By Doug Hill

pop writer

"I am a Merle Haggard fan and go way back with him," Bud Blackburn said. It was right before the outlaw country singer's Riverwind concert June 17. "I'll give you an example," the bright-eyed, 70-ish gentleman continued. "In the Eighties, I owned the Buick dealership in Ada, Oklahoma. A disc jockey named Buddy Kessinger at the KADA radio station next door and I became close friends," he said. "One Monday morning he got on the air and said, 'I want to dedicate this song to Bud Blackburn.' Then he put on Merle singing 'Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room Tonight' which went on the PA all over my dealership," Blackburn said. "He did that every Monday morning at 6:15 a.m. for 22 years. My customers would come in humming that tune. It became my theme song and I was well known for it," he said with a twinkle in his eyes. At his side, Mrs. Blackburn smiled demurely.

Riverwind was sold-out and full of people with many other personal connections to one of country music's legends. Haggard has strong Oklahoma roots. His parents were part of the Okie Diaspora, moving to Bakersfield, California where he was born during the Great Depression. In and out of the pen for petty crime as a youth, Haggard cleaned up his act. He worked his way to stardom and was eventually pardoned by Governor Ronald Reagan.

The show began with a two-part, hour-long prelude before Haggard took the stage. A big band with keys, three guitars, bass, dobro and drums played a few honky tonk standards. Merle's son Binion, 15, in a tie, black shirt, blue jeans and cap studiously played guitar. "I'm not dancing with no demons/ I'm not dealing with the devil anymore," one of several rotating lead singers crooned. He had a white cross on his guitar strap. Merle's long time band the Strangers came on, increasing the population on stage to 9 men. They were named after the Haggard hit, "My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers." They played a set of old school country. Sad, slow songs mostly about broken relationships, such as "A Picture of Me Without You." A guy in the second row of the audience stood, turned around, doffed his hat to those behind him and said something unintelligible, then sat down again. You can't beat country concerts for characters. Merle Haggard came out and walked from one end of the stage to the other, surveying his audience. He looked great at 71, appearing happy, satisfied and healthy. Merle sang "Ramblin' Fever" and then a song about how everything's going to be all right. "Honey, don't worry about what George Bush does," he growled as an aside. The audience laughed. It's 2008. "Good evening, my name is Merle Haggard and I'm glad to be here in the great state of Oklahoma. Did we have a hurricane last night?" he asked. It had just been a baby cyclone with 2 inches of rain.

Haggard sang the Man in Black's "Folsom Prison Blues." His percussionist was frequently off-beat. Haggard turned a few times after songs, apparently jawing at the drummer off-mic. At the other end of the scale, the fiddler and saxophone player were bad-ass. Next was visionary "Rainbow Stew." "When they find out how to burn water/ And the gasoline car is gone/ When an airplane flies without any fuel/ And the satellite heats our home," Haggard sang.

Vocals were trademark mellow, deep and distinctive. His gift remains undiminished by the years. Life without parole is hard on mothers. Haggard sang his ode to women who did their best. It's called "Mama Tried." Mama topped the charts for a month in 1968. "We're going to play some swing for you," Haggard said picking up his fiddle. They rocked a version of Kokomo Arnold's "Milk Cow Blues." There was more weepy time on "The Day I Started Loving You Again." Haggard dedicated "The Fightin' Side of Me" to our troops overseas. Written in 1969 for America's past generation of warriors, it sounds faded today because now we support our troops 100%. The finale naturally was "Okie from Muskogee." And even though Norman is undeniably the San Francisco of Oklahoma, all us squares were having a ball.