Merle Haggard Album: “Down Every Road 1962-1994 [Box]”

It would be rare for a major label to compile a better 4-CD Merle Haggard collection than this one. The box consists of 3 discs of Capitol material (up to 1977) and 1 cross-licensed disc of Haggard's later MCA and Epic recordings. Very listenable, since the emphasis here is simply on presenting quality songs rather than attempting to compile a hit list (consequently, many big hits are missing, especially from the later years). However, fans will have to search elsewhere to obtain "Old Man From The Mountain", "Natural High", "A Place To Fall Apart", "I Can't Be Myself", "Always On A Mountain When I Fall", "Every Fool Has A Rainbow", "What Am I Gonna Do With the Rest of My Life", "Going Where The Lonely Go", "We're Strangers Again", "Always Get Lucky With You", "My Favorite Memory", "Roots of My Raising", and several others. Still, this is the best collection available and features good sound and packaging.

Just when I'm sick of all the "Re-Records" passing themselves off as merle's hits... Now this one is the real thing. BUY THIS SET! For all you new country people out there who are looking at the "For The Record" set by Merle, buy this one instead. These are the original Merle Haggard hits, and some great album cuts too. You can trace his magical music from the beginning to the last big hits he had in the late '80s/early '90s... Don't miss this one. If only "Jesus Take A Hold", "Movin' On", "Turnin' Off A Memory" and "Kern River" were on this collection, it would be perfect. Buy it today.. Don't be fooled by the "re-fried Merle" collections that are out there today... They don't hold a candle to this!

You would have to buy a lot of Haggard CDs to get this much good Haggard music. The songs are in chronilogical order, so you can hear Haggard's voice mature from song to song. There is also an informative book inclosed. I could pick over some of the selections and omisions, but that's just my opinion. If you like Merle Haggard, you could not possibly be dissapointed. Even if you have most of this on vinyl, you need to hear it on CD.

Any fan of Merle Haggard, or just Country Music in general should give this compilation a listen. Merle is known as the Country Music story teller, and it shows through on this album. With hard hitting songs like "Swingin Doors" , "Workin Man Blues" and the ever popular "Okie From Muskogee" you hear Merle's wilder side. Songs like "Mama's Hungry Eyes" , "I Threw Away The Rose" and "Sing Me Back Home" are enough to make a grown man cry, with Merle's tender voice soaring right along with the steel guitar. With almost all of these songs written by Merle, he takes you back to the way things were, and tells you his side of the story. If you buy this set, you will see for yourself... Merle Haggard is a god.

Merle Haggard established who he is about 1968 with his redneck manifesto "Okie from Muskogee." Just to make sure that you understood, he followed up with "The Fighting Side of Me." Haggard flew right in the face of the "protest" singers of the day with his patriotic, blue-collar message. In doing so he forfeited for all time any possibility that he would ever be considered "trendy" or "cool."

Thirty-five years later I don't think any singer in any genre has produced a body of work superior to Haggard. (Well, reconsidering that rash statement, Hag doesn't stack up to Hank Williams, but he can play in the same ballpark as Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.) Most of his songs are deceptively quiet and simple. Drinking, prison, lost loves, and wasted lives are the themes. Haggard, one suspects, is not a very nice man, but he's a great singer.

There are 100 songs in this collection and many are exceptional. My favorite of all is atypical, a lushly orchestrated duet with Willie Nelson titled "Pancho and Lefty"--as sad a song as was ever written about death, the end of an era, and a lost soul trying to go home.

You come to appreciate Merle Haggard slowly but you'll never get tired of listening to him.