Merle Haggard to get tributes from ACM, artists

Country Music Hall of Famer Merle Haggard will be the focus of two tributes next month — one an album of the singer's hits recorded by current country stars, the other from the Academy of Country Music.

Luke Bryan, Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean and Toby Keith are among the artists lending their voices to Working Man's Poet: A Tribute to Merle Haggard, out April 1 on Broken Bow Records. During the 49th annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 6 — Haggard's 77th birthday — he'll be the recipient of a multi-artist tribute segment and receive the ACM's Crystal Milestone award, honoring his 50th anniversary in country music.

"He's one of the purest voices ever in country music," says Bryan, who will co-host the ACMs telecast with Blake Shelton. "He's had such an extraordinary life, so many things to draw from for songs. It's amazing just how many things that guy has been through and seen through the years."

Haggard had his first hit, Sing a Sad Song, in 1964, and he topped the Billboard country singles chart 38 times between 1967 and 1988 with songs including Okie From Muskogee, Mama Tried and The Fightin' Side of Me. He won the ACM's first entertainer of the year award, in 1970, and the academy has named him its top male vocalist a record-setting six times.

Bryan duets with Dierks Bentley on Working Man's Poet, singing Pancho and Lefty, a Townes Van Zandt song that Haggard and Willie Nelson took to the top of the country charts in 1983.

"The original had a Spanish-Mexican flair," Bryan says. "We took a real different approach with it." Bryan and producer Jeff Stevens envisioned the new version in the vein of Mumford & Sons, "something with some edge that moves along pretty good. It's an interesting take."

Aldean covers a pair of Haggard's early '80s songs, Going Where the Lonely Go and Are the Good Times Really Over, while Keith remakes the 1972 chart-topper Carolyn. Jake Owen, Randy Houser, Thompson Square and Joe Nichols also contributed tracks.

Working Man's Poet will be available digitally through iTunes. Physical copies of the album, sold only at Walmart, will include Brooks' version of Haggard's 1966 hit Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down, which also appeared on his recent box set for the retailer.

The set also includes two songs recorded by Haggard's youngest son, Ben Haggard, who plays guitar in his father's band, The Strangers.

Previous winners of the Crystal Milestone Award include Aldean, Brooks, Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift.

The ACM Awards will air live on CBS (8 p.m. ET/tape delay PT) from Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Here's the track listing for Working Man's Poet: A Tribute to Merle Haggard:

1. Misery and Gin, Randy Houser
2. Footlights, Joe Nichols
3. Going Where the Lonely Go, Jason Aldean
4. Today I Started Loving You Again, Kristy Lee Cook
5. Carolyn, Toby Keith
6. Pancho and Lefty, Luke Bryan and Dierks Bentley
7. Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down, Garth Brooks (Walmart edition only)
8. You Take Me for Granted, Thompson Square
9. Mama Tried, Ben Haggard
10. That's the Way Love Goes, Dustin Lynch
11. Make Up and Faded Blue Jeans, Jake Owen
12. I'm a Lonesome Fugitive, James Wesley
13. Workin' Man Blues, Parmalee
14. Are the Good Times Really Over, Jason Aldean
15. Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room, Thompson Square
16. I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink, Dustin Lynch
17. The Fightin' Side of Me, James Wesley
18. My Favorite Memory, Joe Nichols
19. Ramblin' Fever, Randy Houser
20. Sing Me Back Home, Ben Haggard