Search - Merle Haggard :: His Epic Hits

Great songs from start to finish

Jerry McDaniel | 03/19/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When this album came out, Haggard was amidst the wildly successful duet phase of his career: from 1982-1983 he was with George Jones on the radio and in select concerts and from 1983-1984 Willie Nelson was paired with him. The album closes with his Top-10 duet with George, "C.C. Waterback". Willie is heard on two tracks: the Top-10 opener "Reasons To Quit" and then on the smash #1 "Pancho and Lefty", which in truth, is a Willie Nelson song with Haggard adding in a closing verse. other great songs are "Big City"; "Are The Good Times Really Over"; "My Favorite Memory"; and "That's The Way Love Goes". Most people tend to over-look or downplay Haggard's songs AFTER he left Capitol in the late '70s for MCA and then EPIC. CURB issued two volumes of hits on Haggard spotlighting his Capitol era, trying to include the most important songs in his career and they succeeded. MCA issued a Greatest Hits album in 1983 of his 1977-1982 hits. EPIC issued this album and the 1990 "Greatest Hits of the '80s" CD. This first volume of EPIC hits is essential if you have the 1990 sequel. however, several box sets contain ALL of these songs and many others but for the budget minded, seek out the individual hits CDs like this one."

The Best

12/09/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first and only Merle Haggard album I have ever owned and I never get tired of listening to it! Every single song on it is great. Listen to it a couple of times and you are hooked! Truly worth buying. I too am of the younger generation that truly appreciates the old country singers such as George Jones, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, etc. This stuff is good!"

Early eighties classics from Merle

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 02/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Some say that the early eighties were Merle's best years. I wouldn't go quite that far, but he certainly made some excellent music back then and this set, dominated by ballads, proves it. In particular, there were two classic albums - Big city (represented here by three tracks) and Pancho and Lefty (a collection of duets with Willie Nelson, represented here by two tracks) - that are among the best he ever recorded.Big city is represented by the title track, Are the good times really over and My favorite memory, although this classic album deserves to be heard in its entirety, whether you buy this collection of hits or not. Pancho and Lefty is represented by the title track (on which Merle only joins in near the end - it's almost a Willie solo track) and Reasons to quit.Elsewhere, Merle shows his way with ballads such as You take me for granted, That's the way love goes (a cover of a Conway Twitty song that Merle later re-recorded as a duet with folk-pop singer Jewel, who is a fan of Merle's), Someday when things are good, What am I gonna do and Going where the lonely go.Another country legend, George Jones, joins Merle on C C Waterback, rounding off an excellent set in fine style. Another of their duets, Yesterday's mine, can be found on an other of Merle's compilations, Greatest hits of the eighties, which (apart from that track) covers the second half of his Epic recordings.This is a great collection of hits from Merle, of which only about half the tracks are included in his boxed set, Down the road. There are many compilations of his music out there, but this one is among the best despite only having eleven tracks."