Picking Away at History

Marginalized or not, every Tom Russell fan, it seems, has his favorite song or album. Yours truly's is Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard, which Russell and Alvin co-produced and on which Russell sings the Dust Bowl medley "Tulare Dust/They're Tearin' the Labor Camps Down."

It happens to be Russell's own favorite.

"Dave was recording "King of California' at the time, and I told him the song sounded like Merle," recalls Russell. "We talked about what an influence Hag was on us, and that led into the idea of a tribute. Everybody we talked to had a favorite Haggard song. The album happened organically, and the songs are so heartfelt."

As a result, Tulare Dust stands up as a record, not as a cartoonish tribute made for a quick buck. The renditions are acoustic, bare-bones, done out of love and respect for Merle Haggard. Russell mentions playing with Haggard at the Fillmore West after the record came out. The country legend told Russell how much more he liked the Tulare tribute than the insipid Nashville version.

There's also a story that Russell heard from Iris Dement about how Haggard stopped his tour bus in the middle of the desert, shut off the motor and the lights, and concentrated on listening to "They're Tearin' the Labor Camps Down" from the tribute album. He told Dement afterward, "I forgot that I recorded that song."

"When you hear things like that, you forget all the bad things, all the struggling, all the odious parts of the music business," says Russell. "The good records will stand. People will keep coming back to them. At the root is good writing, important American writing. That's a good reason for young people to discover [Johnny] Cash and Haggard."

Russell leaves one important name off that short list: his own. One day a young generation of songwriters will speak of him with the same awe and respect.