According to www.rolingstone.com, in 1964 Haggard scored his first Top 20 hit, a cover of Stewart's "Sing a Sad Song." His third solo single, "Just Between the Two of Us" reached the Top 40 and his fourth single "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" reached the Top 10, launching Haggard's career as a solo musician. In 1965 he signed to Capitol, who released his Top 5 breakthrough "Swinging Doors" in 1966. Backed by the Strangers, Haggard became one of the biggest country stars of the 1960s, scoring additional hits with "The Bottle Let Me Down," "The Fugitive," "I Threw Away the Rose," "Branded Man," "Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried" and "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde." Beginning in 1967 Haggard scored a string of 37 Top 10 hits, 23 of which reached No. 1. His songs, which often talked about his troubled past, established Haggard as an outlaw persona in country music, a true character in an industry dominated by faceless singles.

1967--First number one hit "The Fugitive" (later titled "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive")

Huntsville

great answers all! but "sing a sad song" was mostly a west coast hit. His first major NATIONAL hit was "(from now on all of my friends are gonna be) STRANGERS. (hence, the name of his band, THE STRANGERS!

A bit more in depth... "Sing a Sad Song" (Tally Records) hit number 19 on the country charts early in 1964. A duet with Bonnie Owens "Just Between the Two of Us" (Tally Records) broke into the Top 40 in 1964 "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" (Tally Records) broke the Top Ten in 1965. Capitol Records then bought out his contract with Tally "I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can" (Capitol) made Top 50 in 1965. 1966 saw three Top Ten hits "Swinging Doors" hit number 5 in the spring of 1966. "The Bottle Let Me Down" climbed to number 3 and "The Fugitive" (later retitled "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive") became his first number one. He was then voted the Top Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music Awards "I Threw Away the Rose" made number three early in 1967 beginning streak of 37 straight Top Ten hits, including 23 number one singles. "I Threw Away the Rose" was followed by four straight number one hits -- "Branded Man" "Sing Me Back Home" "The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde" and "Mama Tried" He released three singles in 1969 -- "Hungry Eyes" "Workin' Man Blues" and "Okie From Muskogee" -- and all three reached number one. Source: CMT Artist Biography www.cmt.com/artists/az/haggard_merle/bio.jhtml Hope this helps : )