Merle Haggard Album: “Drinkin'”

Description :

All tracks have been digitally remastered. <p>Perhaps taking a cue from Columbia's theme-centered 2000 series of Johnny Cash compilations (GOD, MURDER, LOVE), Capitol gave Merle Haggard's work a similar treatment in 2001. Like Cash, Haggard was always regarded as a poet of the working class, and the four volumes of this series (HURTIN', DRINKIN', CHEATIN', and PRISON) reflect the proletarian ethos the hard-living Haggard knows so much about. The fact that his Capitol tenure encapsulated Haggard's most commercially and aesthetically successful recording years means that much more impact for this quartet of honky-tonk treasures. <p>There are few things more venerated in honky-tonk music than drinking songs, and other than George Jones there's no greater practitioner of the form than Merle. The characters in his songs turn to drink as a source of false pride ("Drink Up and be Somebody"), community (the country milestone "Swinging Doors"), and pleasant oblivion ("Wine Takes Me Away"). Ever the astute observer of the human condition, Haggard doesn't fail to point out the inevitable downside of such lifestyles, as in the aptly titled classic "Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down." Still, the sense of abandon with which he describes a drunkard's pursuit of inebriation is intoxicating in and of itself, which makes DRINKIN' resonate all the more.

If you want authentic country, and you're ready to open a bottle, Merle's ready for you.

Maybe the best album series idea in a long time: Four Merle CDs arranged thematically: "Drinkin'", "Cheatin'", "Hurtin'" and "Prison." Now you don't have to go poking though bulky greatest hits albums to get to the point. Pull up a barstool and start knockin' 'em back with the master.

No bad song on this CD. Or any from this series. They're all exactly what you're looking for -- if you're looking for that classic Bakersfield sound, with a twangy Telecaster, a little lap steel, authentic lyrics about booze, women and neon signs. No overorchestrated tangents here -- just you, Merle and the bottle.

You know, I always took Merle for a beer and whiskey drinker, but so many of these songs talk about wine, I'm just hoping the bottle's got a screw-off cap and holds at least a gallon.

This is what country music's all about -- a man like Merle who's done the time; not some Twinkie-fed, blow-dried mullet boy singing about his truck.

Merle has a lot of songs about drinking, more than could fit on any one CD. But this is a great collection, nevertheless, really always finding something new and relevant to say about drinking. Not just cheering on chug a luggers either, but songs such as No Reason To Quit, I Can't Hold Myself In Line, I Threw Away the Rose, Some of Us Never Learn, and The Bottle Let Me Down, offering a more sober take. The truth isn't always pretty.

I played The Bottle Let Me Down because I was drunk, trying to get up the nerve to perform at an open mic in a bar in Bakersfield. It only has 2 chords, just D and A7, so it is great for when you are drunk and nervous. The host of the open mic, Ray McDonald, was at the session with Merle and Bonnie Owens when he recorded it in Capitol Records Studio 2B in L.A.

This is a great collection from Merle, on a subject in which he is no doubt an expert.

There's something comforting about this album. It just has to be in any music fan's collection, and I don't say that too often. I'd give this selection of songs 50 stars and upwards if I could.

Nobody likes to drink alone, and this album is great company. It knows your troubles and your strife. Its an incredible selection of songs, and it just never gets old. People like Merle Haggard for all kinds of reasons, but for me, this album sums up all that I love about his songwriting.

He knows what its like. He feels guilty one moment, proud the next. He laments the choices he's made, all the while embracing his follies. How can such a trashy topic be deivered with such true feeling and eloquence? Its amazing. He's been down the beaten path, and he sings about drinking like a true alcoholic.