Marcus King has a deep discography of killer tunes both solo and with his band. However, he’s just as comfortable playing covers of classic songs as he is performing his original compositions. Earlier this year, he teamed up with Carter Vintage Guitars to record a cover of Merle Haggard’s 1969 No. 1 hit song “Wokin’ Man Blues.”
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Haggard seemingly wrote “Workin’ Man Blues” as a tribute to a large demographic of his fans: blue-collar workers. It’s a stellar example of the Bakersfield Sound. In King’s hands, though, the song takes on a new life. His soulful vocal delivery and unique guitar style transform the song from a country classic into a full-on blues banger. Watch him perform the song in the Carter Vintage Guitars studio below.
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Carter set King up with a dream rig on which to play the song. In the video, he’s playing a 1969 custom Fender Telecaster through a Dumble Tweedle-Dee Deluxe 1×12 combo amplifier. The vintage gear and King’s guitar-picking prowess help drive home the old-school sound he delivers with the cover.
Marcus King Performs a Merle Haggard Classic
Merle Haggard released dozens of albums, each packed with top-tier original songs. However, Marcus King chose one of the “Okie from Muskogee” singer’s best-loved tracks for his recording session for Carter Vintage Guitars.
Haggard wrote the song and released it in 1969 as the second single from his album A Portrait of Merle Haggard. “Workin’ Man Blues” went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for one week.
As the title suggests, the album does a great job of painting a picture of Haggard as an artist. It contains three timeless Haggard-penned songs—“Workin’ Man Blues,” “Silver Wings,” and “Hungry Eyes.”
While he was a musician for much of his life, Haggard proved that his work ethic was as great as the blue-collar laborers who routinely purchased his music. He toured almost constantly and released multiple albums every year throughout much of his career. It was through that hard work that he earned the fitting nickname The Poet of the Common Man.
Featured Image by Astrida Valigorsky/Getty Images
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