Merle Haggard’s Sudden Struck Of Change…
While in prison, Haggard learned that his wife was expecting another man’s child, which pressed him psychologically. He was fired from a series of prison jobs, and planned to escape along with another inmate named “Rabbit”, but was convinced not to escape by fellow inmates.
Haggard started gambling and brewing racket with his cellmate. After he was caught drunk, he was sent for a week to solitary confinement where he met Caryl Chessman, an author, and a death-row inmate. Meanwhile, his inmate named James “Rabbit” Kendrick has managed to escape by shooting a police officer. With this, his friend was returned to jail and was executed.
Chessman’s predicament, along with the execution of “Rabbit,” inspired Haggard to change his life. He soon earned a high school equivalency diploma and kept a steady job in the prison’s textile plant. Haggard also played for the prison’s country music band, attributing a performance by Johnny Cash at the jail on New Year’s Day of 1959 as his main inspiration. And he was released from San Quentin on parole in 1960.