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Johnny Cash was about to perform at San Quentin. He needed a glass of water.
New Year’s Day, 1959. He’d been partying across the bay in San Francisco the night before and had sung or talked his voice away.
Somewhere in the audience sat Haggard. Twenty-one years old. Inmate A-45200. Serving time for a botched Bakersfield burglary and an escape from jail.
“I thought this guy’s in trouble,” Haggard told Dan Rather decades later. “There’s five thousand men here. He can’t talk. He can’t sing.”
Country music didn’t carry much prestige in the prison, he remembered. Cash’s arrival hadn’t caused much excitement. And here he was, facing all these men without a working voice.
A guard stood in the daylight of a doorway, chewing gum. Cash pointed toward him, asked for water, and imitated his chewing.
“The audience wouldn’t dare mock a guard,” Haggard recalled. “Well, he won the whole audience.”
Afterward, Haggard remembered perhaps twenty prisoners wanted to play the guitar, including someone who wanted to learn the opening to “Folsom Prison Blues.” Merle Haggard already knew how to play. Before he became a country star, he was a prisoner giving guitar lessons.
Haggard would credit the concert with inspiring his pursuit of music. Watching a nearly voiceless man command that room had shown him what a performer could do.
“I understood the power of Johnny Cash,” he recalled. “It was overwhelming.”
Music offered a way forward. “I would’ve become a lifetime criminal if music hadn’t saved my ass,” he later told Rolling Stone. He walked out in November 1960, having served almost three years.
By 1968, “Mama Tried” was a No. 1 country hit. Merle Haggard sang “I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.” Turns out the first part of that line was true about Merle, although few realized it at the time.
In August 1969, Haggard appeared on ABC’s The Johnny Cash Show. As Haggard told it, Cash brought up San Quentin, and Haggard said he'd seen him play there. Cash didn't remember him being on the bill. He hadn't been. He'd been in the audience.
Before this appearance, Haggard was hesitant to talk about his time in prison, afraid he would be judged for it, and of what it would do to his career. Cash encouraged him to own that history publicly.
Two country music legends crossed paths right here in Marin County, California, and it changed music history.
p.s. San Quentin recently unveiled a $239 million learning center that includes recording studios. It’s part of the process changing from the maximum security San Quentin State Prison to medium security San Quentin Rehabilitation Center. California moved more than 500 condemned individuals to other prisons across the state.
p.p.s. When Ken Burns brought his documentary Country Music to San Quentin for a screening in July 2019, one of the men in the audience was the 80-year-old prisoner Curly Ray Martin. Martin had once shared a cell with Merle Haggard six decades earlier. “Merle taught me how to play bass,” he told KQED.
Novato Hills by Adam Nuyens
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The best stand-up comedians in the world have competed in the San Francisco Bay Area Stand-Up Competition in the last 50 years: Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Ellen DeGeneres, Dane Cook, too many more to mention. Now the 50th Anniversary Finals are right here at the Marin Showcase Theater. Two shows on Saturday 9/27 at 7pm and 9pm, $50.
It’s another impressive lineup this year for the festival October 1-11. A tribute to Sam Rockwell who will be in-person, his film Wild Horse Nine, Jesse Eisenberg in-person for The Debut, his directorial debut, I Play Rocky with the lead actor in attendance, tribute plus performance by Linda Perry of 4 Non Blondes, and many more. Tickets are available Tuesday September 15 for CAFILM members (starts at $100), Thursday September 17 at noon for the general public. Prices vary.
Meet fun Marin neighbors on Tuesday 9/22. Take a short quiz and we’ll curate small groups at various restaurants, optional nearby afterparty to follow. New this time: one table at Tu Tap and the Sausalito afterparty at Notte Divino. (Only six people will get Tu Tap, but if you sign up for Sausalito, everyone has the same afterparty at Notte Divino.) $20.
Other SF tickets dropping this week: Valkyries playoff tickets, Victoria Monet Dec 17, Nutcracker ballet, and Elf the Musical.
Because leaving Marin might take more planning. Look for our Marin events in the Wednesday email.
Sea chanteys in the Maritime Museum, a parade of boats across Aquatic Cove, a sandcastle contest, and food trucks at the waterfront park. 11am-5pm, free.
Classic muscle cars parked alongside historic aircraft at the Pacific Coast Air Museum, with hot dogs and hangar browsing. 8am-2pm, $10 (free under 7).
Get on the SMART train and pop out right in the middle of this live music celebration. Noon-7:30pm, free.
Fifty-plus comics, including Paula Poundstone and Will Durst, do free sets all afternoon in Robin Williams Meadow, a Golden Gate Park tradition since 1981. Noon-5pm, free.
Grant Avenue fills with lion dancers, mooncakes, and a dumpling eating contest for the two-day harvest celebration. 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday, free.
Zillow of the Week brought to you by: Making Marin Home. From neighborhood trends to off-market opportunities, our team offers the local real estate expertise that gives you a real advantage. Email [email protected] today.
Please note that this property isn’t associated with the banner sponsor above or Marin Buzz in any way. It is just a unique home you might be interested in seeing, for entertainment purposes only!
$6.5M Panoramic Highway Stinson View
Marin’s most sought-after stretch for photographers is the Bolinas-Stinson coastline. It’s part of Mt Tamalpais State Park, so no houses get that exact view.
This is one of the homes farthest up Panoramic Highway. So while it’s not the same view since it’s closer to the water, it’s about as close as you can get. And at the furthest edge of the property there’s a hot tub with a perfect spot to enjoy the sunset.
The home was renovated in 2018 and also on the 3.8-acre property is a one-bedroom, one-bathroom barrel guest house:
What do you think, is that hot tub with the price?
Faith was adopted as a 12-week-old kitten from a friend who's cat had a litter. Half Siamese, the other half unknown (mother was a street cat & popular with the boys), she has got spunk & a heart of gold. Faith loves to cuddle, birdwatch & chase lizards she can never catch.
If you’d like your pet to be considered for Pet of the Week, please fill this out!
Thank you downtown Novato for our first year of yoga! It’s time to celebrate the first year of our growing community satsang here at Tara Yoga Studio.
First timers to Tara Studio are invited to use the code BDAY for a free class on Saturday, September 19th. Please arrive 10-15 minutes early to get settled, as class begins promptly at 8:30am. After class, we’ll sing a short kirtan to invoke the blessings for your second year, enjoy chai, indulge in Margarita’s cake (Chef Margarita is a Novato legend!), we’ll have a raffle, and we’ll take an updated community photo!
Can't join us on 9/19? Our boutique yoga studio is open for yoga in the heart of downtown Novato 7 days a week. Memberships are currently on sale for 50% off the first month (3 month commitment), using code BIRTHDAY through 9/30. Grab the deal here.
Thanks for reading. We will be back with the regular events and activities email Wednesday morning!
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