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Rating: It cannot be said that Merle Haggard's life started under the best auspices.
The son of a very poor couple who moved to California to escape the misery and dust storms of Oklahoma, Merle Haggard was born in 1937 in a converted railroad boxcar. Due to the premature death of his father when little Merle was only 9, he had a very troubled adolescence, ended up in reform school several times, and at the age of 20 was sentenced to serve a long term for attempted robbery at San Quentin Prison.
His love for music, however, fueled since childhood by the songs of Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, and Bob Wills, and later also by a Johnny Cash concert that the young boy attended during one of his numerous forced stays in prison, ultimately made him one of the most important American songwriters, whose songs were loved and recorded by numerous artists, even those far removed from the world of country music. (Regarding the Johnny Cash concert, legend has it that when Merle was already very famous, he met Cash and said to him, "I attended your concert at San Quentin in '59." And Cash replied, "I really don't remember you." And Merle said, "I wasn't in the band, I was in the audience!")
From 1965 and for over twenty years, Merle produced a very long series of hits, continuing to record, with less commercial success, also throughout the '90s and into the new millennium.
The concert in question, recorded in 1997 inside the world's largest honky-tonk, Billy Bob's Texas (venue of another phenomenal performance of his in 2004), is a genuine gem hidden within his vast discography (to date, there are over 80 official albums, excluding compilations and counting only studio recordings).
Many of the songs here, fairly faithful in arrangements to the original versions, retrace crucial steps in the singer's life and almost represent a sort of musical autobiography of his difficult childhood and adolescence, starting with the poignant masterpiece "Mama's Hungry Eyes", one of his most beloved songs, in which the singer-songwriter nostalgically recalls his father's toil in the fields, the poverty but also the dignity that shone in his mother's eyes: "I still recall my mama's hungry eyes". It's hard to hold back a few tears.
Also present are other timeless masterpieces: "Misery and Gin", written for the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's film Bronco Billy; "Mama Tried", with its load of remorse for spending his twenty-first birthday in prison, despite his mother's efforts to raise him honestly; the satirical "Okie from Muskogee", which picturesque pokes fun at the mindset of rural America; the amusing "Motorcycle Cowboy", in the vein of Jimmie Rodgers' songs; and then "The Bottle Let Me Down", "The Emptiest Arms In The World","Today I Started" "Loving You Again" and many more.
The rhythm consequently proceeds, sometimes poignant, sometimes gritty, sometimes amusing, sometimes boozy, sometimes romantic, very often nostalgic.
In short, a beautiful journey, sometimes melancholic, other times very lively, through the most authentic country music, the one with a true soul, the one represented by artists whose star shone brightly long before the unfortunate fusion with pop sold out its personality and soul in the name of business and the illogical logics of the market.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink (03:56)
Could be holding you tonight
Could quit doing wrong,start right
You don't care about what I think
I think I'll just stay here and drink
Hey, putting you down won't square the deal
A least you'll know the way I feel
Hey, take all the money in the bank
I think I'll just stay here and drink
Hey, listen close so you can hear
That loud jukebox playing in my ear
Ain't no woman gonna change the way I think
I think I'll just stay here and drink
Hey, hurtin' me know don't mean a thing
Since love ain't here I don't feel a thing
My mind ain't nothing but a total blank
I think I'll just stay here and drink
04 Silver Wings (04:02)
Silver wings shinning in the sunlight,
roaring engines headed somewhere in flight.
Their taking you away, leaving me lonley,
silver wings slowly fading out of sight.
Don't leave me i cry, don't take that airplane ride.
But you locked me out of your mind. left me
standing here behind.
Silver wings shining in the sunlight,
roaring engines headed somewhere in flight.
Their taking you away, leaving me lonley.
silver wings slowley fading out of sight.
Silver wings shining in the sunlight,
roaring engines headed somewhere in flight,
their taking you away. Leaving me lonley.
Silver wings slowley fading out of sight.
Slowley fading out of sight.
05 Swinging Doors (03:07)
This old smoke filled bar is something I'm not used to
But if gave up my home to see you satisfied
And I just called to let you know where I'll be living
It's not much but I feel welcome here inside
And I've got swinging doors a jukebox and a barstool
And my new home has got a flashing neon sign
Stop by and see me anytime you want to
Cause I'm always here at home till closing time
I've got everything I need to drive me crazy
I've got everything it takes to lose my mind
And in here the atmosphere's just right for heartaches
And thanks to you I'm always here till closing time
And I've got swinging doors a jukebox and a barstool
And my new home has got a flashing neon sign
Stop by and see me anytime you want to
Cause I'm always here at home till closing time
Yeah, I'm always here at home till closing time
06 That's the Way Love Goes (03:04)
I've been throwing horseshoes
Over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life
Searching for that four-leafed clover
Yet you ran with me,
Chasing my rainbows
And honey I love you, too
that's the way love goes.
