Although it is often assumed that Haggard, who was enjoying enormous success with the social commentary "
Okie from Muskogee" and the politically charged "
The Fightin' Side of Me" in 1969 and 1970, sought to distance himself from controversy by returning to his musical roots by recording a tribute to his childhood idol
Bob Wills, this is not quite accurate; according to David Cantwell's book
Merle Haggard: The Running Kind, by the time Haggard's live album ''
The Fightin' Side of Me'' appeared in 1970, the Wills album had already been completed for four months. Haggard gathered up six of the remaining members of
The Texas Playboys to record the tribute:
Johnnie Lee Wills,
Eldon Shamblin,
Tiny Moore, Joe Holley,
Johnny Gimble, and Alex Brashear. Merle's band the Strangers were also present during the recording but unfortunately Wills suffered a massive stroke after the first day of recording. Merle arrived on the second day, devastated that he would not get to record with him. Haggard spent a few scant months learning the fiddle, an instrument that he had not touched since his childhood violin lessons. Unlike Haggard's previous tribute album to
Jimmie Rodgers, which gave the original songs a new sound, his Wills
LP remained true to the original arrangements. As Cantwell observes, "The album's most charming quality, its attention to authentic period detail, is a built-in limitation it never entirely transcends." Completely
apolitical, the album reached number 2 on the
Billboard Country Albums Chart and peaked at number 58 on the Pop Album Chart, his highest showing there to date. The album would play a crucial role in the revitalization of
Western Swing music and inspire younger musicians like
Asleep at the Wheel and
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. Haggard would do more tribute albums to Wills over the next 40 years. In
1973 he appeared on
For the Last Time Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. In
1994 Haggard collaborated with
Asleep at the Wheel and many other artists influenced by the music of
Bob Wills on an album entitled
Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys.
A Tribute was re-released on CD on the Koch label in 1995 with both the original Haggard liner notes and new notes by country music and western swing historian Rich Kienzle, who described the album's influence on his interest in delving deeper into Wills and his legacy. ==Reception==