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COUNTRY, BLUEGRASS & OLD TIMEY

Merle Haggard -> Butch Hancock

MERLE HAGGARD
ED HALEY
DICKSON HALL
TOM T. HALL
GEORGE HAMILTON IV
BUTCH HANCOCK
ESCO HANKINS

MERLE HAGGARD Anti 86593 If I Could Only Fly ● CD $16.98
This album released in October 2000 is the first album of all new material by Hag in six years.

 
MERLE HAGGARD Bear Family BCD 15740 Same Train - A Different Time ● CD $21.98
29 tracks, 76 min., essential. Merle was rising to the top of his profession when he recorded his first of several tributes, this one to Jimmie Rodgers. I remember this album well, for it introduced me to Rodgers for the first time. Capitol, in their infinite lack of wisdom, never bothered reissuing the original double LP on CD, and undoubtedly some of you who tried to buy the Japanese CD reissue missed out due to limited supply. This one makes it worth the wait. Not only are all the original tunes included, one outtake from the sessions, Jimmie the Kid, appears for the first time anywhere. All the narrations from the original album appear, as do two later covers. Hag's attempts to do these songs his own way, but preserve the spirit of the originals succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams, in part because he and producer Ken Nelson kept the music lowkeyed. Nearly complete session information appears here (taken right from Musicians' Union contracts). Not only are veteran disc jockey Hugh Cherry's original notes presented, new notes by Charles Wolfe reveal, for the first time, Cherry's crucial role in conceiving this album. Hopefully, Bear will next set their sights on Haggard's 1970 Bob Wills tribute. (RK)

 
MERLE HAGGARD Bear Family BCD 15744 Untamed Hawk ● CD $119.98
133 recordings, 5 CD's, essential. Nobody more deserves the box set treatment than Merle Haggard. His work is generating so many reissues that fans who found nothing in record store bins a couple years ago will find now them overflowing. This one starts at the beginning: with 1962 recordings and compiling all available the Tally and Capitol recordings through 1968, except for a few lost masters. The sole deliberate omission is the Jimmie Rodgers tribute album "Same Train, A Different Time," which Bear already reissued. All the early hits are included, and the early Tallys reveal much about Haggard's early material. Though Skid Row and Life In Prison were good then and now, much of the Tally material was lackluster. Hag's first hit, the Wynn Stewart number Sing A Sad Song, showed Haggard parroting Marty Robbins. Things improved as his own style emerged on the final Tallys. From Capitol on, Haggard was on an upward curve that produced some of the greatest country music of any era, from Strangers and Swinging Doors through Branded Man and Sing Me Back Home. He did his share of Buck Owens flavored ditties, but even then it was obvious he was heading for the Hall of Fame. The eight unreleased songs include the original Swinging Doors, cut in Nashville with Bakersfield musicians. The Bear Family excellence continues to apply to the packaging. Complete sessionography was included, with Rhino Records' Patrick Milligan burrowing at the L.A. Musicians' Union to get complete data. Rare photos abound in the booklet, the weak point being Dale Vinicur's notes. She spent time interviewing a very cooperative Haggard, yet her notes reflect little of that information. She quotes too much from his autobiography when his 1990's insights into 60's music would have added much. Her pretentious introduction sounds almost like a put-on. The music, however, is the star, and it merits the treatment it got here. (RK)

 
MERLE HAGGARD Capitol 35711 Down Every Road, 1962-1994 ● CD $55.98
Four CD box set. A 100 song retrospective of this great and influential country singer and songwriter. Discs 1 through 3 feature his Talley and Capitol recordings (1962 and 1977) including his incredibly rare Skid Row - his first Talley single, of which only 200 were pressed! The fourth disc features some of his best recordings from RCA, Epic & Curb from 1977 to 1994. Includes several unissued sides.