That's the way love goes, babe
That's the music God made
For all the world to sing
Its never old; it grows
Losing makes me sorry
well now, "Honey, don't worry."
dont u kno i love u too
that's the way love goes.
thats the way love goes babe
thats the music god made
for all the world to sing
it's never old it grows
losin makes me sorry
you say, honey i dont worry
i love you too
thats the way love goes
07 The Bottle Let Me Down (04:38)
Each night I leave the bar room when it's over
Not feeling any pain at closing time
But tonight your memory found me much too sober
Couldn't drink enough to keep you off my mind
Tonight the bottle let me down
And let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down
I've always had a bottle I could turn to
And lately I've been turnin' every day
But the wine don't take effect the way it used to
And I'm hurtin' in old familiar ways
Tonight the bottle let me down
and let your memory come around
The one true friend I thought I'd found
Tonight the bottle let me down
Tonight the bottle let me down
08 Ramblin' Fever (04:34)
(Lyrics)
My hat don't hang on the same nail too long
My ears can't stand to hear the same old song
And I don't leave the highway long enough
To bog down in the mud,
I've got ramblin fever in my blood
I caught this ramblin fever long ago
When I first heard a lonesome whistle blow
If someone said I ever gave a damn,
They damn sure told you wrong
I've had ramblin' fever all along
(Chorus)
Ramblin' Fever
The kind that can't be measured by degrees
Ramblin' Fever
There ain't no kind of cure for my disease
(Lyrics)
There's times I like to lay down on the sofa
And let some pretty lady rub my back
Spend the early morning drinking coffee
Talkin' about when I'll be comin' back
'Cause I don't let no woman tie me down
And I'll never get too old to get around
I wanna die along the highway and rot away
Like some old highline pole
Rest this ramblin fever in my soul
(Chorus)
09 The Emptiest Arms in the World (03:01)
THE EMPTIEST ARMS IN THE WORLD
(Merle Haggard)
« © '73 Tree Publishing, BMI »
I only call when I've had that one too many
And my lonely room goes spinning in a whirl
And tonight I couldn't even find my pillow
I've got the emptiest arms in the world
I no longer wear the gold band on my finger
And from time to time I find myself a girl
But when I realize that she's not who I'm holding
I've got the emptiest arms in the world
Empty arms won't ever hold you close again
And these cheap hotels they're like a prison cell that keeps closin' in
And you alone can fill this lonely feelin' of the emptiest arms in the world
And you alone can fill this empty feelin' of the emptiest arms in the world
10 Mama Tried (02:27)
The first thing I remember knowing,
Was a lonesome whistle blowing,
And a young un's dream of growing up to ride;
On a freight train leaving town,
Not knowing where I'm bound,
No-one could change my mind but Mama tried.
One and only rebel child,
From a family, meek and mild:
My Mama seemed to know what lay in store.
Despite all my Sunday learning,
Towards the bad, I kept on turning.
'Til Mama couldn't hold me anymore.
And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.
That leaves only me to blame 'cos Mama tried.
Instrumental break.
Dear old Daddy, rest his soul,
Left my Mom a heavy load;
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes.
Working hours without rest,
Wanted me to have the best.
She tried to raise me right but I refused.
And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.
That leaves only me to blame 'cos Mama tried.
11 Hungry Eyes (03:36)
A canvas covered cabin in a crowded labour camp
Stand out in this memory I revived;
Cause my daddy raised a family there, with two hard working hands
And tried to feed my mama's hungry eyes.
He dreamed of something better, and my mama's faith was strong
And us kids were just to young to realize
That another class of people put us somewhere just below;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.
Mama never had the luxuries she wanted
But it wasn't cause my daddy didn't try.
She only wanted things she really needed;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.
I remember daddy praying for a better way of life
But I don't recall a change of any size;
Just a little loss of courage, as their age began to show
And more sadness in my mama's hungry eyes.
Mama never had the luxuries she wanted
But it wasn't cause my daddy didn't try.
She only wanted things she really needed;
One more reason for my mama's hungry eyes.
Oh, I still recall my mama's hungry eyes.
13 If We Make It Through December (02:56)
If we make it through December
Everythings gonna be all right I know
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shivver when I see the fallin snow
If we make it through December
I got plans of bein in a warmer town come summer time
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine
I got laid off down at the factory
And there time is not the greatest in the world
Heaven knows I been workin' hard
I wanted Christmas to be right for daddy's girl
Now I don't mean to hate December
It's meant to be the happy time of year
And my little girl don't understand
Why daddy can't afford no Christmas tree
If we make it through December
Everythings gonna be alright I know
It's the coldest time of winter
And I shivver when I see the fallin' snow
If we make it through December
I got plans of bein' in a warmer town come summer time
Maybe even California
If we make it through December we'll be fine
15 Okie From Muskogee (03:01)
We don't smoke marijuana in Muskogee;
We don't take no trips on LSD
We don't burn no draft cards down on Main Street;
We like livin' right, and bein' free.
I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all
We don't make a party out of lovin';
We like holdin' hands and pitchin' woo;
We don't let our hair grow long and shaggy,
Like the hippies out in San Francisco do.
And I'm proud to be an Okie from Muskogee,
A place where even squares can have a ball.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
And white lightnin's still the biggest thrill of all.
Leather boots are still in style for manly footwear;
Beads and Roman sandals won't be seen.
Football's still the roughest thing on campus,
And the kids here still respect the college dean.
We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse,
In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.
16 Big City (03:15)
I'm tired of this dirty old city.
Entirely too much work and never enough play.
And I'm tired of these dirty old sidewalks.
Think I'll walk off my steady job today.
Turn me loose, set me free, somewhere in the middle of Montanna.
And gimme all I got comin' to me,
And keep your retirement and your so called social security.
Big City turn me loose and set me free.
Been working everyday since I was twenty.
Haven't got a thing to show for anything I've done.
There's folks who never work and they've got plenty.
Think it's time some guys like me had some fun.
Turn me loose, set me free, somewhere in the middle of Montanna.
And gimme all I got comin' to me,
And keep your retirement and your so called social security.
Big City turn me loose and set me free.
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By jerome wilder
"For lovers of the most genuine country, absolutely not to be missed."
"In a truly warm and at times exhilarating atmosphere, the Californian singer-songwriter revisits a small part of his countless great hits."
