Chart Rewind: In 1969, Merle Haggard Worked His Way to No. 1 on Hot Country Songs

On Aug. 16, 1969, Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues” climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It became the seventh of the genre cornerstone’s 38 leaders, the third-most in the survey’s history after George Strait, who reigns with 44, and Conway Twitty, who notched 40.

Haggard wrote “Workin’ Man Blues,” which Ken Nelson produced.

“Sometimes I think about leaving, do a little bummin’ around,” Haggard admits in the song. “I want to throw my bills out the window, catch a train to another town/ I go back to working, I gotta buy my kids a brand new pair of shoes/ I drank a little beer in a tavern, cry a little bit of these working man blues.”

The track was released from A Portrait of Merle Haggard, whose “Hungry Eyes” became the set’s first Hot Country Songs chart-topper.

Haggard was born on April 6, 1937, in Oildale, Calif. With his smooth vocals, compelling guitar skills and lyrics that keenly linked with the working class, he earned iconic status, leading to his induction to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. His many accolades also include a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) and a Kennedy Center Honor (2010).

After a long battle with pneumonia, Haggard died on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday. His funeral that April 9 was officiated by Marty Stuart. Two weeks after Haggard’s passing, at a tour stop in Bakersfield, Calif., Chris Stapleton and his wife Morgaine paid tribute with performances of Haggard’s “Silver Wings” and “Today I Started Loving You Again.”