Of the Johnny Cash gigs to skip, his San Quentin shows would've probably been best.
But Merle Haggard was in the audience for those famous recordings, when he was just another inmate doing a stretch for burglary. After his release, the singer-songwriter would distinguish himself by hitting the number one spot on the country charts no less than 30 times, and outlaw ballads like Mama Tried remain some of the genre's finest moments.
Haggard died at home on his 79th birthday. Here's what else happened this week:
- Enthusiasts have long complained modern cars, for all of their performance, lack the tactile joy of their ancestors. But safety-wise, they're loads better. 5Series can't believe the driver survived this crash.
- There are joys in watching the pros make incredible feats look easy. There's also, as members of JK-Forum very well know, a profound majesty in watching folks in situations way over their heads.
- Death comes for all of us—but this Porsche Panamera hearse won't. Members of RennList were predictably horrified, while the editors were impressed somebody managed to make the sedan even uglier.
- The community over at CorvetteForum has seen the C3 model disfigured in many ways over the years. That said, a kit to make a Mazda RX-7 look like a disfigured Corvette? It's a rare find indeed.
- Would you go camping in an ex-plumbing van? Because at least one member of Ford-Trucks is planning to, at least after adding some creature comforts and hopefully doing more than a coolant flush.