Merle Haggard - "Mama Tried" (forgotten song)

Country music icon Merle Haggard died today.  He's probably best known for "Okie from Muskogee", but my favorite would probably be  "Mama Tried", the title track from his 1968 LP (honorable mention to 1983's "Pancho and Lefty").  I have to confess that I first heard it via the Grateful Dead.

It is universally acknowledged that all good country songs involve "prison", and this song is true to form.  The Library of Congress obviously agrees, and so "Mama Tried" was recently placed on the National Recording Registry for its "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation's aural legacy."

Merle Haggard - "Mama Tried" (on the Johnny Cash Show?)

Grateful Dead - "Mama Tried"

Johnny Cash - "Mama Tried"