Song · Merle Haggard
“Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard
Released 1974
“Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard appears on 4 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 2001 and 2026. It was first released in 1974. Its best result is #348 on the WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,797 indie & aaa song of all time.
Merle Haggard wrote "Mama Tried" himself, words and music, and cut it with the Strangers; Capitol released it in July 1968, hard on the heels of "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde", and it led off the album that shares its name as both the lead single and the title song. It turned into one of the load-bearing walls of his whole career.
The honors came later and kept coming. The Grammy Hall of Fame took it in in 1999, and on March 23, 2016, it was chosen for the National Recording Registry, just 14 days before Haggard died. Rolling Stone placed it 376th on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2021, and in June 2026 CBS News named it among 250 essential American songs from the past 250 years. "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am" was the single that came next.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 348 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2004 | 420 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 716 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2026 | 1119 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
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