Merle Haggard’s Sons Uncover Hidden Songs and Never-Before-Seen Footage in Family Collection

Ben and Noel, the sons of Merle Haggard, the late music legend, announced there is a treasure chest of unreleased tape and video from their father's legacy. The legendary country singer-songwriter, who passed away in 2016, left behind a wealth of material that includes brand-new, unheard songs, live performances, and unique home movies created during his time in Bakersfield, California.

Ben Haggard shared that he hopes this music will eventually be released for fans to enjoy, saying, “There's stuff that has never been heard, new songs and stuff out there, for certain. Which need to find a way out, if you ask me.” He explained that there is a significant amount of archival material, including both music and performances, that could be organized for future releases.

“Oh yeah. Yeah. There's some stuff we've been messing around with in the studio. There's stuff of his, you know, a good amount of archive. Live shows and stuff… my mother will probably end up doing something with. Getting some stuff out there,” Ben added.

Noel Haggard highlighted a scarce part of their father's collection, which includes homemade movies and quirky band footage from Bakersfield. “There's some homemade movies that he used to do in Bakersfield. There was a TV station that was going out of business, so he bought the cameras and the band, everybody… he had names for everybody… they were stating up probably longer than most people. I was just a little kid running wires and stuff for them, you know. But it was hilarious. He'd do commercials and everything. Those have got to be somewhere, you know.”

The family is still in the early stages of organizing the material, but could follow a path similar to Shooter Jennings, who has successfully released archival albums of his father, Waylon Jennings.

Merle Haggard is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, inducted in 1993, and remains one of the most important figures in country music history. According to the Hall of Fame, Haggard's impact on the genre is only second to that of Hank Williams. Merle Haggard's fans are waiting to hear unreleased work from the prolific songwriter. His work continues to influence music today.