Merle HaggardBest Merle Haggard Albums Ranked

“Merle Haggard’s toughest song may be his 1968 country hit "I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am." Despite the title, it’s not about a working man — he sings in the voice of a hobo loner, drifting from place to place. "I keep thumbin’ through the phone books/Lookin’ for my daddy’s name […]”

If I Could Only Fly

rollingstone

8.0

“At this point, Merle Haggard’s musical territory is staked out and grazed to the nubbin: slow, sauntering ballads, up-tempo country boogie, occasionally a little Western swing. No string sections, no synths, no exclamation marks. Staying clear of the clotted, market-tested production of the Nashville A-team studio players seems to keep him alive; still, his recent […]”

Going Where the Lonely Go

rollingstone

8.0

“Duet mania seems to be sweeping country music, but the trend is getting old fast. Not that it’s a new trick for two hit artists to team up for a song; the occasional lovey-dovey duet is always a thrill, whether it’s Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn, or Emmylou Harris and Roy Orbison. But the romantic […]”

If I Could Only Fly

pitchfork

7.6

“After languishing on Curb Records during the '90s, releasing albums that no one paid attention to (including, it sometimes seemed, himself), Merle Haggard signed with the Epitaph subsidiary Anti-. This move afforded the prolific veteran an opportunity to do exactly what made him a legend in the first place: compose excellent, commercially-unconcerned country music. But there's a discernible differ”