Merle Haggard - Mama Tried/Pride In What I Am

It's great to see them putting more than one old standard vinyl album on a CD, since a CD holds so much more music than the old LPs did. The combination of two classic albums on one disc is a terrific way of marketing, and in this case, a fantastic way for old and new Merle Haggard fans to fill out their libraries with his complete recordings. These two albums were released originally in 1968, and contain some of Merle's best and most beloved songs.

The title tracks of these two albums, "Mama Tried" and "I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am," are my two favorite Merle Haggard songs of all time. The first is Merle's signature song, an instantly recognizable guitar lick with haunting, semi-biographical lyrics that ring with searing honesty, a song every real country artist loves to play and sing. It's one of those country songs which is staggeringly simple (your basic three-chord progression), and yet remarkable in how complex that simplicity is. The second is just a song which has always rung deeply personal for me. I grew up with the first album in our house; now it's nice to have it on disc, along with its remarkable followup.

Merle Haggard was at the very top of his game when these albums came out, as the reigning CMA Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year (titles he held consecutively from 1967-1971), with top-selling albums and singles all over the charts. "Mama Tried" was his ninth album for Capital, with "Pride In What I Am" his tenth. They are both true masterpieces, not just for Haggard but for country music itself. Haggard's songs personify the "country music culture" so ridiculed by those who do not or will not understand, with songs about prison, trains, and mama; but he also sings about honor, pride, strength, and solid determination.

Merle Haggard was then and is now a straightforward, honest, shoot-from-the-hip man who never pulls punches. His music speaks for him and through it you can meet the man.