In the 1990s, Merle Haggard began re-recording many his songs from previous decades. Classics contains a dozen such re-recordings that span the first fifteen years of Haggard’s discography. From the lonesome heartbreak of “(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers” found on his 1965 debut album Strangers, to the introspective “The Way I Am” from his eponymous 1980 album, this collection offers an outstanding selection of Haggard’s musical legacy.
Although these versions aren’t the original recordings, they offer a fresh perspective on Merle’s timeless catalog. As a student of the genre, there’s a lot to learn just by listening to the instrumentation on these refined renditions versus their original counterparts.
Classics was released by Sun Record Company in 1996. All of the tracks were recorded at Merle’s own Tally Recording Studio at his home in Palo Cedro, California.
Track Listing:
- Ramblin’ Fever
- I Threw Away the Rose
- (My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers
- It’s Been a Great Afternoon
- The Way I Am
- Silver Wings
- If We Make It Through December
- Always Wanting You
- Sing Me Back Home
- Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
- Carolyn
- It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)
Credits:
Engineer – Lou Bradley
Digital Mastering – M.C. Rather and Hollis Flatt
Producer – Merle Haggard
Click on the images below to see the high-resolution versions.
Listen to the full album on YouTube below:
