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- Artist:
Various Artists - Rating:
- Release Date: 1994
- Total Time: 50:17
- Type: Collection (various artists)
- Genre: Country
Review
If you've been paying any attention at all, you know Merle Haggard ranks among the best singers country music has ever produced. What you might not realize is that he's also one of the genre's finest songwriters. For evidence, just listen to this tribute album, which finds a motley crew of roots artists performing 15 of their favorite Haggard tunes. Despite the absence of many of his best-known songs, the package leaves little doubt that, as the liner notes put it, "Haggard may be the last of a breed of great country songwriters that began with Jimmie Rodgers, and continued through Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell." Every composition radiates with Haggard's honesty, eye for detail, and strong point of view, and every track has the feel of a classic. The vast majority of the performances are as impressive as the songs. Tom Russell, who co-produced with Dave Alvin, delivers the package's most Haggard-like vocal on a beautifully handled medley of dust-bowl stories, "Tulare Dust/They're Tearin' the Labor Camps Down," while Alvin turns in a haunting "Kern River." Among the many other highlights: Iris DeMent's "Big City," which Haggard reportedly loved; Rosie Flores' interpretation of "My Own Kind of Hat," one of Haggard's many declarations of independence; Barrence Whitfield's version of "Irma Jackson," which addresses race relations via the tale of an interracial romance; Steve Young's affecting "Shopping for Dresses"; and the melancholy "I Can't Be Myself," where Katy Moffatt hits thrilling high notes. Nobody sings Haggard quite like Haggard, but these recordings are classics in their own right. ~ Jeff Burger, All Music GuideTracks
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Tulare Dust/They're Tearing the Labor Camps Down | Merle Haggard | Tom Russell | (3:29) |
| Big City | Merle Haggard, |
Iris DeMent | (2:47) |
| A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today | Merle Haggard | Peter Case | (3:31) |
| Holding Things Together (Lyrics) | Merle Haggard, |
Dwight Yoakam | (2:36) |
| Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man) | Merle Haggard | Robert Earl Keen, Jr. | (3:38) |
| White Line Fever | Merle Haggard | Joe Ely | (4:18) |
| My Own Kind of Hat | Merle Haggard, |
Rosie Flores | (2:42) |
| Shopping for Dresses | Merle Haggard | Steve Young | (3:45) |
| Silver Wings | Merle Haggard | Marshall Crenshaw | (3:28) |
| Irma Jackson | Merle Haggard | Barrence Whitfield | (2:53) |
| You Don't Have Very Far to Go | Merle Haggard, Red Simpson | Lucinda Williams | (2:51) |
| Ramblin' Fever | Merle Haggard | Billy Joe Shaver | (3:58) |
| I Can't Be Myself | Merle Haggard | Katy Moffatt | (3:18) |
| I Can't Hold Myself in Line | Merle Haggard | John Doe | (3:07) |
| Kern River | Merle Haggard | Dave Alvin | (3:56) |
