).
He pulled out $1,000 cash for a custom hand made moose horn hunting knife.
Just as humble as he could be. I think he had had a few. I didn't buy anything. The knife maker and I both had big smiles as Merle went back to his pickup. I have a friend that used to ride around in an old pickup the backroads of Bakersfield drinking scotch and whiskey with Merle, Buck, and Johnny. Sometimes all in the same truck.
In the mid seventies I went country and didn't look back.
Yes. By age 14 I was almost 100% country, and was beginning to hate rock music with every fiber of my being.
But by 1986 country had degenerated so much that I completely quit listening to the radio. (About that time Merle Haggard called the new country music "half- baked rock and roll" as I recall.)
In September 1985 -- when the first Farm Aid concert was happening -- Boxcar Willie visited a nearby town and was interviewed on the local country music radio station.
"Why aren't you at Farm Aid?", the DJ asked him.
Box replied, "Because I wasn't invited."
A little taken aback, the DJ said, "Well, why do you think you weren't invited?"
Without hesitating, Box answered, "Because I don't smoke enough grass."