Merle Haggard - Legends Of American Music: The Original Outlaw [3 CD Box Set]

The word 'legend' usually makes an appearance at some point when discussing Merle Haggard. It's an acknowledgement of his artistry and his standing as 'the poet of the common man.' It's a tribute to his incredible commercial success and to the lasting mark he has made, not just on country music, but on American music as a whole.

Haggard relays what he sees, hears and feels through his songs. The lyrics are deceptively simple, the music exceptionally listenable. Others who have lived through those same situations recognize the truth in the stories he tells.

But Haggard's real gift is that anyone who hears his songs recognizes the truth in them. When a Merle Haggard song plays, it can make an innocent-as-apple-pie grandma understand the stark loneliness and self-loathing of a prisoner on death row; a rich kid who never wanted for any material possession get a feel for the pain of wondering where the next meal will come from; a tee-totaling pillar of the community sympathize with the poor heartbroken guy downing shots at the local bar.

In 2007 Time Life have released this 3-CD set Legends Of American Music: The Original Outlaw which serves as a top quality skim across the mighty career of The Hag, a fine all-round presentation for newcomers and Haggard diehards alike.

DISC 1:

• Sing a Sad Song
• (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
• The Fugitive
• Swinging Doors
• I Threw Away the Rose
• The Bottle Let Me Down
• Branded Man
• Today, I Started Loving You Again
• Sing Me Back Home
• The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde
• Mama Tried
• I Take a Lot Of Pride In What I Am
• Workin' Man Blues
• Hungry Eyes
• Okie From Muskogee
• Someday We'll Look Back
• Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
• Carolyn
• Grandma Harp
• It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)

DISC 2:

• The Fightin' Side Of Me
• I Wonder If They Ever Think Of Me
• Kentucky Gambler
• Everybody's Had the Blues
• If We Make It Through December
• Old Man From the Mountain
• Things Aren't Funny Anymore
• Movin' On (Theme From the NBC-TV Series)
• Always Wanting You
• The Roots Of My Raising
• It's All In the Movies
• Cherokee Maiden
• If We're Not Back In Love By Monday
• Rambin' Fever
• I'm Always On a Mountain When I Fall
• It's Been a Great Afternoon
• The Way I Am
• I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink
• Misery And Gin (From the Soundtrack Of Clint Eastwood's Bronco Billy)
• When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again

DISC 3:

• Big City
• My Favorite Memory
• Yesterday's Wine w/ George Jones
• Going Where the Lonely Go
• You Take Me For Granted
• Pancho And Lefty w/ Willie Nelson
• That's the Way Love Goes
• Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room
• Someday When Things Are Good
• Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star
• What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest Of My Life)
• Are the Good Times Really Over
• Natural High w/ Janie Fricke
• Out Among the Stars
• A Place To Fall Apart w/ Janie Fricke
• Lonesome Day
• Wishing All These Old Things Were New
• America First
• Some Of Us Fly w/ Toby Keith
• Haggard (Like I've Never Been Before)