Merle Haggard - Big City

Merle Haggard is a one-of-a-kind, a country music legend, and probably one of the most talented and impressive singers to ever hit the country scene. Any of his classic albums is going to be worth a spin, and this one more than most.

Leave it to Merle Haggard. In 1981, I was pretty much not listening to country music anymore. I was a teenager in high school and my peers didn't listen to country music, and my Dad pretty much turned off country radio completely when the pop scene got to cloying (yes, it's happened before). I didn't find the music on this CD until I came back to country in the late eighties, and by then it was already a classic. Only Merle Haggard could break through the whole pop- country melange to release one of the most impressive CDs of his career, a CD which is pure country and quintessentially Merle, and his first on the Epic label.

With the amazing title track (a personal theme) and such impressive tracks as "My Favorite Memory," "This Song Is Mine," and the "Texas Fiddle Song," there's nothing at all that drags on this disc. It's as solid and real as a country music CD can get, and, bonus, the CD re-issue contains two extra tracks, including "I Won't Give Up My Train," which is a completely uncredited duet with the great Roger Miller.

Merle gets ignored a whole lot by the industry, although a number of "today's hot new country" artists claim to have been influenced by him. Still, even if Americana stations are the only ones who still spin a Merle Haggard track, he's worth getting to know all over again.