Mama Tried (album)
| Mama Tried | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 3, 1968 | |||
| Recorded | February, March, June 1968 | |||
| Studio | Capitol (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 31:57 | |||
Ken Nelson | ||||
| Merle Haggard and The Strangers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Mama Tried | ||||
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Mama Tried is the seventh studio album by American
Grammy Hall of Fame Award
in 1999.
Background
Haggard had scored four number one hits in the previous two years with prison songs or crime-related themes, including "
San Quentin gives the song an authenticity that makes the lyric sound all the more heartfelt.[2][3] "Mama Tried" hit #1 in August 1968 and stayed there for a month.[4] It would also be featured that fall in the Dick Clark production The Killers Three, a film in which Haggard ironically plays a lawman.[5]
Although it isn't necessarily a concept album, Mama Tried is dominated with prison songs, including the
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde, Haggard also included songs written by Dallas Frazier and Leon Payne
.
Reissues
- In 1996, Mama Tried was reissued by BGO Records along with I'm a Lonesome Fugitive.[7]
- In 2006, Mama Tried was reissued by Capitol Nashville along with Pride in What I Am with five bonus tracks and 24-bit digital remastering.[8]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
Pitchfork Media | (9.2/10) [10] |
| Rolling Stone | (positive) [11] |
Mama Tried continued Haggard's artistic and commercial hot streak, reaching number 4 on Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mama Tried" | Merle Haggard | 2:12 |
| 2. | "Green, Green Grass of Home" | Curly Putman | 3:14 |
| 3. | "Little Ole Wine Drinker Me" | Dick Jennings, Hank Mills | 2:38 |
| 4. | "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)" | Dolly Parton | 2:45 |
| 5. | "I Could Have Gone Right" | Mel Tillis | 2:33 |
| 6. | "I'll Always Know" | Haggard | 2:22 |
| 7. | "The Sunny Side of My Life" | Haggard | 2:11 |
| 8. | "Teach Me to Forget" | Leon Payne | 2:24 |
| 9. | "Folsom Prison Blues" | Johnny Cash | 3:15 |
| 10. | "Run 'Em Off" | Troy Martin, Onie Wheeler | 2:47 |
| 11. | "You'll Never Love Me Now" | Haggard | 2:51 |
| 12. | "Too Many Bridges to Cross Over" | Dallas Frazier | 2:45 |
Personnel
- Merle Haggard– vocals, guitar
- Roy Nichols – guitar
- Norman Hamlet – steel guitar
- George French – piano
- Jerry Ward – bass
- Eddie Burris – drums
with
- Lewis Talley – guitar
- Tommy Collins – guitar
- Billy Mize – guitar
- Bonnie Owens – harmony vocals
and
- Glen Campbell – guitar
- James Burton – guitar
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Billboard Country albums | 4 |
References
- ^ Pitchfork Staff (August 22, 2017). "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 15, 2023.
By 1968, Merle Haggard had made a comfortable niche singing honky-tonk-influenced songs about tough stuff...
- Allmusic. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- ISBN 1-57297-072-3.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 146.
- ^ IMDB entry for The Killers Three
- ^ Down Every Road 1962–1994 compilation album. Liner notes by Daniel Cooper
- ^ Allmusic entry for Mama Tried/I'm a Lonesome Fugitive reissue.
- ^ Allmusic entry for Mama Tried/Pride in What I Am reissue.
- ^ Allmusic. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ a b Wickham, Andy (1 March 1969). "Records". Rolling Stone. San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
- ISBN 978-0-292-71771-8.