 
MERLE HAGGARD Capitol 91254-2 The Best Of The Best Of Merle Haggard ● CD $11.98
This is an 11 song issue of material recorded for Capitol in the 1970's. Starts off with a live version of Merle's theme song Okie From Muskogee, and includes a mix of ballads Hungry Eyes/ Today I Started Loving You Again/ Every Fool Has A Rainbow and up-tempo songs: Workin' Man Blues/ Daddy Frank/ The Fightin' Side Of Me. Love or him hate him, this is the essence of Merle in a 30 minute package. (PG)

 
MERLE HAGGARD Columbia 65947 Big City ● CD $11.98
Another classic album newly remastered as part of the American Milestones series. Possibly Merle's best album of the 80s with two bonus unissued tracks.

 
MERLE HAGGARD Curb 77352 A Christmas Present ● CD $8.98
10 songs originally recorded for Capitol including If We Make It Through December/ Bobby Wants A Puppy Dog For Christmas (!) /Grandma's Christmas Card/ Silver Bells/ Silent Night, etc.

 
MERLE HAGGARD Curb 77410 All Night Long ● CD $11.98
This disc opens promisingly with All Night Long, a nice duet with Randy Travis. The sound quality and musicianship are good, and songs like Holding Things Together/ If You've Got Time/ Uncle Lem are the stand-outs here. Unfortunately some of the lyrics on this disc can be seen as somewhat offensive to minorities and women, and there is even a insult about San Francisco and its' "filthy modern hippy folks." If you like Merle Haggard, you might like this disc, but it's not going to convert many new fans. (PG)

 
MERLE HAGGARD Curb 77490 18 Rare Classics ● CD $11.98
At last - a Curb collection with decent liner notes AND a healthy selection of tunes, all drawn from his later Capitol recordings of the 60's and 70's. With Green Green Grass Of Home/ Running Kind/ Silver Wings/ Grandma Harp/ Kentucky Gambler/ A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today and more. (MB)

 
MERLE HAGGARD Curb 77760 20 Hits ● CD $16.98

 
MERLE HAGGARD Epic EK 39545 His Epic Hits - The First 11 ● CD $9.98
This album features 11 of Hag's biggest hits recorded for Epic between 1981 & 1984 - Reasons to Quit (with Willie Nelson)/ That's the Way Love Goes/ Big City/ Someday When Things Are Good/ My Favorite Memory/ C.C. Waterback, etc

 
MERLE HAGGARD Epic EK 46925 Greatest Hits Of The 80's ● CD $9.98
10 cuts from Merle's last decade with Epic, yielding such hits as Yesterday's Wine (with George Jones), A Friend In California/ Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star/ Chill Factor/ 5:01 Blues/ A Better Love Next Time and more.

 
MERLE HAGGARD MCA Special Products 1645 Serving 190 Proof ● CD $7.98
One of his best MCA albums - Footlights/ Driftwood/ I Must Have Done Something Wrong/ My Own Kind of Hat , etc

 
MERLE HAGGARD MCA MCAD 5573 His Best ● CD $9.98
10 more fine sides - I Think I'll Just Stay here And Drink/ Red Bandana/ It's Been A Great Afternoon/ Misery & Gin/ If We're Not Back In Love By Monday, etc.

 
MERLE HAGGARD MCA Special Products 31100 The Way I Am ● CD $7.98

 
MERLE HAGGARD Varese Vintage 66164 20 Number One Hits ● CD $15.98
With so many reissues of Merle's classic recordings available I'm not sure if there really is a need for remakes of his hits made in the 90s. That being said, however, these are certainly fine renditions of 20 of his number one hits originally issued between 1967 and 1981 and the performances here captures the spirit of the originals without slavishly copying them. Songs include I'm A Lonesome Fugitive/ Sing Me Back Home/ Mama Tried/ Working Man Blues/ The Fightin' Side Of Me/ Carolyn/ Everybody's Had The Blues/ Things Aren't Funny Anymore/ Always Wanting You/ The Roots Of My Raising and more.

 
MERLE HAGGARD & WILLIE NELSON Epic EK 40293 Seashores Of Old Mexico ● CD $9.98

 
ED HALEY Rounder 1131/32 Forked Deer ● CD $22.98
Two CD set featuring home recordings from the 40s of the artist who is considered to be the most important old time fiddler to come out of the eastern Kentucky-western West Virginia area between the turn of the century and the 40s.

