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<h1>Workin' Man Blues</h1><h2>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</h2><h2><br></h2><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Haggard_-_Workin_Man_Blues_cover.jpg" alt="Haggard - Workin Man Blues cover.jpg"></p><p><br></p><p><strong>"Workin' Man Blues"</strong> is a song written and performed by American <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_music" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">country music</a> artist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merle_Haggard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Merle Haggard</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Strangers_(American_band)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Strangers</a>. It was released in May 1969 as the second single from the album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Portrait_of_Merle_Haggard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>A Portrait of Merle Haggard</em></a>. The song was released during his early peak and became one of several signature songs during his career.</p><h2><br></h2><h2>Background</h2><p>"Workin' Man Blues" is Haggard's tribute to a core group of his fans: The American blue-collared working man. Backed by a strong electric guitar beat that typified Haggard's signature <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakersfield_Sound" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bakersfield Sound</a>, he fills the role of one of those workers expressing pride in values such as hard work and sacrifice, despite the resulting fatigue and the stress of raising a large family. He admits to relaxing during the off-working hours ("<em>I drink my beer in a tavern, sing a little bit of these workin' man's blues</em>.") and vows that as a result of keeping his values, he will never need to go on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_(financial_aid)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">welfare</a> ("<em>... cause I'll be working, long as my two hands are fit to use</em>.").</p><h2>"Workin' Man Blues" was a track on Haggard's 1969 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Portrait_of_Merle_Haggard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>A Portrait of Merle Haggard</em></a>. Music critic Mark Deming noted that the song was among three of Haggard's finest songs to appear on the album; "Silver Wings" and "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hungry_Eyes_(Merle_Haggard_song)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hungry Eyes</a>" were the other two. "(M)ost country artists would be happy to cut three tunes this strong during the course of their career, let alone as part of one of six albums Hag would release in 1969," wrote Deming.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workin%27_Man_Blues#cite_note-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[1]</a></h2><h2><br></h2><h2>Cover versions and other songs</h2><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Lee_Lewis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jerry Lee Lewis</a> included a cover on the 1970 album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Even_Woke_Me_Up_to_Say_Goodbye_(album)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye</em></a>.</p><p>Covered often by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Riders_of_the_Purple_Sage" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New Riders of the Purple Sage</a> starting in 1970.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workin%27_Man_Blues#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[3]</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Justice" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lone Justice</a> included a live cover on the 1983 'best of' album <em>This World Is Not My Home</em>.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Wayne" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jon Wayne</a> included a cover on the 1985 album <em>Texas Funeral</em>.</p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Morris" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gary Morris</a>'s cover was released in September 1990 as the first single from the album <em>These Days</em>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workin%27_Man_Blues#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[4]</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_Rio" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Diamond Rio</a>, along with guitarists <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wariner" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Steve Wariner</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Roy_Parnell" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lee Roy Parnell</a>, recorded a cover of the song in 1994, crediting themselves as Jed Zeppelin. This cover, included on a tribute album called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama%27s_Hungry_Eyes:_A_Tribute_to_Merle_Haggard" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Mama's Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard</em></a>, charted at number 48 on the <em>Billboard</em> country charts, and a music video was made for it.</p>