Haggard Like Never Before - Merle Haggard

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Reviewed by Kathy Coleman

Merle Haggard is probably my favorite singer. He is so consistently good, so very straightforward, and so, well, himself, that he's tough not to admire. He has a knack for reaching deep inside to draw out thoughts and feelings so profound they're hard to qualify. It's emotion which is at the very heart of the hard-working and the sorrowful, it touches those who have lost and those who have then found and understand how important that finding is. Merle's moving voice is unscarred by time, still rich and uniquely Merle's, with that little cry and a touch of a growl and the occasional Bob Wills'- style "ah!"

Merle's newest album, Haggard Like Never Before, only serves to strengthen my opinion. Merle Haggard holds the banner for country music, the hard-jawed working man who has never backed down nor compromised.

All-new material graces an album seeped in Merle's personal life as well as plain old country tradition. Most of the songs are Merle compositions, with an old blues tune, "Garbage Man," and an old western story-song (which he's done before, with Bonnie Owens), "Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)," thrown into the mix. Willie Nelson sings along on "Reno Blues," giving what I think is the finest of his recent duet performance.

Merle starts out with the anthem of the hard-working honky-tonk man, "Haggard (Like I've Never Been Before)," discussing how the joys and pleasures of the road just aren't as compelling as they once were, especially when there's a loving wife and family at home.

The first single off the disc is the topical "That's The News," a pretty standard Merle Haggard-direct take on current events, with an interpretation left to the listener as to what Merle means by it. Ditto to a later track, the lovely "Yellow Ribbons," another stalwart "support our troops!" song, but with the underlying message in the line, "Pray God will bless America for doing what we dare," that perhaps, perhaps, the troops may not really be fighting the right battle. "That's The News" may not gain Merle fresh radio play, but it really should.

Merle takes us into his heart, too, here and there, peeling back layers of emotion to reveal his tender feelings about wife, Theresa, and his children, with moving tributes such as "Because of Your Eyes" and "I Hate To See It Go." He strips bare their souls with the nightmare song, "I Dreamed You Didn't Love Me Anymore" and then wishes them all back with "Return to San Francisco."

He goes honky-tonk with "The Downside," and he speaks clearly about how things have been going, in the music industry and in the entire country, with "Lonesome Day."

Haggard Like Never Before is the first release from the new "Hag Records," as Merle joins the many artists so fed up with major labels they're all starting their own. If you like country music, that simple, plain-spoken, working man music, then you need look no further than Merle Haggard.

Song List:

1. Haggard (Like I've Never Been Before)
2. That's The News
3. Garbage Man
4. Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)
5. The Downside
6. Because Of Your Eyes
7. Lonesome Day
8. I Dreamed You Didn't Love Me
9. Yellow Ribbons
10. I Hate To See It Go
11. Return To San Francisco

Album cover, used with permission of Hag Records

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