Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Sing a Sad Song
2. Sam Hill
3. Just Between the Two of Us - Merle Haggard, Bonnie Owens
4. (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
5. I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can
6. Swinging Doors
7. Bottle Let Me Down
8. Fugitive
9. Someone Told My Story
10. I Threw Away the Rose
11. Branded Man
12. Sing Me Back Home
13. Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
14. Today I Started Loving You Again
15. Mama Tried
16. I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am
17. Hungry Eyes
18. Workin' Man Blues
19. Okie from Muskogee
20. Fightin' Side of Me

Disc 2:

1. Street Singer
2. Jesus, Take a Hold
3. I Can't Be Myself
4. Sidewalks of Chicago
5. Soldier's Last Letter
6. Someday We'll Look Back
7. Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
8. Carolyn
9. Grandma Harp
10. It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
11. I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me
12. Everybody's Had the Blues
13. If We Make It Through December
14. Things Aren't Funny Anymore
15. Old Man from the Mountain
16. Kentucky Gambler
17. It's All in the Movies
18. Roots of My Raising
19. Cherokee Maiden
20. Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #190648 in Music
• Released on: 1995-03-21
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.com essential recording
Of the 40 songs included in this two-CD overview, 39 made the country charts and a remarkable 22 peaked at No. 1. The collection opens with four early Tally hits, but Haggard truly hits his stride when he begins penning his own songs for Capitol in 1965. Songs of family and faith accompany honky-tonk drinking anthems, incendiary (if not sarcastic) anti-hippie rants, and poignant stories of rebellion, prison life, and loneliness. Backed by the talented Strangers, Haggard created an emotionally honest and directly delivered style of country that, along with Buck Owens's work, came to define the Bakersfield sound. The drawback of focusing on Hag's original hits, however, is the omission of his inspired tributes to legends such as Jimmie Rodgers. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

WHEN YOU SAY MERLE HAGGARD,, YOU'VE SAID IT ALL.
I GREW UP ON MERLE HAGGARD MUSIC ALL MY LIFE. I'M 55 YEARS OLD AND I STILL GO TO HIS CONCERTS. THIS 2 CD COLLECTION HAS ALL THE SONGS OF THE WORKING MAN,THE SOLDIER,AND ANY OTHER CLASS OF PEOPLE THERE IS.

WHEN MERLE RECORDED "OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE" LIVE IN MUSKOGEE,OKLA.IN 1969 CARLTON HANEY,THE GREATEST COUNTRY MUSIC PROMOTER THERE IS, TOLD IT LIKE IT IS,MERLE PUTS HIS LIFE INTO THE SONGS HE SINGS.

THE SONGS IN THIS 2CD COLLECTION TELLS OF "HAGS" LIFE. WHEN YOU LISTEN TO HIS SONGS YOU KNOW HE HAS BEEN DOWN THAT ROAD.

SO YOU SEE IT'S VERY PLAIN "THE HAG" IS #1 WITH ME. IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE COLLECTION FROM MERLE HAGGARD, THIS WOULD BE IT.

I'M FROM HENRYETTA,OKLA. A SHORT WAYS FROM MUSKOGEE. IKNOW THE AREA WHERE MERLE'S FAMILY LIVED BACK THEN. I WOULD HATE TO HAVE TO CHOOSE A FAVORITE BUT IF I DID MERLE HAGGARD WOULD BE AT THE VERY TOP. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

The best Merle Haggard collection from his best period
Merle Haggard is one of the true giants of country music; if they built a Mount Rushmore of male country legends, he'd certainly be one of the heads, along with Jimmie Rodgers, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and George Jones. Of all the anthologies out there, the best and most concise choice has to be this collection, "The Lonesome Fugitive."

First of all, it collects all the major singles from his years with Capitol Records. I should warn you that his tenure at Capitol is considered to be one of the greatest, most consistent bodies of work in country music, and real die-hard fans of Merle often end up buying most if not all his albums from this period. But, if you want a "best of" that skims the cream of the crop, this is the place to go.
The title track, "Okie From Muskogee," "Working Man Blues"...almost all these tracks are country music classics of the traditional sort. No countrypolitan, no orchestral arrangements...this is rootsy music with a hard kick to it (some critics like Dave Marsh and the compiler, Jimmy Guterman, even qualify this stuff as rock music). Lyrically, Haggard proves himself to be on the best in country. He sings about the working class, politics ( "Okie From Muskogee" can either be seen as satire or a right-wing anthem, depending on your view), and even criminals. In all of his songs, he uses eloquent words and sings a hard truth without embellishing too much or getting too sentimental. On top of all that, this collection has great sound, thanks to that amazing audiophile, mastering engineer, Steve Hoffman.

One may wish to get the three CD box set that covers the same time period, or even pick up the albums themselves (Merle made great tribute albums, and you'll definitely want to check out the ones he made to Jimmie Rodgers and Bob Wills). But, if you just want a good overview or a good entry point, you can't possibly go wrong with "The Lonesome Fugitive" collection.

Good Overview
Merle Haggard is experiencing a major revival in the music world. It began with the release of two tribute albums recorded by many of the new generation of country artists. Now a slew of reissues have been released - one of the most comprehensive of which is this two-disc ANTHOLOGY. Its forty tracks covers his formative years on the small Tally label from 1963-1964 and his subsequent move in 1965 to the Capitol label where Haggard became one of the greatest artists in country music history. Nearly every single from this period was included, along with a few well-chosen B-sides, such as his oft-covered "Today I Started Loving You Again."

At Tally, Haggard was merely an interpreter (especially the work of Liz Anderson). Upon joining Capitol, Haggard the writer immediately began to emerge. His early writing was firmly rooted in the standard country themes of cheating ("Swinging Doors") and drinking ("The Bottle Let Me Down"). From here he moved on to more autobiographical fare. "A Branded Man" and "Sing Me Back Home" brought attention to Haggard's stay in San Quentin while "Mama Tried" and "Hungry Eyes" captured his turbulent youth. With "Okie From Muskogee" and "Fightin' Side Of Me," Haggard spouted some right-wing anthems (the former which may or may not have been written in jest).

As the second disc reveals, Haggard really came into his own in the '70s as a highly observant writer. He covered religion ("Jesus, Take A Hold"), lost love ("Someday We'll Look Back," "It's All In The Movies") and surrogate love ("It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad")), and even working class struggles ("Working Man Blues," "A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today"). He also created some colorful country characters with "Daddy Frank (the Guitar Man)," "Grandma Harp," and "The Old Man From The Mountain." Including the inane "Cherokee Maiden" (not a Haggard original) lowers the quality of this collection quite a bit, but overall ANTHOLOGY is a very satisfying overview of Haggard's early and peak musical years.