According to Merle Haggard, his 1968 hit song, “Sing Me Back Home,” was written from a true life experience while he was behind bars.

Merle Commented, “Sing Me Back Home” was written about a guy named Jimmy “Rabbit” Hendricks, a guy I knew in San Quentin. “Rabbit”  had escaped and killed a policeman  while he was on the outside. They caught him and he was given the death sentence.  I will always remember the day they brought Rabbit out for his last walk through the prison yard. That just stayed in my mind. He came through the yard with a guard behind him and one in front of him. That picture of Rabbit walking through that yard just stayed with me. Later, we were driving through North Carolina late one night and the idea for “Sing Me Back Home” just came to my mind.

“Sing Me Back Home” entered the country music charts November 18^th, 1967 and made it to number one where it stuck for two weeks. It was Haggard’s 12^th chart song and was on the charts for 20 weeks.

Doug Davis
Country Music Classics