Trona Railroad

Near Argus, Calif., in 1987

.

Kodachrome by Scott Snell

 Union thug laid-low by a pick handle wielded by a tri-state miner

1937 Press Photo

 

Black Friday

Hagadious

Compiled in 2016, here are Haggard’s biggest selling albums as tallied by the RIAA. In the U.S., gold certification translates to sales of at least 500,000 copies, and the threshold for platinum is 1 million.

Okie From Muskogee (1969) — Certified gold: Oct. 2, 1970. Platinum: Dec. 3, 1991

The Fightin’ Side of Me (1970) — Certified gold: March 11, 1971

The Best of the Best of Merle Haggard (1972) — Certified gold: April 30, 1974. Platinum: Dec. 3, 1991

Big City (1981) — Certified Gold: July 11, 1983

Pancho & Lefty with Willie Nelson (1983) — Certified gold: July 11, 1983. Platinum: Aug. 7, 1984

His Epic Hits (1984) — Certified gold: Aug. 7, 1989. Platinum: Jan. 29, 1997

Super Hits, Vol. 2 (1994) — Certified gold: Nov. 14, 2002.

16 Biggest Hits (1998) — Certified gold: Nov. 5, 2002

For the Record (1999) — Certified gold: Nov. 5, 2002

By the way, friend and bus driver Dean Holloway's words about Los Angeles being "a dirty old city" inspired Haggard to write the song "Big City" in about 20 minutes and to record it minutes later in one take with a band that had not rehearsed it. “We didn’t have an ending, but the band came up with one they thought I’d like and ran me off as we wound down,” Haggard said. He also credited Holloway as a writer of the song, entitling him to half the royalties of it, which amounted to about half a million dollars for Holloway.

 Gap-toothed Red Simpson on early 1966 Buck Owens Ranch Show

 Sam Elliott

I don't recall Trout's being a rough place at all; it was always "a clean well-lighted place," to borrow from Hemingway. The Highland Inn? Now that was a different story.