Merle Haggard

Yeah, I was... I got... Caught for making beer. Making some beer up there, and I got too much of my own beer and got drunk in the yard and got arrested. It's hard to get arrested in San Quentin, but I did. And they sent me to what was known as the Shelf. And the Shelf is part of the North Block, which you share with the inmates on death row.

And it's kind of like the – there's not too many more stops for you, actually. And that was the, as you put it, sobering experience for me. I wound up with nothing to – nothing to lay on except a Bible, in an old concrete slab, and woke up from that drunk that I'd been on that day, and I could hear some prisoners talking in the area next to me.

And it's kind of like the – there's not too many more stops for you, actually. And that was the, as you put it, sobering experience for me. I wound up with nothing to – nothing to lay on except a Bible, in an old concrete slab, and woke up from that drunk that I'd been on that day, and I could hear some prisoners talking in the area next to me.

And it's kind of like the – there's not too many more stops for you, actually. And that was the, as you put it, sobering experience for me. I wound up with nothing to – nothing to lay on except a Bible, in an old concrete slab, and woke up from that drunk that I'd been on that day, and I could hear some prisoners talking in the area next to me.

In other words, there was an alleyway between the back of the cells, and I could hear people talking over there, and I recognized the guy as being Carol Shessman, a guy that they were fixing to execute. And... I don't know.

In other words, there was an alleyway between the back of the cells, and I could hear people talking over there, and I recognized the guy as being Carol Shessman, a guy that they were fixing to execute. And... I don't know.

In other words, there was an alleyway between the back of the cells, and I could hear people talking over there, and I recognized the guy as being Carol Shessman, a guy that they were fixing to execute. And... I don't know.

It was just something about the whole situation that I knew that if I ever got out of there, if I was lucky enough to get out, I made up my mind while I still had that hangover that I was all finished.

It was just something about the whole situation that I knew that if I ever got out of there, if I was lucky enough to get out, I made up my mind while I still had that hangover that I was all finished.

It was just something about the whole situation that I knew that if I ever got out of there, if I was lucky enough to get out, I made up my mind while I still had that hangover that I was all finished.

Well, I... I went back down on the yard and went down and asked for the roughest job in the penitentiary, which was a textile mill. And went down and just started building my reputation, you know. Just started running in reverse from what I'd been doing and started trying to build up a long line of good things to be proud of. And that's what I've been doing since then.

Well, I... I went back down on the yard and went down and asked for the roughest job in the penitentiary, which was a textile mill. And went down and just started building my reputation, you know. Just started running in reverse from what I'd been doing and started trying to build up a long line of good things to be proud of. And that's what I've been doing since then.

Well, I... I went back down on the yard and went down and asked for the roughest job in the penitentiary, which was a textile mill. And went down and just started building my reputation, you know. Just started running in reverse from what I'd been doing and started trying to build up a long line of good things to be proud of. And that's what I've been doing since then.

Yeah. Yeah, I was already into doing that. I really didn't, I don't think, believe that I sincerely had a future in it. I think I was just kind of like... doing what I thought was probably a waste of time or a hobby at the very most and maybe some extra money on the weekend sort of thing. But that's, you know, that's when I was in San Quentin.

Yeah. Yeah, I was already into doing that. I really didn't, I don't think, believe that I sincerely had a future in it. I think I was just kind of like... doing what I thought was probably a waste of time or a hobby at the very most and maybe some extra money on the weekend sort of thing. But that's, you know, that's when I was in San Quentin.

Yeah. Yeah, I was already into doing that. I really didn't, I don't think, believe that I sincerely had a future in it. I think I was just kind of like... doing what I thought was probably a waste of time or a hobby at the very most and maybe some extra money on the weekend sort of thing. But that's, you know, that's when I was in San Quentin.

I still didn't really thoroughly realize that I had to do this the rest of my life and that it was going to be this successful for me and I was going to, you know, have all the things happen that have happened. I had no idea that you could never have convinced me of a minute amount of the success I've had. I would never have believed it.

I still didn't really thoroughly realize that I had to do this the rest of my life and that it was going to be this successful for me and I was going to, you know, have all the things happen that have happened. I had no idea that you could never have convinced me of a minute amount of the success I've had. I would never have believed it.

I still didn't really thoroughly realize that I had to do this the rest of my life and that it was going to be this successful for me and I was going to, you know, have all the things happen that have happened. I had no idea that you could never have convinced me of a minute amount of the success I've had. I would never have believed it.

Yeah, that was the basic reason, I think, that these... Friends of mine talked me out of going on that escape. They felt that I had talent, and they felt that I was just an ornery kid and could probably make something out of my life. Believe it or not, in the penitentiary, there's some pretty nice people and very unfortunate people.