Customer Reviews

Merle Haggard - In Concert

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD is a compilation of three different concerts of the Hag, two set in the early 80's and one in the 70's. That is the type of sound quality you get here, very poor quality......they advertise it as digital sound but don't be fooled. The video aspect is also poor quality, one concert shot in a football stadium in the middle of a sunny day makes for a very boring lack-lustre ambience. This one should have stayed in VHS format. This DVD is an Insult to the people that expect Quality material out of their new investment. The Hag has done some excellent "real digital" concerts lately, surely the producers at Brentwood Video will replace this DVD with a Quality Product!

finally! a Merle Haggard DVD - yeee-haw!
Including ALL 3 videos previously released in full all on one DVD disc.
what a great idea!

BUT

unfortunately the package is misleading!
All 3 videos are there , but they have been edited.
some songs have been ommitted.
I went searching for particular parts only to find myself wondering how I could have missed it. Well I didn't miss it because it isn't there.

you can even tell where the cuts were made if you watch closely.

overall it is Merle Haggard and there is no other DVD available so this is all you can get excited over

Be forewarned that all 3 videos have been edited.
they are not the same as the original vhs releases.

Merle gets 5 stars
this release gets 3 stars just for getting it on DVD.
otherwise it is only 2 stars

without this release there would be no Merle on DVD.

so I guess we should be thankful we got this!

until a better release comes along

As a lifelong fan of the Hag and a viewer of many of his concerts both in person and on the tube, I was very dissappointed with this compilation. The sound and video quality is a total insult to any DVD owner that expects good quality for his/her investment. In this day and age of digital video and sound there is no excuse for over-marketing this trash. I have never watched it after my initial trial run.

Don't know what the previous reviewer was looking for, but I LOVE this video. You get a glimpse of Merle in 3 different stages of his career. The first back in the '70's when Merle was the premier country act, evident by the fact Willie Nelson and Johnny Paycheck were opening acts and appear briefly on stage. The second is early/mid 80's and Merle has aged, but still sounds great singing ballad after ballad, and the third is a TNN concert special Merle did in the late 80's, still sounding great wether it be singing, playing his guitar, or playing the fiddle. I enjoyed it so much I'm considering buying a second copy as a backup.

First... All three of these shows are wonderful, and should serve as a good lesson to aspiring musicians and singers just what it means to SOUND fantastic in concert, and leave the cheesy, flashy junk to the teenies.

Merle's voice is unreal, and his band is tight and right on the mark.
The camera angles, etc. really pull you in to the 'essence' of each show, and the audio is, in my opinion, CD quality and worthy of praise for a live recording.. very well done
.
A MUST HAVE FOR MERLE/COUNTRY FANS!!! PERIOD!

If you're looking for a Garth Brooks or Shania Twain glitz and glimmer Vegas-style concert.. look elsewhere. This is a songwriter and poet at work here, and the SONGS and the SINGER are the show.

Disappointing, however was the fact that the songlist on the back cover shows 'My Favorite Memory', which is not present... Willie appears for "Sing Me Back Home", but the cover indicates that he also appears on 'Just Stay Here and Drink'.. which does not appear at all until the second episode/show (and, no Willie). I've viewed this on and off for a couple days.. and I either blinked, looked away, etc. but I did not see Mr. Paycheck at all.

There are other inconsistencies with what the back indicates, and what's really there, but it does NOT take away from what IS there. I was really looking forward to seeing what the cover SAYS is there, so a small bit of frustration was initially present.

I believe some editing took place after the packaging had already been finished.

If you're even CONSIDERING this item (which you obviously are, or you wouldn't be reading this).. JUST CLICK "BUY".. You'll love it!

C. Olson
Minneapolis

i wasnt a merle haggard fan,my mother is, so i bought this dvd to make a tape for her, guess what?, i am now a merle haggard fan.the first two concerts are the best in my humble opinion, the first is a daylight concert in a stadium and the fans are jumping so hard in the upper section that the stadium got worried and asked the fans to please stop for their own safety! merle is younger at this concert.the second concert is great! close up camera work shows alot of feeling in his ballads!

remember,tapes will eventually wear out, dvd"s dont!! i collect rock,and rock and roll,but this dvd has become a permanent part of my collection.if you really like merle you are gonna like this!

only negative thing i can say is there doesn"t seem to be any johnny paycheck performance? this doesn"t bother me because i dont know anything about him anyway. danny.

I missed the Willie Nelson appearance on one of the version of "Okie..." which the jacket promises. A couple of numbers are repeated, which wastes time (Pick one version and be done with it!) Haggard really gets lost in the (Astros?) Stadium...not a great backdrop...Glad I wasn't there! This was not a slick production. Would have preferred Haggard narrating with some insight on each song and seeing cuts of different songs at different concerts (like George Jones does with great success on one of his videos). I think true fans will be somewaht disappointed by the prospect of would could-have-been.

If you are expecting Merle Haggard to sing his hit songs in the same tempo and lyrics of the original releases then this DVD is not for you. The songs on this DVD, which contains 3 concerts in one, are are at a much slower tempo. Further, many of the songs are not sung to the same words as the originals and not complete versions.
Very disappointing overall. Only buy if you are a ardent Hagard fan. Only worth 2 stars.

First of all, I don't have any other releases to compare this DVD to, so I can't say what's "missing" compared to other releases, or how the sound quality compares, etc etc etc.
All I can say is, as a longtime Merle Haggard fan, he has NEVER disappointed me and this DVD is no exception. Three concerts, recorded over the span of about 15 years, showcasing nearly all of Merle's best known songs as well as his takes on the standards (Bob Wills, Jimmie Rodgers, etc). His band kicks and smokes and swings, same as ever... and Merle is in fine voice on all three sets.
Saying there might be "better" Haggard concert discs out there, to me, is like saying there might be "better" Van Goghs or Picassos than the ones on show at your nearest museum or gallery. Maybe so, but when you're dealing with that level of talent, it's all relative. Three Merle concerts on one DVD... why quibble??

I BOUGHT THIS DVD MONTHS AGO AND FIND IT TO BE VERY GOOD . I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TO ANY REAL HAG FAN . THOUGH THERE IS NOTHING FANCY ON HERE VISUALLY IT MAKES UP FOR IT WITH THE BEST COUNTRY SONGS EVER WRITTEN . IT'S A GOOD ADDITION TO ANYBODYS COLLECTION OF REAL COUNTRY MUSIC .