this link will take you to my digital journal
from the tour, with pictures and a day to day journal on the
road with
Bob Dylan and Merle Haggard.
On the 31 show Dylan tour there were these two trucks and
Hag's 3 busses
a merch truck and Dylan's 5 busses... was a trip pulling
into all the cities.
The trucking and lights/sound was produced by Upstaging in
Dallas, Texas...
The Bob Dylan Sound boys setting up for a show. Merle
always relied on
having sound provided by the producers of the shows.
He carried a sound
person, someone to run his monitors and sometimes had a
light person, and
sometimes relied on the producers again to furnish this
production assist.
The Dylan and Haggard journey was in 2006, during that tour
Merle and I became saddle pals, and I felt a friendship growing.
Some weeks after the tour I showed him some of the footage and
pictures that I shot and had them online on my computer to
show to him. That's when he asked me if I wanted to help
him shoot a trailer to help get some footage of his life
together to
then present to some studio and/or script writer. He had
in mind Clint Eastwood or Ron Howard. At that point I
jumped in the
Hag Band Wagon and got my personal All Access Back Stage Pass.
For the next decade I was On The Road Againand
again with Merle Haggard and the Strangers I learned more
about one
of
the great legends of all time. Haggard and I taught each
other a lot of music history, and talked for hours upon hours
about
everybody we knew and both being history buffs, he said one day,
we told each other things we both did not know. I filmed
his stories, took notes when he talked, and for years many times
those stories he remembered brought him to tears.
Later down the road in an interview with Merle asking him about
me, out of this interview, of which I have a copy of, Merle
said,
"When I see ole Benford walking up, I know we are going to be
talking about some music history and something interesting."
cut to:
Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson
From the Merle
Haggard UFO Music Festival in Roswell, NM to
the Willie Nelson's
4th of July Picknick, then their last tour and
shows together in 2015 on the Django and Jimmie album
Tour
A sell out October 2015 tour in
support of the Django and Jimmie release followed the
album's
#1 position on the Country Charts.
The Boot.com named the album the #3 country album of the
year, and it was the top selling album on
the Amazon.com Classic Country Charts for weeks...
and the album was dedicated to Jimmie
Rodgers and Django Reinhardt and the synergy
grows with this next linkup of Merle
Haggard, Jimmie Rodgers and myself, with Willie to boot.
Willie and Merle circle the wagons...
Merle and Willie laughing and telling jokes while signing
stuff
for fans. These two ole friends always had a fun time
together
CUT TO 2014, somewhere on the
road with Merle...
In 2014, Merle was talking about getting back
together with Willie on a project. He and Willie and Kris
had just been together
at an awards show, so he and Willie started
the ball rolling on the idea to do another album. Merle
had said they wanted to do
something with Kris, but at the time and for
awhile Kris was dealing with some health problems, which later
showed he was
most dealing with the wrong diagnosis, and he
was having to cancel some shows.
There were a number of times Merle would tell
me about the project, then he would just grab his phone and call
Willie. Last call
I remember he just grabbed his phone and
called Willie and they talked awhile about getting off the dime
and doing the project.
Merle told Willie to "call Mark and let's get
this moving and let's get in the studio." Sony came on board and
that picked up the
pace... As per many of the big recording projects the
doings were kept hush hush, so for awhile I just knew when
Willie and Merle
were getting together to do some recording.
Most of the work had been done on the phone with Willie and
Merle talking about
songs... Merle told me the story about how
the song D'Jango and Jimmie came across his and Willie's radar
and that is a story
that for sure tied me into the mix.
Brothers from the road...I know they loved each other like
brothers...I loved them
and grateful to be able to spend time with these two guys on
a number of occasions
in my one life time... was a ride that only men could dream
of...to smoke pot with
them both, take pictures, interview and record them just
adds to one of the great
chances my life in the entertainment business that fate and
destiny has taken me on.
1981 was a big year for Merle and his
"red headed brother" Willie Nelson, with the release of
"Pancho and Lefty" the album, single and video were a
big hit. The same year
Merle signed with Epic
records and hit the single charts
with a #1 for the song
"Yesterday's Wine" with another
one of his best friends
Mr. George Jones. Same year
he released the book
SING ME BACK HOME.
Jump to July 3rd, 2005, Willie joins
Merle for his MERLE HAGGARD UFO MUSIC FESTIVAL in
Roswell, New Mexico, then they board their busses and
head East to
Fort Worth where Merle would then join
Willie for his
annual 4th of July picnic... frequently trading
off as
closing acts for each other's Festivals.
Was always fun when Haggard and
Nelson joined up...
their merry band of friends and crew and
always made
for a fun family reunion.
Merle and Willie in New Mexico in 2005, where they were the
main act...
on Merle's UFO and Music Festival in Roswell, New Mexicon...
Merle and Lacy J. Dalton, who Merle would book on
his Merle Haggard UFO Music Festival in New Mexico
Along with Haggard, Willie's picnics at
the Ft Worth Stockyards featured
the
likes of Ray Price, Leon Russell,
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Billy
Joe Shaver, David Allan Coe, Asleep
at the Wheel, Ray Wylie Hubbard.
Also appearing was Cross Canadian
Ragweed, Los Lonely Boys, Django
Walker, Jack Ingram who'd be at other
Haggard shows plus Paula, Luke or
Amy Nelson or other kids playing.
The backstage was always a who's
who of guests and main acts...always
a lot of room for buses from all of the
acts and fun area for large number of
guests, and then the actual backstage
where security was little tighter.
Jack Ingram good friend who was on a few
Merle Haggard and/or Willie Nelson shows
and I had worked with Jack in LA and we
had a mutual friend in Miranda Lambert.
I've hours of interviews and performances of Merle that I shot,
and own
the masters to the footage. So many memories for me to
write about
my times Waiting For A Train with Merle and how I in fact
documented
my times with Merle...Many times not just filming him, but
the scene and
the road, and the halls of a road warrior
through the lens of my cameras.
Train Switchman
for $25.00
1. Your name in the Thank You
section of book
2. Thank You email from the Author
3. Picture of Merle and I in his studio.
4. A Waiting For A Train with Haggard bumper
sticker.
Train Brakeman for $50.00
1. Your name in the Thank You section of book
2. Thank You email from the Author
3. Email heads up before book is published
4. Picture of Merle and I in his studio
5. Your name in Thank You area on website
6. Waiting For A Train with Haggard bumper
sticker.
Train Conductor for
$75.00
1. Your name in the Thank You
section of book
2. Thank You email from the Author
3. Email heads up before book is published
4. Picture of Merle and I in his studio
5. Your name in Thank You area on website
6. Waiting For A Train with Haggard bumper
sticker.
7. Thank you post on our Facebook with link to
you
Train Engineer for $100
1. Your name in the Thank You
section of book
2. Thank You email from the Author
3. Your name in Thank You area section on website
4. Picture of Merle and I in his studio
5. Waiting For A Train with Haggard bumper
sticker.
6. Thank you post on our Facebook with link to
you