Merle Haggard: Vol. 1: Roots

You can listen to clips, as well as purchase this CD at:

CDNOW

Really, what more can one say?

When Merle Haggard decides to show people what it means to get back to
their roots, he pulls out the stops.  In an age when production is the driving force behind an audio recording, Merle strips bare such trappings and sits down in his living room with some great pickers  - including Lefty's own lead guitarist, Norman Stephens, as well as Merle's Strangers - and the one and only thing that a musician should really need: Talent. Well, talent - an increasingly rare commodity in today's country music - and some very fine songwriting, from not only Merle himself, but also from his great inspirations: Lefty Frizzell and Hank Williams, Sr.  It simply doesn't get much better than that. 

Merle starts out "Roots Volume 1" with a pleasantly simple cover of "Always Late (With Your Kisses)."  With his voice nicely roughed by the years but still as crystalline perfect, the voice of the workin' man, Merle sounds good.  He sounds better than good.   There are five Lefty-penned tracks, one Hank Sr. (and Hank Jr.) collaboration, three penned by Merle himself, and the disc is rounded out with a Hank Thompson tune, "I'll Sign My Heart Away," and then two that may not have been written by the greats, but were made famous by them, "Take These Chains From My Heart," and "The Wild Side of Life."  In each Merle presents a straightforward nod to each year of country music, the old to the new, from the old-timey tune chosen as the first single, "If You've Got the Money (I've Got the Time)," to Merle's own modern honky-tonk swing, "Runaway Mama."  Living proof that modern country music can and should sound like COUNTRY music. 

There's not a single belly button showing; no oversized, un-blocked cowboy
hat; no GQ faux-style; no khakis; no overwrought glitter; no whoops; no explosions; no dancing girls; no guitar-smashing.  But this is a winner - how could it fail to be?  It rests on the music, not the production; the music is allowed to speak for itself and is not overwhelmed with consultant's suggestions for "the next big thing."

Every line on Merle's face speaks of his hard life and his victories over it; the cover shows Merle, his dog, his "old guitar," and the LPs of his idols in the background.  It's a realistic statement.  Merle knows what is in the past, that it IS the past, and he isn't yearning for it.  He's saluting it.  He's telling all who care to pay attention that he knows where his roots are, but he's not stuck in the past.  He's looking forward but knows you can only get where you're going by knowing where you've been.

If this is "Roots Volume 1," then I'm eagerly awaiting "Volume 2."  And onward.  Thank God for Merle, and Thank Merle for this disc. 

Kathy Coleman Take Country Back February 2002