Merle Haggard's Saturday night shows at New York's Tramps didn't exactly get the mayoral red carpet reception of Garth Brooks' concert in Central Park, and the singer himself treated the engagement as just another honky tonk on the highway of life. True to form, the performer, who once sang about the good old days when "country music hadn't gone to New York City yet," kept a low profile in the Big Apple that suited his music -- and his legend -- just fine.
\\Dressed in an Hawaiian-print shirt, beige Nike seaman's cap, and large, triangular sunglasses, Haggard looked more like a hip Jimmy Buffett than the country icon he has become. He also sounded great and looked healthy, his 60 years betrayed only by his salt-and-pepper beard and swept-back hair. Backed by his seven-piece Strangers band and longtime backing vocalist (and ex-wife) Bonnie Owens, Haggard opened with "Workin' Man Blues" and then dove further into his 35-year back catalog, mostly steering clear of his newer material but playing '80s hits like "Big City" and "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink" alongside such '60s signature tunes as "Mama Tried" and "The Bottle Let Me Down." There was no questioning Haggard's assured command of the songs and the stage, but he also stepped back to allow his bandmembers to take their turns in the spotlight. Strangers fiddler/accordionist Abe Manuel, Jr. stepped up for a Creole-perfect "Jambalaya (On the Bayou)," and Owens -- flaunting a disarmingly sweet, girlish voice and a mean yodel -- all but stole the show with "I Want to be a Cowboy's Sweetheart."
\\Those who stuck around for the second show of the night were rewarded with more classics, including "Silver Wings," "Ramblin' Fever," and the beautiful "The Farmer's Daughter," as well as surprises like Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues." But Haggard drew the biggest response of the evening when he announced "one for all the ex-convicts in the room" and led the Strangers into "Sing Me Back Home," singing the heart-felt plea of a dead-man-walking as though his own life were at stake.
\\Only one other song in the Haggard canon could have matched that -- "The Fugitive." But perhaps to play up the song's on-the-run theme, Haggard never gave it a chance. "Down every road there's always one more city," he sang over the tune's acoustic intro, then took a bow, did a little jig, and walked off the stage, leaving the Strangers to finish the song sans vocal. Frustrating, sure. But to