Merle Haggard and Leona Williams play at the annual New Year's Day San Quentin State Prison concert. Jan. 6, 1976. (Photo by Jerry Telfer/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS – JULY 04: Merle Haggard (R) performs with Willie Nelson during Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic at the Spicewood Springs Amphitheater on July 4, 2003 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)
Country singer Hank Williams poses for a portrait circa 1948 in Nashville Tennessee.
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Merle Haggard Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
UNSPECIFIED – CIRCA 1970: Photo of Merle Haggard Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
CIRCA MID 1970s: Country musician Merle Haggard performs on stage during a mid 1970's concert. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
NEW YORK: Merle Haggard performs live on stage in New York in 1978 (Photo by Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)
THE JOHNNY CASH SHOW – Airdate: December 2, 1970. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) MERLE HAGGARD
Merle Haggard
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SAN FRANCISCO – NOVEMBER 25: (L-R) Richard Manuel, Dr. John, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Rick Danko, Van Morrison, Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Robbie Robertson and Eric Clapton perform onstage for the rock and roll group "The Band's" "The Last Waltz" concert at Winterland Ballroom which was later turned into a film by Martin Scorsese on November 25, 1976 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Live Nation
Russell Smith
These 1970s parody songs beat all the "real" music on the charts. They blurred the lines between fake song and true hit.
