Customer Reviews

The Peer Sessions

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This has got to be the best CD Hag has ever done! "Peach Picking Time in Georgia" (the first track) is worth the price of the CD. The cut is flawless and better than the one Merle did back in the 70s on "Same Train Different Time" (and that's saying something!). The other material that Merle does from Jimmie Rodgers (Anniversary Blue Yodel, Miss The Mississippi and You, and Whippin' That Old TB) are the best cuts on the CD. I'm running out of superlatives. There's not a bad cut on this CD. His voice is masterful and somehow even better than in his younger days. You'll love "Time Changes Everything" and "Put Me in Your Pocket" too. The backup is wonderful. Check out the piano (and the sax break) on "Miss the Mississippi and You". It doesn't get any better than this. Buy it. If you don't like it, you either don't like Merle Haggard or country music. He's lived this stuff. Wow...What a CD....!

This CD, released in 2002 but recorded in the mid to late '90's, is simply superb. I grew up with "real" country music, and this is as close as one gets these days...other reviewers have mentioned this but it is worth repeating. The CD has a 'live' feel to it, with the band in top form, and Merle's singing as solid as ever. True, he has recorded some of these songs earlier in his career, but the maturity evident in these recordings is almost beyond belief. This CD is never far from my CD player. It is absolutely 'soothing' music by a true legend. The songs (12 total) written by Jimmie Rogers, and Jimmie Davis, are wonderful choices for Merle's voice...the others by Tillman, Haley, Dodd and Mitchell, and Lee O'Daniel are also great and round out this incredible 'session.' In this CD you get a taste of the many Merle 'styles.' Each song tells its own story as is customary in country music...in fact this CD is like a "mini-history of classic country music." (Roy Horton, from the notes). And the duet with Jimmie Davis -- what can you say except 'Wow!" And let's not forget the incredible playing of Owen Bradley on the piano!

If you are a fan of traditional, classic, country music this CD needs to be in your collection, along with others by Merle, George Jones, Johnny Cash, Eddy Arnold, Jim Reeves, etc.

If you're a Haggard fan, this is one you should own, probably do, and if not, what are you waiting for? It doesn't get any better than this...

I have listened to country music all my life (48 years) and never heard anything better than this. These are classic songs performed by the man I consider the greatest living practitioner of the art. Do yourself a favor and get this album.

This a wonderful listen of some of the older songs. Put me in your pocket is a tear jerker and is performed beautifully by ole Merle. I loved the music on this cd. Merle's voice is a little scratchy but still great! Go Hag.

This is an extraordinarily appealing record. It's like having Merle and few instrumentalists sitting around in your living room performing old songs that they clearly love. It seems ungrateful to suggest any reservations, but if I were going to I might wish for a little more variety in the selections, maybe one uptempo number (maybe another Bob Wills number) in the midst of all these sleepy tunes, and a little less polish on Miss the Mississippi (Emmy Lou can present the tune as elegant but still country; here, the two qualities don't quite mesh.)
Still, this is a record I wouldn't be without. I only wish my parents had lived long enough to hear it.

Country music has become pop in cowboy hats. Merle shows you in this album where this rhinestone cowboys on CMT need to look for real inspiration. This album is constantly on my CD player and certainly seems the best of it's genre or even overall album released this year. If you like Hank Williams, Bill Monroe, or Johnny Cash, you'll most definitely dig this album. If Merle is trying to imitate anyone it's not Williw Nelson as one review suggests but rather Lefty Frizell or Jimmie Rodgers himself. Stripping his sound down to the real essential to give us something less slick and produced is certainly not a fault in my book!

More than 20 years ago, Merle became the first (and only) country artist to ever grace the cover of the distinguished jazz magazine "Down Beat". This album may best sum up why. Recorded between the "1996" album (on Curb records), and the beginning of his "comeback" in 1999, this is a collection of great old songs from the "Peer" publishing company. This album has a jazzy, mellow feel, and finds Merle in perhaps his most comfortable element. Merle recorded a few of these songs before, and although he cannot match the effortless vocal range he possessed in the past, there are elements to his singing here he never could have displayed as a young man. The musicianship is wonderful, and (at times) sounds like a live session. The highlights include possibly the best Jimmie Rodgers cover Merle has ever done (and that's saying something!!) in "whipping that old t.b.", the beautiful "put me in your pocket", "shackles and chains" (and Merle really did use a bible for a pillow), and the terrific "hang on to the memories" with Jimmie Davis ( has anyone ever recorded this nice of a cut at 97 years old? If the music world were right, this would be a hit). For anyone looking for the lively "honky tonk" of the equally wonderful "Roots Vol. 1" CD, this isn't it. This is a very mellow album. This continues Merle's incredible comeback (along with "Roots, "If I Could Only Fly", and three terrific gospel CD's), which seemed highly unlikely in the early to mid 90's. I can't wait for the the next album(s)!!!

I love the movie "O Brother where art thou" and the old timey music in it. and this album has a lot of the sounds of the Singing Breakman, Jimmy Rogers. Yet there is more to it. It is a comfortable nostalgic 'trek' down memory lane. Reminds me of when I was a little girl at Grandma and Grandpa's record player. Now Merle isn't that old, so this must be nostalgic for him too..

I personally loved Merle's Peer Sessions CD. He sounded so relaxed and just let it go. I think it was one of his best. I thoroughly enjoy listening to it. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes Merle's style.

I do believe Merle Haggard has compiled some classic country in
this c/d, and I like it. I remember so many of these songs from
my childhood and it sure brought back some pleasant memories.
I would recomend this c/d to anyone who still likes
country music from the early years.