Merle Haggard - Sing Me Back Home / Legend Of Bonnie & Clyde (2006)

The pace at which Haggard turned out full albums (one in '65, two in '66, and two in '67) was unslowed in 1968, with this two-fer (the third in Capitol's reissue program) representing only the first two of three released in that year. Even more astounding is that the quality was consistent or improving throughout the run. Haggard continued writing excellent original material, while at the same time proving to be a superbly talented interpreter of other's material.

The opening title track of "Sing Me Back Home" is among Haggard's greatest prison songs - no easy feat, given the riches of such material in his catalog. The first-person narrative of an inmate watching another walking to his final reward is tinged with sorrow, wistfulness, faith, and a thousand other emotions. Haggard's vocal is complex and touching, as it is on so many songs in this collection, including the delicate, broken-hearted ballad "Look Over Me." The album's arrangements are typically spare, with stuttering guitar, crying steel, dramatic piano lines and female backing vocals.

Lyrically Haggard evolved from the social stereotyping of "Branded Man" or "Lonesome Fugitive," casting off external aspersions and standing on his own opinion. A cover of Dallas Frazier's "The Son of Hickory Holler's Tramp" fits this mood perfectly, proclaiming the pristine virtues of his scarlet-marked mother. Standard country themes like drinking and lost love resound with universality and staying power on weepers like "Wine Take Me Away," "If You See My Baby," "My Past is Present" and Lefty Frizell's sentimental "Mom and Dad's Waltz." The latter is one of several finely picked covers that also include a take on Buck Owens' "Where Does the Good Times Go" that magnifies the song's forlorn qualities. The album's sole bonus track, "News Break," is a short instrumental led by staccato guitar imitative of a newswire ticker.

Haggard's second release in 1968, "The Ballad of Bonnie & Clyde," was issued only four months after its predecessor. The title track rode the coattails of the 1967 film to a fourth consecutive #1, but its bluegrass backing was not echoed throughout the album. Instead, the remaining tracks followed the same general formula as Haggard's previous albums, mixing originals and covers, ballads and mid-tempo numbers, all with Haggard's voice adding its magical blend of sweetness and sorrow.

Nowhere is Haggard's brilliance as both a songwriter and singer more evident than on the title single's flipside, "Today I Started Loving You Again." Inspired by the real-life renewal of his passion for then-wife Bonnie Owens, this tune quickly established itself as one of Haggard's most beloved (and oft-covered) compositions. Songs from Haggard's friends and favorite songwriters include Dallas Frazer's and "Will You Visit Me on Sundays?" and "The Train Never Stops," Wynn Stewart's "Love Has a Mind of Its Own," and Tommy Collins' "Fool's Castle." Each reaffirms Haggard's emotional range as a vocalist, and his producer's talent for crafting arrangements that service both the singer and the song.

These two-fers include both original album covers (one on each side of the booklet), color photo reproductions, and newly struck liner notes. Though Haggard fans are likely to have a lot of this material on previous single-CD reissues or box sets, the logical album pairings and remastered 24-bit sound make these sets especially attractive. The only real nits one could pick is the absence of session credits, master numbering and chart positioning, as well as a lack of detail on some of the bonus tracks. These are minor issues for such a stellar series of five-star reissues.