The Bottom Line
Whoever is in charge of such things has finally noticed that a CD holds a great deal more music than a standard vinyl album did, and it's about time. They've finally started re-issuing two old albums on a single disc, and it's a great way to re-issue Merle Haggard's enormous catalog of early albums for a whole new generation of would-be fans. These albums are guaranteed to do to new country fans what they did to fans back in the late 60's: Wow 'em.
Pros
- "Today I Started Loving You Again"
- "Sing Me Back Home"
- "The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde"
Cons
- None.
Description
- Two 1968 releases on one CD, with two previously unreleased bonus tracks.
- Includes a full-length essay by Nashville music commentator, Chet Flippo.
- Includes original cover art for both albums.
Guide Review - Merle Haggard - Sing Me Back Home and The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde
By 1968, Merle Haggard was poised at the brink of what would become a truly legendary career, rising meteorically with smash hit after smash hit. He was a prolific writer and performer, putting out at least two albums a year in the late 60's. He scored a major hit with the title track of "Sing Me Back Home," and followed it up rapidly with "The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde," a song Merle wrote in tribute to the movie (a publicity still from the film graces the album cover), but it was another track on the album, released as the B side to the title track, which has become possibly the greatest part of Merle's legendary career, a song that has and will likely endure forever: "Today I Started Loving You Again."But for all the great major hits, what's really nice is a chance to hear the album cuts, the ones that didn't make the charts or the box sets. Songs like "Where Does The Good Times Go" (only for Merle will I excuse that grammar), "Wine Takes Me Away," "Will You Visit Me On Sundays?" and "My Past is Present." Merle's solid vocals, his tricks of phrase, and his approach to a song have molded country music. It's Merle who sings about Mama, Prison, and Trains; it's with Merle you can cry in your beer or get out and swing.
It's not hubris that makes Merle Haggard print "Country Music's Living Legend" on the t-shirts that are sold at his concerts. It's simple truth. Start out with his early work and you'll see why.
