Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
Montéclair · Hotteterre · Couperin · Marais / R. Cook · Monoyios · Le Parlement de Musique · Gester
Numbers [Original recording remastered]
Paper Dolls House: The Pye Anthology [Import]
Milhaud: La Création du monde; Le Bœuf sur le toit; Saudades do Brasil
Amazon.com
It's entirely appropriate that the cover photo here--Merle Haggard seated in front of a fireplace and surrounded by the albums of his favorite country singer--bears more than a passing resemblance to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home. On Roots, Volume 1, Hag brings it home here by honoring some of his earliest influences, recording their songs in the swinging, stripped-down honky-tonk style popular during the middle of the 20th century. Merle covers Hank Thompson and Hank Williams, but he devotes the most time to Lefty Frizzell. Indeed, Merle sings classics like "Always Late" and "If You've Got the Money" in a voice brimming with Lefty's patented curlicued phrasing. What's more, he's signed up Frizzell's old lead guitarist, Norm Stephens, to reprise his most indelible licks. The highlights come, though, when Haggard sings his own songs, particularly "More Than My Old Guitar," where Merle not only insists he loves his wife more than his six string but more than "God loves the poor." --David Cantwell
Album Description
Merle's tribute to the Honky Tonk music he grew up on includes songs by Lefty Frizzell & Hank Williams & more. An Epitaph Records release packaged in a jewel box with O-card.