Merle Haggard Mama Tried/Pride In What I Am CD

This value-added twofer combines two classic 1960s Merle Haggard albums. Until the late 1980s, the country music industry was entirely oriented toward singles, and many artists exerted minimal effort to release quality albums--Merle Haggard being one of the exceptions. Among the non-single tracks on SING ME BACK HOME are such great originals as "Wine Take Me Away," "I'll Leave the Bottle on The Bar," and "Look Over Me." Haggard has never denied his debt to earlier country greats, and here he tips his hat to one of his favorites, Lefty Frizzell, with a fine cover version of "Mom and Dad Waltz." THE LEGEND OF BONNIE AND CLYDE also combines Haggard originals with other writers' material, notably Dallas Frazier's beautiful "Love Has a Mind of Its Own." Haggard's own "Today I Started Loving You Again," written with his wife, Bonnie Owens, is a country masterpiece that was originally the B-side of the album's hit title track.

Another installment in Capitol's excellent series of Merle Haggard two-for-one discs, MAMA TRIED/PRIDE IN WHAT I AM presents albums recorded during the country legend's remarkably prolific late-1960s stride. Both records feature wistful tinges of folk, with the former focusing on prison life (a familiar subject for the ex-con), even going so far as to include an admirable cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues," and the latter offering up tales of wanderlust (the lilting "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am") and restlessness (the forlorn "I Can't Hold Myself in Line"). These tunes find the Bakersfield singer/songwriter in fine voice and staying true to the no-frills country sound he helped to pioneer, whether launching a honky-tonk number or settling into a bluesy ballad. As with other contemporaneous Hag reissues, the 29-track set includes previously unreleased songs and alternate takes, making it a crucial Haggard collection.

Audio Remasterer: Randy LeRoy.