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Songwriters / credits
Merle Haggard
Sourced context
"Mama Tried" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in July 1968 as the first single and title track from the album Mama Tried. The song became one of the cornerstone songs of his career. It won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry due to its "cultural, historic, or artistic significance" on March 23, 2016, just 14 days before Haggard's death. In 2021, it was ranked at No. 376 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In June 2026, CBS News included the song in its list of the 250 essential American songs of the past 250 years.
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Related listening
Workin' Man Blues
20 Greatest Hits / January 1, 1994
From the same album era as Mama Tried.
Sing Me Back Home
20 Greatest Hits / January 1, 2001
From the same album era as Mama Tried.
The Bottle Let Me Down
20 Greatest Hits / January 1, 2001
From the same album era as Mama Tried.
I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Merle Haggard / January 1, 2000
Surfacing from the same artist’s current verified catalog results.
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Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver)
Big City / October 1, 1981
Surfacing from the same artist’s current verified catalog results.