Workin' Man's Blues
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| “Workin' Man's Blues” | |||||
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| Single by Merle Haggard from the album A Portrait of Merle Haggard |
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| Released | July 1969 (U.S.) | ||||
| Format | 7" | ||||
| Recorded | May 16, 1969 | ||||
| Genre | Country | ||||
| Length | 2:33 | ||||
| Label | Capitol Records 2503 | ||||
| Writer(s) | Merle Haggard | ||||
| Merle Haggard singles chronology | |||||
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"Workin' Man's Blues" is an American country music song performed by its writer, Merle Haggard. Released in 1969, the song was released during his early peak and became one of several signature songs during his career.
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[edit] Background
"Workin' Man's Blues" is Haggard's tribute to a core group of his fans: The American blue-collared working man. Backed by a strong electric guitar beat that typified Haggard's signature Bakersfield Sound, he fills the role of one of those workers expressing pride in values such as hard work and sacrifice, despite the resulting fatigue and the stress of raising a large family. He admits to relaxing during the off-working hours ("I drink my beer in a tavern, sing a little of these workin' man's blues.") and vows that as a result of keeping his values, he will never need to go on welfare ("... cause I'll be working, long as my two hands are fit to use.").
"Workin' Man's Blues" was a track on Haggard's 1969 album A Portrait of Merle Haggard. Music critic Mark Deming noted that the song was among three of Haggard's finest songs to appear on the album; "Silver Wings" and "Hungry Eyes" were the other two. "(M)ost country artists would be happy to cut three tunes this strong during the course of their career, let alone as part of one of six albums Hag would release in 1969," wrote Deming.[1]
Session Personnel: Guitar: James Burton, Lewis Talley. Bass: Chuck Berghofer. Drums: Jim Gordon.
[edit] Chart performance
"Workin' Man's Blues" was released in July 1969, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart.
[edit] Cover versions
In 1994, country music band Diamond Rio teamed up with guitarists Steve Wariner and Lee Roy Parnell, and under the pseudonym Jed Zeppelin, the musicians recorded a cover of "Workin' Man's Blues" for a tribute album called Mama's Hungry Eyes. This cover was not officially released to radio, although it peaked at #48 on the Billboard country charts, and a music video was made for it.
[edit] Sources
[edit] References
- ^ [1] Deming, Mark, A Portrait of Merle Haggard at All Music Guide
[edit] See also
- Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.
[edit] Succession
| Preceded by "All I Have to Offer You Is Me" by Charley Pride |
Billboard Hot Country Singles number one single by Merle Haggard and The Strangers August 16, 1969 |
Succeeded by "A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash |
