Bill Text: CA SCR139 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Merle Haggard Memorial Overpass.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2016-09-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 180, Statutes of 2016. [SCR139 Detail]
Download: California-2015-SCR139-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: SCR 139 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
RESOLUTION CHAPTER 180
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 9, 2016
ADOPTED IN SENATE AUGUST 31, 2016
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2016
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 9, 2016
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 9, 2016
INTRODUCED BY Senator Gaines
(Coauthors: Senators Fuller, Nielsen, and Pan)
MAY 5, 2016
Relative to the Merle Haggard Memorial Overpass.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 139, Gaines. Merle Haggard Memorial Overpass.
This measure would designate the overpass at the interchange of
Interstate 5 and State Highway Route 44 in the City of Redding as the
Merle Haggard Memorial Overpass. The measure would also request the
Department of Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate
signs showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations
from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
WHEREAS, Merle Ronald Haggard was born to James and Flossie
Haggard on April 6, 1937, in Oildale, just north of Bakersfield,
California. Merle's father was a railroad worker, and Merle grew up
during the Great Depression. He lived with his family in a boxcar
that they had converted into a home. As a child, Merle suffered from
a respiratory condition that frequently kept him out of school and
confined to bed rest; and
WHEREAS, James Haggard died from a brain tumor when Merle was nine
years of age. After his father's death, Merle became rebellious. In
an attempt to straighten her son out, his mother put him in several
juvenile detention centers, but it had little effect on Merle's
behavior; and
WHEREAS, As a teenager, Merle fell in love with country music,
particularly the songs of Bob Wills, Lefty Frizzell, and Hank
Williams. When he was 12 years of age, Merle was given his first
guitar by his older brother. He then taught himself how to play by
listening to records. Continuing to rebel, he went to Texas with his
friend Bob Teague and, after returning to California, he moved to
Modesto, where he made his performing debut with Teague at a bar
named the Fun Center. The two were paid five dollars and given all
the beer that they could drink; and
WHEREAS, In 1958, at 20 years of age, Merle was sentenced to the
California State Prison at San Quentin for burglary and an attempted
escape from county jail. While serving a two-and-one-half-year term,
he played in the prison's country band and took high school
equivalency courses. In 1959, he was a member of the audience that
witnessed Johnny Cash's first performance at San Quentin. Merle
Haggard would later be officially pardoned in 1972 by then-Governor
Ronald Reagan; and
WHEREAS, In 1962, Merle Haggard signed with a small label called
Tally Records for which he recorded five songs, including his debut
single, "Sing a Sad Song," which rose to No. 19 on the country music
charts. In 1965, he formed his own band, The Strangers, before
signing with Capitol Records, and later that year the band released
its debut self-titled album. The group's followup album, "Swinging
Doors," reached No. 1 on the country music charts the following year,
and in 1967 the group's single "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive" did the
same. Later that year, Merle Haggard continued his runaway success
with "Branded Man," his first self-penned No. 1 song; and
WHEREAS, During the remainder of the 1960s, Merle Haggard produced
a string of No. 1 singles, culminating with what would become his
signature song and his most controversial recording, "Okie from
Muskogee." Released in 1969, the song became an anthem for middle
Americans whose patriotism and traditional values were under attack
from Vietnam War protesters and hippies. "Okie from Muskogee" crossed
over to the pop charts and in 1970 earned Merle Haggard the Country
Music Association's awards for Single, Entertainer, and Top Male
Vocalist of the Year. The album of the same name also won Album of
the Year; and
WHEREAS, Merle Haggard released nearly 70 albums and 600 songs,
250 of which he wrote himself. Among his most memorable albums were
"The Fightin' Side of Me" (1970), "Someday We'll Look Back" (1971),
"If We Make It Through December" (1974), and "A Working Man Can't Get
Nowhere Today" (1977). In 1982, he recorded a duet album with George
Jones called "A Taste of Yesterday's Wine," which yielded the chart
toppers "Yesterday's Wine" and "C.C. Waterback." The following year,
he collaborated with Willie Nelson to record the widely praised
compilation "Pancho & Lefty." In addition to an impressive title
track, "Pancho & Lefty" featured the touching ballads "It's My Lazy
Day," "Half a Man," "Reasons to Quit," and "All the Soft Places to
Fall"; and
WHEREAS, Merle Haggard was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame
in 1977. In 1994, his wealth of artistic achievements, including 38
No. 1 hits, earned him induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Though his musical output waned over the years, he continued to find
success with albums such as "If I Could Fly" (2000), "Haggard Like
Never Before" (2003), and his 2015 reunion album with Willie Nelson,
"Django & Jimmie," which placed him atop the country music charts one
more time; and
WHEREAS, In 2008, Merle Haggard was diagnosed with lung cancer and
underwent surgery to remove a tumor. Reflecting on the situation, he
referred to it as "the greatest test of my fortitude"; and
WHEREAS, At the time of his death, Merle Haggard was married to
Theresa Lane, whom he married in 1993. He had four children from his
marriage to Leona Hobbs and two children with Lane; and
WHEREAS, Merle Haggard died at home on his northern California
ranch in Palo Cedro in Shasta County on April 6, 2016, his 79th
birthday. He had been suffering from double pneumonia and had to
cancel a string of scheduled concerts with Willie Nelson. The 11 days
he spent trying to recover from his illness had become so difficult
that he reportedly told his friends and family that he would die on
his birthday; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the
overpass on Interstate 5 at the interchange of Interstate 5 and State
Highway Route 44 in the City of Redding as the Merle Haggard
Memorial Overpass; and be it further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs to be placed on Interstate 5,
north and south, consistent with the signing requirements for the
state highway system showing this special designation and, upon
receiving donations from nonstate sources sufficient to cover the
cost, to erect those signs; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Director of Transportation and to the author for
appropriate distribution.
