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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Makes a Good Starter, March 29, 2004
This is the first Merle Haggard collection (outside of the Down Every Road Box Set)that spans his biggest hit years with Capitol, MCA and Epic. Including duets, he had 38 #1's on the Billboard Country Singles Charts. They're all here, with 2 that went to #2 ("If We're Not Back In Love By Monday", and "I'm Always On A Mountain When I Fall"). Who knows why the compilers picked those two over a couple of other Haggard songs that went to #2 (e.g. "Ramblin' Fever"), since it's never explained in the liner notes (which are pretty good). Be aware that some of Haggard's best known classics: "Swinging Doors", "Bottle Let Me Down", "My Own Kind Of Hat", "Rainbow Stew" and "I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am", didn't go to #1, but you shouldn't have trouble locating them on one of his CD's. I suggest 2 out of print jobs: Capitol Collector's Series and Rhino Records More of the Best. Both are easy to find as used CD's. In all, this is a good starting point for anyone who's curious about Merle Haggard's career. If you're a die-hard then you'll like having the big hits all in one package.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Start your Merle Haggard collection here, April 27, 2004
As I've explained in reviews of some older compilations of his music, it wasn't always easy to collect all Merle's classic songs that really mattered. The boxed set, Down every road, made that task very easy for those who could afford it. Now comes this double-CD containing forty of his most important songs. Some songs, now regarded as classics, were released only as B-sides, weren't released on singles at all, or didn't reach the top of the charts, so this set will not satisfy some diehard fans. Among the songs that do not qualify for inclusion here are Today I started loving you again, Silver wings, All my friends are gonna be strangers, Swinging doors, Bottle let me down and I take a lot of pride in what I am. Nevertheless, this is the strongest collection you're ever likely to find of Merle's music on a double-CD.
The set contains all 38 of his Billboard number one country hits, plus two that made number two. It may be that these two (If we're not back in love by Monday, I'm always on a mountain when I fall) made number one in some other chart - if not, the album title is inaccurate, but that doesn't affect the quality of the music, which covers his recordings for Capitol, MCA and Epic. Getting all three in one double-CD is a huge benefit to fans.
The tracks included here are the songs that established Merle's reputation and sustained it. Songs like Hungry eyes, Mama tried and Branded man tell of his troubled early life and coming to terms with it. Merle stood up for what he believed in with songs like Okie from Muskogee and Fighting side of me. He sang about overcoming hardship in Daddy Frank and If we make it through December. He sang of yearning in Always wanting you (apparently written about Dolly Parton), Big city and Sing me back home.
Merle sang some brilliant love songs including It's all in the movies, My favorite memory, That's the way love goes and A place to fall apart. He also recorded plenty of duets although only two of them qualified for this set, these being Yesterday's wine (with George Jones) and Pancho and Lefty (with Willie Nelson). Other classic songs feature here include Legend of Bonnie and Clyde, Working man blues, Old man from the mountain, Kentucky gambler, Moving on, Cherokee maiden and Roots of my raising.
This is the best introduction to Merle's music there is, unless you want to go for the boxed set. It contains nearly all the classic songs and the few it doesn't can be found easily if you want them.
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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential, July 16, 2004
40 #1 Hits is just what its name implies: forty Country chart-topping Merle Haggard singles from 1967's "Branded Man" to `87's "Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star." Possessing a voice that was smooth as cream in his youth, Haggard's greatest strength ultimately lie in the breadth of his palette. We find home-spun sentimentality ("Daddy Frank"), blue-collar pride ("Working Man Blues"), flag waving ("Okie From Muskogee," which he wrote as a joke) and outlawry. "Sing Me Back Home" stems from a prison buddy's execution after a guard was killed in an escape attempt Hag didn't join. The banjo in "The Legend Of Bonnie And Clyde" creates a link with Earl Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" runs in Arthur Penn's 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde. His topical songs' essential character is an outsider, be it an ex-con ("Branded Man"), scorned poor woman ("Hungry Eyes") or alienated worker ("Big City," whose fiddle recalls old Wills discs). The branded man's line "I'd like to hold my head up and be proud of who I am" fits many Haggard protagonists. To his former wife and singing partner Bonnie Owens, he's part Frizzell, part James Dean. As for love songs, "Always Wanting You" was inspired by unrequited feelings for Dolly Parton, who simply saw him as a friend. His third wife Lorena Williams wrote "You Take Me For Granted" as their marriage floundered. "Carolyn" (penned by Oklahoma-to-Bakersfield transplant Tommy Collins) and "It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)" ache with a husband cheating out of pure hurt. For duets, there's Clint Eastwood on a jovial "Bar Room Buddies," George Jones on "Yesterday's Wine" and Willie Nelson on the enigmatic "Pancho And Lefty." This compactly packaged two-CD set has only one photo and little discographic data, but it does enjoy sparkling sound and twelve tracks (seven licensed from Hag's post-Capitol labels) his four-CD retrospective Down Every Road lacked. Nancy Henderson's informative notes look beneath the surface of the man and his music.
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Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.
~ Willie Nelson
~ George Jones
~ Johnny Cash
~ Don Williams
~ Hank Williams Jr.
See all 20 tracks on this disc
by Merle Haggard 
