The Story Behind Merle Haggard’s “Old Man From The Mountain”

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During a road trip through Dallas, Texas, Merle and the guys stopped to record “Old Man From The Mountain” because an old-time bass player lived there who used to play on all the old country records that came out of Jim Beck’s studio in the 1950s, especially ones by Merle’s idol Lefty Frizzell. His name was James “Pee Wee” Reid and he played the old-fashioned upright, “slap-type” bass, which was a sound Haggard wanted for this song. Johnny Gimble provided Reid’s address and Merle went over to his house to enlist him to play bass on “Old Man From The Mountain.”

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The song debuted on Billboard’s Hot Country Singles chart on June 29, 1974 at a modest #78 entry position. Two months later, the record made a one-week appearance at the summit on August 24th, marking Haggard’s 18th number one hit (he went on to have 38). Just at the time the single reached its peak, the flip side was generating a substantial amount of airplay as well, although it did not end up charting. Titled “Holding Things Together,” it featured Reno and Bonnie Owens as supporting vocalists.

Bonnie, the one-time wife of Buck Owens, became Haggard’s second wife in 1965 and is credited with getting many of his songs down on paper. She and Merle reached their zenith as a songwriting team when they penned one of country’s all-time standards, “Today I Started Loving You Again.”

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