"
Mama Tried" is an American
country musicCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
song written and recorded by
Merle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band "The Strangers" helped create the Bakersfield Sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies, and a...
. Released in 1968, the song became one of the cornerstone songs of his career.
In
Mama Tried, Haggard focuses on the pain and suffering he caused his own mother by being incarcerated in 1957 in San Quentin.
However, the song is not literally autobiographical, as many country music historians point out.
"
Mama Tried" is an American
country musicCountry music is a blend of popular musical forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains...
song written and recorded by
Merle HaggardMerle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band "The Strangers" helped create the Bakersfield Sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies, and a...
. Released in 1968, the song became one of the cornerstone songs of his career.
Background
In
Mama Tried, Haggard focuses on the pain and suffering he caused his own mother by being incarcerated in 1957 in San Quentin.
However, the song is not literally autobiographical, as many country music historians point out. While writer Bill Malone's assessment of the song is in agreement with Ace Collins' (referring to his own experiences that saw him sentenced to prison), Malone points out that Haggard never was sentenced to "life without parole," as the protagonist in the song was, nor was he an "only child." Still the song's lyrics, and the protagonist's experiences, are heavily influenced by Haggard's early life.
Additionally, Allmusic writer Bill Janovitz notes Haggard's lyrics are sympathetic to his mother, who tried everything in her power to rehabilitate her rebel son. But, as the lyrics point out, "
In spite of all my Sunday learning, towards the bad I kept on turning/'Til mama couldn't hold me anymore"; thus, the observation, "
I turned 21 in prison doin' life without parole."
Malone notes that
Mama Tried "recalls for us the 1960s California honky tonk and the Merle Haggard sound of those years, featuring the searing electric guitar of Roy Nichols."
Chart performance
Released in July 1968,
Mama Tried became Haggard's fifth No. 1 song on the
Billboard magazine Hot Country SinglesHot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
chart in August. The song spent four weeks at No. 1, and was his biggest hit to that time.
In popular culture
Haggard's version of
Mama Tried was on the soundtrack of the 1968 film
Killers ThreeKillers Three is a motion picture crime drama produced in 1968 by Dick Clark Productions and released by American International Pictures starring Robert Walker, Jr., Diane Varsi and Dick Clark. Others in the cast include Norman Alden, Maureen Arthur, Tony York, Merle Haggard and Bonnie Owens.This...
, a film which featured his acting debut.
The words
Mama Tried—referring to the song—are shown on
Miranda LambertMiranda Lambert is a Grammy Award nominated American country music artist who gained fame as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star, where she finished in third place and later signed to Epic Records. Lambert made her debut with the release of "Me and Charlie Talking", the first single...
's shirt in several scenes of the
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
KeroseneKerosene is the major-label debut album of Country music singer Miranda Lambert, released on March 15, 2005 on Epic Records. The album has been certified Platinum in the United States for shipments of one million copies...
.
The song was featured in the 2008 horror film
The StrangersThe Strangers is a American suspense-horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino, and starring Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Laura Margolis, Kip Weeks, and Glenn Howerton. The film revolves around a young couple who are terrorized by three masked assailants, who break into the...
. The song plays loudly on a record player.
In the 1997 documentary about the making of the film
From Dusk till DawnFrom Dusk till Dawn is a 1996 action/horror film directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino. The movie stars George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Quentin Tarantino, and Juliette Lewis...
, known as
Full Tilt BoogieFull Tilt Boogie is a 1997 documentary directed by Sarah Kelly. It chronicles the production of the 1996 film From Dusk Till Dawn.It features extensive interviews with the cast and crew covering a variety of topics related to the film.-Poster:...
, Quentin Tarentino can be seen singing the song with others whilst on the set.
Cover versions
The Grateful Dead covered the song regularly, playing it over 300 times live throughout their career, including at Woodstock.
Joan BaezJoan Chandos Baez is a folk singer and songwriter known for her highly individual vocal style...
covered the song in 1969, though her version went unreleased until it was included on her 1993 boxed set
Rare, Live & ClassicRare, Live & Classic was a 1993 box set compilation by Joan Baez. Released on Vanguard, where Baez had recorded her most influential work during the first twelve years of her career, the set also included material from her subsequent record labels, A&M, Columbia and Gold Castle Records, as well as...
.
The Everly BrothersThe Everly Brothers are brothers and country-influenced rock and roll performers, known for steel-string guitar playing and close harmony singing. The Everlys are the most successful U.S...
covered the song on their 1968 album
RootsRoots is a 1968 album by close harmony rock and roll duo The Everly Brothers. Originally on the Warner Bros. label, the album was re-released on CD in 1995 by Warner Bros. and in 2005 by Collectors' Choice Music...
.
The song has been a live standard for Texas alt-country band
Old 97'sThe Old 97's is an alternative country band from Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1993, they have since released seven studio albums and one live album, their most recent being Blame It on Gravity...
for their entire career, and was recorded for their debut album.
American Oi! band Forced Reality covered the song. It appears on their
Unheard, Unreleased, and Under the Boot compilation.
The Seldom SceneThe Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland.- Biography :The band formed out of the weekly jam sessions in the basement of banjo player Ben Eldridge. These sessions included John Starling on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Auldridge on resophonic guitar and...
covered the song on their 2007 Sugar Hill Records release, SCENEchronized.
Succession