"The Roots of My Raising" is a song written by Tommy Collins, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

and The Strangers. It was released in January 1976 as the first single and title track from the album ''

The Roots of My Raising ''The Roots of My Raising'' is the 21st studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1976. It was his third release in 1976 and his last on the Capitol label until his return in 2004. It reached number 8 on ...

''. The song was Merle Haggard and The Strangers twenty-third number one on the country chart. The single spent one week at number one and a total of ten weeks on the country chart.

Content

The song, sung in first-person, sees a young man who visits his childhood home for the first time in several years. As he approaches home, he reflects on the gravel road and the one-room schoolhouse he attended as a child. Once at home, he sees his father sleeping, comfortably and clutching a photo of his wife (the singer's mother) in his hands. At this point, he speaks of his now-deceased mother and recalls times where people could take out a bank loan simply on a verbal promise of repayment.

B-side: "The Way it was in '51"

The flip side of "The Roots of My Raising" was "The Way It Was in '51," which enjoyed minor chart success in 1978, reaching No. 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles chart, and gets airplay on classic country stations today. The song also takes a nostalgic look back at, in the singer's view, a simpler time and one of friends and companionship. Here, a 40-year-old man takes a look back at the year 1951 – some 25 years earlier, at the time of its release – a time he fondly remembers well: just a few years before

rock and roll music Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

and four-lane highways, drive-in restaurants populated the countryside, servicemen were proud of what they'd done, and when "

Hank Hank is a male given name. It may have been inspired by the Dutch name Henk,The Origins of 10 Nicknam ...

and

Lefty Lefty is a nickname for a person who is left-handed. Lefty may refer to: *Lefty Bates (1920–2007), American Chicago blues guitarist *Lefty Bertrand (1909–2002), Major League Baseball pitcher for one game * Steve Carlton (born 1944), American ...

crowded every jukebox."

Personnel

– vocals, guitar The Strangers: *

Roy Nichols Roy Ernest Nichols (October 21, 1932 – July 3, 2001) was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix o ...

– lead guitar * Norman Hamlet – steel guitar, dobro *

Tiny Moore Billie "Tiny" Moore (May 12, 1920 – December 15, 1987) was a Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s. He played with The Strangers and Merle Haggard during the ...

– mandolin *

Eldon Shamblin Eldon Shamblin (April 24, 1916 – August 5, 1998) was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band. He was a member of The ...

– guitar * Ronnie Reno – guitar * Mark Yeary – piano * James Tittle – bass *Biff Adam – drums *Don Markham – saxophone

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1976 songs Merle Haggard songs 1976 singles Songs written by Tommy Collins (singer) Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) Capitol Records singles {{1970s-country-song-stub