Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings" was released in 1969.
From 1969's Portrait of Merle Haggard, "Silver Wings" wasn't a number one hit but has endured as one of his greatest heartbreakers, on par with Mickey Newbury at his most mournful. Romanticizing an airplane's "silver wings" that take away his lover, Haggard sang so intimately that you wondered if you were eavesdropping. - (From RollingStone's Merle Haggard: 30 Essential Songs).
Merle Haggard, who died on his 79th birthday, wrote some of the greatest songs in American music about drinking, working, prison, love, morality, memory and modernity. Here are five of his best, featured at NYTimes.com.
Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Clint Eastwood remember Merle Haggard. Celebrity friends also including Ron Howard, Eric Church and Tanya Tucker pay tribute to the late country music legend. Read what they have to say about the singer at RollingStone.com.