 
DICKSON HALL And More Bears 25006 Outlaws Of The Old West ● CD $21.98
Reissue of 1956 MGM album featuring songs about famous outlaws including Jesse James, The Dalton Brothers, Billy The Kid, John Wesley Hardin and others.

 
TOM T. HALL Bear Family BCD 15631 Ballad Of Forty Dollars/ Homecoming ● CD $21.98

 
TOM T. HALL Bear Family BCD 15658 I Witness Life/ 100 Children ● CD $21.98
Today Tom T. Hall, one of Nashville's most literate composers, is remembered mainly for the saccharine, terminally poignant pap he did in the 1970s, the worst of it on the level of Hummel figurines. It was different in the late sixties and early seventies when he wrote hard-hitting, insightful, witty and knowing songs. Bear Family's Richard Weize wisely decided to reissue his four best Mercury LPs from 1969 and 1970 on two CD's. "Ballad of Forty Dollars" issued in 1969, featured the title song, which was also his first Top Ten hit, plus such gems as the 1967 "I Washed My Face In the Morning Dew" and "The World the Way I Want It." Homecoming is built around the title track and the comical "A Week In A Country Jail," his first Number One record, along with "Nashville Is A Groovy Little Town," "George (and The North Woods)," (a hit for Dave Dudley) and the rocking "Shoeshine Man." One Hundred Children also spotlighted several gems, "Salute to a Switchblade," "Girls in Saigon City," "America the Ugly," and the lame title song. Among I Witness Life's high points were "I Can't Dance," "The Hitch-Hiker" and "Mama Bake A Pie." Dale Vinicur's scanty notes on both volumes are buffered with passages from Tom T.'s autobiography and his book on songwriting. BCD 15631 features scant session information, but BCD 15658 features complete session personnel. The music counts the most, however, and if you have these two sets, you have much of his best work. (RK)

 
TOM T. HALL Mercury 824 143-2 Greatest Hits ● CD $9.98
Homecoming, I Miss A Lot Of Trains, The Year That Clayton Delaney Died, Me And Jesus and seven more from the storyteller. But where's I Like Beer and I Love Little Fuzzy Pups? I don't get it. [MB)

 
TOM T. HALL Mercury 824 144-2 Greatest Hits Vol. 2 ● CD $9.98
11 tracks, 29 min., recommended The budget CD reissue of a compilation originally issued in 1975. On it, the great country story-teller's featured chart successes include Country Is/ I Love/ Sneaky Snake/ I Like Beer/ Who's Gonna Feed Them Hogs, and Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine. It's all winning material, but with digital technology where it is now is, why not put volumes one and two on one disc? Oh well. The sound is excellent, and there are no notes at all. (DH)

 
TOM T. HALL Mercury 526 992-2 Storyteller, Poet, Philosopher ● CD $25.98
Two discs, 50 tracks, recommended. Mercury's heart is in the right place giving Tom T. Hall a box set and generally, they've done right by him. Though the Storyteller got schmaltzy in his latter years to the point some of his stuff required warning labels for diabetics, his early material stuff remains hard-hitting and exhilarating. . The most obvious hits, Shoeshine Man, Salute to A Switchblade, Ballad of Forty Dollars, A Week in a Country Jail, The Year Clayton Delaney Died, That's How I Got to Memphis Ravishing Ruby and Me and Jesus are clearly the heart of the collection. notable duets include Hello We're Lonely with Patti Page, Molly and Tenbrooks with Bill Monroe, Last of the Drifters with Johnny Cash and his minor 1970 hit Day Drinkin' with labelmate Dave Dudley. It is kind of odd they didn't add his final Top Ten single, a remake of the old pop song P.S. I Love You. Two songs, Give Her My Best andLevi Jones appear for the first time anywhere. Six numbers, never before appeared on any previous LP. Bob Oermann's excellent and insightful essay compliments the music just right, and Mercury's designers did Oermann's booklet ample justice with its beautifully simple layout. It's a shame the package itself is so tacky. There's no jewel boxes for the discs, just CD spindles glued to the flimsy cardboard box. (RK)

