Search - Merle Haggard :: Okie From Muskogee: Live

THE BEST LIVE COUNTRY ALBUM EVER MADE

John E. Beland | 03/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the definitive textbook on how country music ..real country music..should be remembered. Unlike today's mindless, fabrictaed country pop fluff and artists who can't sing on pitch when they perform live, Hag and the Strangers show that talent and a few Tele's and Twins can still rise above pitch correctors and lip syncing.

The tone on Roy Nichol's tele and the perfectly flawless singing by Hag and Bonnie Owens still leave me with my mouth open.

Recorded in a school gym somewhere in Oklahoma with bare bones PA and no frills, this live album set the standard for me and alot of my contemporaries.

This is the holy Grail of country...you cant afford to NOT own this recording.

JOhn Beland

Flying Burrito Brothers

Austin TX

www.johnbeland.com"

The Real Deal

John E. Beland | 10/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here it is, the real deal -- Merle Haggard's classic live album from 1969, re-released in digital splendor. This is mighty Merle at his best, loose on-stage and in fine voice. This CD includes the best of his many versions of Okie from Muskogee, as well as a rollicking take on Mama Tried and Working Man Blues. The CD is true to its vinyl predecessor, including cuts originally intended to showcase Hag's band, as well as a cut by a since-forgotten Bakersfield vocalist, Gene Price. It's too bad Capitol couldn't have been a little more creative with the re-release of this album, which has been out of circulation for a couple of decades. Generally, such repackagings include unreleased cuts, but nothing is added here. On the other hand, the bargain-basement price can't be beaten. There are also no new liner notes (although almost all the original packaging is here) and for some reason Ken Nelson's producer credit has been omitted (although the remaster producer's name is listed). These are minor quibbles that don't detract from the joy of having one of the finest and most influential albums in the history of country music available again."

Only one better than this

Donald T. Wardlow | goose creek, sc usa | 03/10/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is Merle Haggard at his live best--not the shot performer we occasionally hear now and cringe. He only did one better live album, and I fear it's out of print. It's the one he made in Philadelphia, with 'Harold's Super Service," on it, along with him singing impressions of Buck Owens, Marty Robins, even JOhnny Cash. Until that one is re-issued, if it ever is, this one will have to do--and it's a good piece of work.. "Sing me Back Home," Branded Man," "Mama Tried, Etc., certainly weren't on the Philadelphia album, released around 1970 or so. "in the Arms of Love," is terrific--not sung by Merle but one of his boys who never amounted to anything, sadly. I love "Billy Overcame his Size," because I've always been the one overcoming stuff--blindness, asthma, small size, etc., and trying to make a living of it. this is the one Haggard album I'd buy if I could only buy one."