Like any box set of a great artist, the material is excellent, and "The Original Outlaw" includes most of Merle's greatest songs. However, this set, the only one that spans Merle's entire career, could have been much better.
First, there isn't enough Haggard. There are only 3 discs, and, where the fourth would be, only a nice picture of Merle. It wuld have been nice to include a fourth disc with another twenty songs, or to have included more songs on each of the three discs. Discs 1 and 2 each clock in at under an hour, and Disc 3 is about 70 minutes long. Thus, they could have incuded another 45-50 minutes of music. In the end, then, this set should have been either 3 discs of about 25 songs or 4 discs of 20.
An expansion in the amount of songs included would have helped to solve problem two, which is that this set anthologizes many of the same songs as other Haggard collections and focuses too much on his hits. It would have been nice to include some of Merle's great, if lesser-known songs, such as "House of Memories," "Okie From Muskogee's Comin Home," "The Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today," probably the set's greatest omission, as it cracked the Top 30 I believe.
The liner notes are informative and well-written, although they speed through Merle's later career and could have been longer. They include some nice photos from Merle's family album. Another drawback is that the notes are printed on rather flimsy paper, but that's a minor quibble.
To sum up, the anthology "I'm a Lonsesome Fugitive" collects more of Merle's Capitol material and "Down Every Roads" is more comprehensive and goes deeper into Merle's catalogue. This new set "The Original Outlaw" could have trumped both of those earlier collections, if it had only included more music, since it reaches all the way to Merle's latest albums. But it provides an excellent introduction to Merle's career, probably the best single collection for the beginner, providing most of his greatest songs and a few lesser-known songs as well. Eventually, though, you will need to buy many of Merle's Capitol albums and a few of his later albums to fill the gaps in this collection.
In rescerching Merle's music, I did find a couple of good or interseting things about this Box Set verese the "Down Every Road" Box Set.
Here's what I found:
1. This box set has 9 song on it from his Epic Hits CD where "Down Every Road" only has 5 song from that CD!!!
2. I also found that this Box Set has 4 song on it from his Greatest Hits Of The 80's CD where "Down Every Road" only has 2 songs from that CD!!!
So with that been said. This Set is not going to be enough for the Merle Haggard die hard fan. But I think that this maybe enough for the non-die hard fan. I also I think that the "Down Every Road" Box Set would be very over welleming for the non-die hard fan with 100 songs on it.
If you are a die-hard Merle fan, there's probably nothing new here. On the other hand, if you've never listened to this artist, this is a great starting point. (Not to mention, the best price point. I bought this NEW for about $13!) This set will keep you listening for a long time, and will point you in the right direction if you decide to explore his original releases. I'm not going to lie... I usually do not fit in with the "country crowd". I listen to Grateful Dead, Marley, old R&B, funk, metal, folk, etc. But I also love Cash, Willie, Waylon, and of course, the HAG. This guy has a voice that can stand against any other in quality, with a lyrical sincerity rarely encountered these days. If you have never listened, do so. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor. Merle is one of the only guys who can stand with one of my other all-time favorites... Otis Redding. Same passion. Same quality. Just a different genre... That should tell you something.
And for you DeadHeads out there, get on board people! Where would that Bakersfield sound stand without this guy?
Best wishes (and listening), to all of you.
