Rating:
Genre:
Country
Release Date: 02/21/2006
In early 2006, roughly in time for the 40th anniversary of
Merle Haggard's debut album,
Capitol Nashville launched an ambitious
Haggard catalog project, reissuing ten albums as a series of five two-fers, each adorned with bonus tracks. All these albums had been reissued before, either stateside by
Capitol or
Koch or in the U.K. by
EMI or
BGO, but they've never have been given such an excellent treatment as they are here. The albums are paired together in logical, chronological order, the 24-bit digital remastering gives these recordings the best sound they've ever had, the front cover artwork is reproduced for each album on a two-fer, and the liner notes are candid and detailed. Dedicated
Hag fans certainly have nearly all this material in their collection -- not only have the albums been on CD, but the bonus tracks have by and large appeared on
Bear Family's box
Untamed Hawk, which chronicled his early work for
Capitol, or showed up on
Capitol's own box,
Down Every Road -- but they still may be tempted by this series, since these discs not only sound and look terrific, but they're also more listenable than any previous CD incarnation of these classic albums.
And make no mistake, all ten albums featured in
Capitol Nashville's first wave of
Haggard reissues in February 2006 are classic albums; some may be a little stronger than others, but there's not a weak one in the bunch, and they all stand as some of the finest music of their time. The first two-fer in the series pairs
Merle's first two solo albums, 1965's
Strangers and 1966's
Swinging Doors and the Bottle Let Me Down (a duet album with
Bonnie Owens,
Just Between the Two of Us, appeared between the two records and is not part of the reissue series).
Strangers shows all the hallmarks of being a debut: it's largely comprised of previously released singles and finds
Haggard in debt to his influences. It also is heavy on covers, including the singles
"(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers," "Sam Hill," and
"Sing a Sad Song," the latter two penned by
Hag heroes
Tommy Collins and
Wynn Stewart, respectively. These are only relative weaknesses, though, since the album is a thoroughly entertaining debut, highlighted by
Merle's original
"I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can" and the immortal title track. If
Hag was merely finding his voice on
Strangers, he comes into his own on
Swinging Doors and the Bottle Let Me Down. By this album, he had assembled his backing band,
the Strangers, and developed his signature lean, tough
Bakersfield sound, epitomized by the two singles in the title of the album. Those are hardly the only bright spots on the album, of course. Not only does this album find
Haggard finding his sound as a bandleader, it finds him coming into his own as a songwriter, penning ten of the 12 songs on the album, and while not all of the tunes are quite at the level of the title tracks, such songs as the lazy, heartbroken
"No More You and Me," swaggering
"Someone Else You've Known," skipping
Buck Owens knock-off
"The Girl Turn Ripe," barroom
ballad "If I Could Be Him," and funny, rollicking
"Shade Tree (Fix-It Man)" illustrate the depth and range of
Haggard's writing and suggest the richness of the music that was just around the corner.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
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