About.com Rating

The Bottom Line

Lefty. Hank Sr. Merle. Really, what more can one say? When Merle Haggard takes it into his head 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.




Pros

• "Always Late (With Your Kisses)"
• "Take These Chains From My Heart"
• "If You've Got The Money (I've Got The Time)"

Cons

• None.

Description

• Merle in his living room with a few pickers recording some songs they like together.
• A veritable who's who of great country musicians.
• Merle going back to his own roots, as a star-struck teenaged Lefty fan.

Guide Review - Merle Haggard - Roots, Vol. 1

Merle starts out "Roots Volume 1" with a plain-and-simple cover of "Always Late (With Your Kisses)." His voice is still crystalline perfect, maybe only slightly roughened by the years, a commanding voice with perfect sound that can deliver a country song like no one else. No one sounds like Merle, but Merle can sound like anyone. Merle Haggard remains living proof that modern country music can and should sound like COUNTRY music, as he modernizes these songs without depriving a single one of its true country soul.

This album is a realistic statement, something that it's fairly obvious Merle feels keenly. He knows his past, but he's quite aware that it IS the past.

He isn't hopelessly nostalgic for it; rather, he merely salutes it here. He's telling anyone paying 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.

The title of this disc is "Roots Volume 1," and I'm still eagerly awaiting "Volume 2." And onward. Thank God for Merle, and Thank Merle for this disc.