Plans move forward to honor Merle Haggard with bronze sculpture in Muskogee, Okla.
He is one of Bakersfield’s favorite sons, his voice and songwriting talents lifting him to the status of legend, not only in the annals of country music, but as one of the greatest singer-songwriters in the history of American popular music.
But Bakersfield isn’t the only city that has a heartfelt connection to Haggard, who before his death in 2016 earned the title, “poet of the common man.”
Muskogee, a city in eastern Oklahoma with a population of about 40,000, has a unique relationship with the late recording artist. After all, Haggard helped put Muskogee on the map with his 1969 hit, “Okie From Muskogee.”
For years, organizers in Muskogee have been raising money through private donations to honor Haggard with a bronze sculpture to be erected near the center of town.
However, those plans were nearly abandoned last November, Derek Gibson, a key organizer of the effort told the local newspaper, the Muskogee Phoenix. He confirmed it last week in a conversation with The Californian.
“We just couldn’t agree on some of the demands that the (Haggard) estate put on the project,” said Gibson, past president of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.
“We felt they were asking too much,” Gibson told the Phoenix. “They wanted to control too much of the project, and we couldn’t deal with it.”
Gibson went so far as to tell the Muskogee City Council that the longawaited project was dead.
But last week, Gibson confirmed that the project is back on track after being reassured that they were on solid ground.
“My committee should be meeting after the first of the year to start moving forward,”
he told The Californian. “I can tell you that we are back on and our plan is to honor Merle with a statue in Muskogee.”
They have already raised a significant amount of money, and hope to begin receiving bids from artists in the not-too-distant future.
“We are going to be open to artist interpretations,” Gibson said. “We want a place where folks can sit down next to Merle for a photo opportunity and see Old Glory in the background.
“We’ve thought about a stool like on the album cover when ‘Okie From Muskogee’ came out, with another stool open next to him. I personally like that
idea, but we are starting fresh and want to see what other artists will come up with.
“We’re excited about the project,” he said.
Despite the perception that the Haggard estate had serious issues with the project, Haggard’s wife of 22 years, Theresa Haggard, said honoring Merle in Muskogee is the right thing to do.
Reached while traveling, Theresa Haggard said in a text that “there is no problem between Muskogee and the Haggards.”
She was glad to know, she said, that organizers in Muskogee are back on track.
“It’s important for America and Muskogee,” Haggard said of plans to honor her
late husband.
She did say family members would like to have a say in approving the design because they want the likeness to be a faithful and accurate representation of her late husband.
“Not too much to ask,” she said.
When this reporter shared an early digital concept of what the sculpture might look like, Mrs. Haggard said she didn’t think it was a close enough likeness.
“I think they will get it. I have faith in the project,” she told this reporter.
“It’s a good thing they are doing,” she said. “I’m sure they will get it right and Merle will shine like he always did.”