 
GEORGE HAMILTON IV Bear Family BCD 15773 To You & Yours, From Me And Mine ● CD $169.98
Six discs, 179 tracks, fans only
Grand Ole Opry stalwart George Hamilton IV is far bigger in Europe than in the states. He started as a teen crooner before moving into mainstream country. From then on, that's where he had his biggest US success. This collection begins in 1956, when he was recording for the tiny North Carolina-based Colonial Records and moves through his complete 1956-1960 ABC-Paramount pop and country recordings, among them A Rose and A Baby Ruth and his first country hit: Before This Day Ends. The set concludes with his 1961-65 complete RCA Victor recordings, including the country-to-pop crossover hit Abilene, as well as Three Steps to the Phone, If You Don't Know, I Ain't Gonna Tell You and Fort Worth, Dallas or Houston. Hamilton used interesting musicians, including Jimmy Dean's Texas Wildcats (with Billy Grammar on lead guitar). His ABC Paramount pop sessions were recorded in New York with studio musicians and conducted by Don Costa, later known for his work with Sinatra. Eventually, he wound up in Nashville, where he found his true footing recording with the session greats of the day, among them his close friend guitarist Billy Byrd. For the hardcore Hamilton fan, this is his best work. Nor is it all studio recordings. Included are various demo recordings, live performances on the Grand Ole Opry and a Hamilton appearance on the old Arthur Godfrey show, all from Hamilton's own collection. The set, which undoubtedly will sell well in Europe, features a lavish hardcover book, an essay by Dale Vinicur based on interviews with Hamilton and some of those who worked with him, and a complete discography covering the entire nine year period of the collection. (RK)

 
BUTCH HANCOCK Sugarhill 1036 Own & Own ● CD $16.98

 
BUTCH HANCOCK Sugar Hill 1038 Own The Way Over Here ● CD $14.98
11 tracks, 60 min., recommended. Hancock, like his fellow Lubbock-raised buddies Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Joe Ely, is one of the best when it comes to storytelling in song form, Texas style. His voice isn't quite as distinctive as theirs, but it's far better than, say, Terry Allen's. And it's well suited to his musical insights into life. This is an anthology of previous work, with a couple of new songs added to tunes taken from five regional albums on the Rainlight label. True fans may wish for certain Hancock cult classics (for example, only Corona del Mar is included from the Firewater Seeks Its Own Level album), but the songs that are here are very good, and representative of his artistry. Hancock is solo on a few, and on others is backed by an insider's all-star band with Gilmore, Lloyd Maines on pedal steel, accordion ace Ponty Bone and a dozen more, ranging from Dylanesque folk-rock, to bleary-eyed, Mexican- drenched border ballads. ( LK)

 
BUTCH HANCOCK Sugarhill 1048 Eats Away At The Night ● CD $16.98

 
ESCO HANKINS B.A.C.M. 058 Rising Sun ● CD $14.98
22 tracks recorded between 1947 and 1951 by this fine but obscure artists from Knoxville, Tennessee whose music shows the very strong influence of Roy Acuff - especially on the earlier tracks. He covers quite a few of Acuff's songs including I'm Building A Home/ Glory Bound Train/ Fireball Mail/ Streamlined Cannonball and others. The title song is a fine version of the traditional House Of The Rising Sun and other songs include A Daddy's Lullaby/ No One Will Ever Know/ World Of Sorrow and others.
ESCO HANKINS: A Daddy‘s Lullaby/ All The World Is Lonely Now/ An Angel Smiles When Mother Smiles At Me/ Beneath That Lonely Mound Of Clay/ Branded Wherever I Go/ Fireball Mail/ Glory Bound Train/ I‘m Building A Home/ I‘m Praying For The Day When Peace Will Come/ Low And Lonely/ No One Will Ever Know/ Please Forgive Me/ Precious Jewel/ Rising Sun/ Streamlined Cannonball/ Sweeter Than The Flowers/ Things That Might Have Been/ Wait For The Light To Shine/ Waiting For My Call To Glory/ What Good Will It Do/ World Of Sorrow/ Wreck On The Highway

 

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