20 Hits Vol. 2
Merle Haggard
Curb Records (USA), 2008
1 CD
Catalogue #: 79102
EAN: 0715187910225
UPC: 715187910225
You save: 20%
Like its predecessor, 20 HITS VOL. 2 does not contain the original versions of Merle Haggard's classic recordings, but instead features Hag's re-recordings of such gems as "Silver Wings" and "Today I Started Loving You Again." This might surprise those expecting a conventional hits package, but Haggard's voice and style have matured so much since the original recordings that it's a joy to hear them revisited and reinterpreted by an artist who truly just keeps getting more compelling as he gets older.
Tracklist
Merle Haggard
Along with Buck Owens and Wynn Stewart, Merle Haggard created the Bakersfield country sound of the '60s, emphasizing two-part harmonies, tasty guitar solos, catchy choruses and a no-frills approach to production. To this, the singer/songwriter/guitarist adds his own jazzy Western swing touches. His distinctly proletarian lyrics alternate between classic honky-tonk barroom laments and the celebration of the blue-collar working man. Like many country stars of the '60s and '70s, Haggard slipped off the mainstream radar in the '80s and '90s, but made a Johnny Cash-like "comeback" with the poignant, sparsely produced IF I COULD ONLY FLY in 2000.
