On Aug. 16, 1969, Merle Haggard’s “Workin’ Man Blues” climbed to No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. It grew to become the seventh of the style cornerstone’s 38 leaders, the third-most within the survey’s historical past after George Strait, who reigns with 44, and Conway Twitty, who notched 40.

Haggard wrote “Workin’ Man Blues,” which Ken Nelson produced.

“Sometimes I think about leaving, do a little bummin’ around,” Haggard admits within the track. “I want to throw my bills out the window, catch a train to another town/ I go back to working, I gotta buy my kids a brand new pair of shoes/ I drank a little beer in a tavern, cry a little bit of these working man blues.”

The monitor was launched from A Portrait of Merle Haggard, whose “Hungry Eyes” grew to become the set’s first Hot Country Songs chart-topper.

Haggard was born on April 6, 1937, in Oildale, Calif. With his easy vocals, compelling guitar abilities and lyrics that keenly linked with the working class, he earned iconic standing, resulting in his induction to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1994. His many accolades additionally embrace a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) and a Kennedy Center Honor (2010).

After an extended battle with pneumonia, Haggard died on April 6, 2016, his 79th birthday. His funeral that April 9 was officiated by Marty Stuart. Two weeks after Haggard’s passing, at a tour cease in Bakersfield, Calif., Chris Stapleton and his spouse Morgaine paid tribute with performances of Haggard’s “Silver Wings” and “Today I Started Loving You Again.”