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Merle Haggard - THE PEER SESSIONS |
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Track List Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia If It's Wrong To Love You Sweethearts or Strangers Put Me In Your Pocket Anniversary Blue Yodel Shackles and Chains Miss the Mississippi and You It Makes No Difference Now Whippin' That Old TB Hang On To The Memories I Love You So Much It Hurts
Time Changes Everything You can check out sound clips or purchase 'The Peer Sessions' at CDNOW |
(Audium) Merle
Haggard, country music's most charismatic
living legend, sounds happy, completely in his element. His voice
remains timeless, weathered over the years to perfection, his influences
never far from the surface. While his style may vary, from honky tonk of
Bakersfield to western swing to bluesy jazz influenced classics, Merle
Haggard remains a man of roots and tradition. Over a three year period (1996-9) the country music legend scoured the Peer Music country catalog. As he re-discovered forgotten gems, he recorded them in the historic Bradley's Barn. Something special happened during those sessions and fortunately for us it was captured on tape. As he sat, relaxed, among friends, just letting the music come, the songs took on a life of their own. Merle's always had the uncanny ability to mimic some of country music's most enduring legends, but the allure of Peer Sessions is much more than an artful display of imitation. Somehow it seems as if Merle was able to cajole the spirits of Jimmie Rodgers and the King of Western Swing Bob Wills into coming back to sit a spell. A vintage collection of country classics from yesteryear, Peer Sessions covers the many facets of Merle Haggard's influences. The opening track,'Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia' is ripe with a sense of humor, but it's 'Whippin' That Old TB 'and 'Anniversary Blue Yodel' that that almost seems to reincarnate the Father of Country Music, Jimmie Rodgers. Western swing influences are ample in the toe-tapping 'It Makes No Difference Now'. Merle effortlessly wraps his voice around honky-tonk pioneer, Floyd Tillman's 'I Love You So Much It Hurts.' If Merle Haggard singing timeless country songs isn't enough, there are a couple of bonuses on the album. An at-ease, legendary Owen Bradley joins Merle on piano for Sweethearts or Strangers and Time Changes Everything. Hall of Famer, Jimmie Davis joins Merle for an unforgettable collaboration on, 'Hang On To The Memories.' These days country music has more than its share of copycat/cookie cutter acts, but there is and only only ever will be one Merle Haggard: A man who has the versatility to slip in and out of song styles with ease while leaving his mark on all of them; a man who chose not to sell out, but instead buys in to everything country music was, should, and can be. Peer Sessions is a must have in your collection.
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Laurie
Joulie Take Country Back May 2002