Song Lyric Sunday: Bakersfield

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For today’s Song Lyric Sunday Jim is asking us to play something which is part of the Bakersfield Sound, as you can see in his post, A Gallon Of Maple Syrup. I had heard of this vaguely, so went to Wikipedia to enlighten myself further. This is what they say: “The Bakersfield sound is a sub-genre of country music developed in the mid-to-late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. Bakersfield is defined by its influences of rock and roll and honky-tonk style country, and its heavy use of electric instrumentation and backbeats. It was also a reaction against the slickly produced, orchestra-laden Nashville sound, which was becoming popular in the late 1950s.” I went in search of some artists who played in this style and, whilst there were some familiar names amongst them they weren’t people I particularly knew. So I followed the trail to YouTube for one of the best known names, and found my featured song for today. I am also playing one which was influenced by Bakersfield, although the band could in no way be described as being part of that scene. You’ll see what I mean when I get there, but for now here is the country giant that was Merle Haggard:

And here are the published lyrics, though Merle seems to have altered them a little over the passing of time. It is a beautiful rendition of a song which clearly meant a lot to him:

The warden led a prisoner down the hallway to his doom
I stood up to say goodbye like all the rest
And I heard him tell the warden just before he reached my cell
“Let my guitar playing friend do my request”

Let him sing me back home with a song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die

I recall last Sunday morning a choir from off the streets
Came to sing a few old gospel songs
And I heard him tell the singers, “There’s a song my mama sang
Could I hear it once before you move along?”

Sing me back home, the the song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die

Won’t you sing me back home, the the song I used to hear
Make my old memories come alive
Take me away and turn back the years
Sing me back home before I die
Sing me back home before I die

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Merle Haggard

Sing Me Back Home lyrics © Sony/atv Tree Publishing

Sing Me Back Home was released as a single in November 1967, making #1 on the US Country chart. It then became the title track of his next album, which came out in January 1968 and also got to #1 on the Country listings, whilst reaching #7 in Canada. Merle Haggard had a troubled upbringing and got into a lot of trouble. He was sent to various juvenile detention centres and then ended up in Bakersfield Jail, and later San Quentin. He made friends there with a guy known as ‘Rabbit,’ real name John Kendrick, and this song was written about his friend’s walk to the gallows – his punishment for shooting a policeman. It was partly this event that encouraged Haggard to turn his life around, and he went on to have a long and successful career in music. In 1972 President Ronald Reagan gave him a full and unconditional pardon for his earlier crimes: I guess it helps to have friends in high places too. The video I played dates from 2007, when Haggard, Willie Nelson and Ray Price, backed by the band Asleep At The Wheel, embarked on their ‘Last of the Breed’ tour, which was recorded for DVD release. I hadn’t come across this one before researching this piece, but I rather like this version of the song – good to see that he still had it when he was 70.

The Bakersfield Sound was credited with influencing the development of country rock – I could have played you something by The Eagles but that seemed like one stage removed. It did, however, influence one of the UK’s biggest bands who, through their friendship with Gram Parsons, included some country-based tracks on their albums. As this one actually starts with a reference to Bakersfield I couldn’t really leave it out, could I:

Absolutely brilliant! I just love the way they all play this with deadpan expressions and looking totally bored, until Mick can’t resist breaking into a big smile around the 2 minute mark and giving the game away. Faraway Eyes was a track on the Rolling Stones’ 14th album, Some Girls, released in June 1978. The record attracted a lot of controversy at the time over one of the lyrics to the track Miss You, but those who were offended by that somehow missed the chance to take umbrage at the way this song makes fun of those evangelical preachers who make loads of money from their gullible audiences. That doesn’t seem to have done the album much harm, as it got to #2 in the UK and topped the US charts, selling more than 6m copies in the US alone in the process. Perhaps a little ironically, this track was released in May 1978, just ahead of the album, as the B-side to Miss You – a double whammy of offence! The single reached #3 in the UK and in the US, the land of the easily offended, it went to #1. Go figure!

That’s all for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed these and that I’ll see you again for Tuesday Tunes. Take care and stay well 😊

32 thoughts on “Song Lyric Sunday: Bakersfield”

  1. Pingback: September Grass | Take It Easy

    • Not to everyone’s liking, I grant you, but that was the brief so I tried to stick to it! Better luck next week – we have a free choice, so I’ll no doubt be playing something that shows off my own immaculate taste 🤣

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  6. This is where my wife and I differ in our musical preferences. She likes all kinds of country music (old and new), and I only prefer the newer sounds that crossover into rock. She was a big fan of Merle Haggard, something I would never listen to, despite how much I love her. 😊

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    • I gather it is, but only came across it when researching this post. I liked the backstory of his life before music.

      The Stones one has long been a favourite of mine. I bought the album when it first came out! The video is fantastic, isn’t it 😊

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  8. Merle does a nice song here, country tropes aplenty. The Stones do a a nice Country song with almost every Country trope you can think of given the treatment. Dunno about a good ol’ boy ‘yee-haw!’ but I give it a decent belly laugh. ‘The Church Of The Saaycred Bleeeding Heart Of Jeeezus’ indeed.

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  10. Great post Clive, you picked some real winners today. Merle Haggard fundamentally altered the course of country music on a granular level, by introducing a sonic blueprint that would come to be known as the Bakersfield sound. The prisoner that is going to the gas chamber says that music, and in particular a song from his childhood memory that was sung by his mother, provides him with solace. When he stops in front of Merl Haggard’s cell the last request of this condemned man is to let his guitar playing friend play this song for him. The prisoner seems to still be clinging to life, even though he has accepted his death. He is making an emotional connection with music to the bitter end.

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    • I liked it too, and it had a great backstory which made it ideal for this piece. I love that Stones video too – it’s great seeing them all trying not to smile but they all eventually fail, even Charlie!

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    • Wikipedia mentions rockabilly as being related to Bakersfield so I think you could be right on that. Happy to have introduced you to this variant – about which I knew nothing before researching this piece!

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