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Merle Haggard — The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles

Merle Haggard — The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles

Merle Haggard

The Complete '60s Capitol Singles

Release date: February 12, 2013

 

Straight Out of Bakersfield, 28 A & B Sides from Original Mono 45 Masters!

Merle Haggard is a household name, one of the best-known country music singers of all time. He is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the awards, honors, and accolades in his long career are too numerous to list. Haggard is simply one of the greatest country music stars in the history of the genre.

From “Swinging Doors” in 1965 until the end of the decade, Haggard had an incredible string of hit records. “The Fugitive” (b/w “Someone Told My Story”) was his first #1 single, and was a composition by Liz Anderson, Lynn Anderson’s mother. “I Threw Away The Rose” b/w “Loneliness Is Eating Me Alive” went to #2 on the charts in late 1966. “Branded Man” went to #1, and was backed by a remake of an earlier Tally number (co-written by Joe “Red” Simpson), “You Don’t Have Very Far To Go.” “Sing Me Back Home” b/w “Good Times” was another #1 smash, in the fall of 1967. “The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde” b/w “I Started Loving You Again” was yet another chart topper.

As told in an interview with the collection’s liner notes author, Haggard wrote “Workin’ Man Blues” because he “needed my own ‘Folsom Prison Blues,’ I needed a song that would express my way of life—I wanted it to be a blues song, and I wanted it to be in the key of A.” Astute musicians will note that the song was originally recorded in the key of A flat, but regardless, “Workin’ Man Blues” became a blue-collar anthem, and is still one of his most popular songs. When the song was released in June 1969, backed with “Silver Wings,” it again topped the chart at #1.

This collection closes with Merle Haggard’s final single of the 1960s: “Okie From Muskogee.” The song drew strong reactions as Haggard and The Strangers were testing it out on audiences before recording it, and according to pedal steel guitarist Norm Hamlet (Strangers 1967-present), “The first time we played it, the audience just went crazy. We knew it was going to be huge.” The single was indeed another #1 smash, but it was also something else entirely. It was the song that would change Merle Haggard’s career.

 


    CD Track List:

  1. I’m Gonna Break Every Heart I Can
  2. Falling For You
  3. Shade Tree Fix-It-Man
  4. This Town’s Not Big Enough
  5. Swinging Doors
  6. The Girl Turned Ripe
  7. The Bottle Let Me Down
  8. The Longer You Wait
  9. I’m A Lonesome Fugitive
  10. Someone Told My Story
  11. I Threw Away The Rose
  12. Lonliness Is Eating Me Alive
  13. Branded Man
  14. You Don’t Have Very Far To Go
  15. Sing Me Back Home
  16. Good Times
  17. The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde
  18. I Started Loving You Again
  19. Mama Tried
  20. You’ll Never Love Me Now
  21. I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am
  22. Keep Me From Cryin’ Today
  23. Hungry Eyes
  24. California Blues
  25. Workin’ Man Blues
  26. Silver Wings
  27. Okie From Muskogee
  28. If I Had Left It Up To You

Cat No.: OV-57

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