His Taste of Adventure
Age 10 – he and his friends snuck into a freight train.
Age 11 – Merle’s idol then was Lefty Frizzle. Using the Bronson guitar his brother Lowell gifted him, he practiced and successfully imitated not just Frizzle’s musical brilliance, but his stage charisma, as well. Years later, those skills became useful in making Merle an established artist.
Age 16 – Frizzle performed in Bakersfield. Hearing the news, Merle snuck his way to meet his idol. Backstage, Frizzle was told that a lad could impersonate him. Curious, Frizzle had Merle play some songs and was impressed. That meeting awakened the desire in Merle to one day become a country singer.
Age 19 – Merle married Leona Hobbs. Their marriage was rocky and in 1965, they split.
Adventurous in spirit, God may have thought that Merle needed some restraining as we’ll see in the next paragraphs.
