Sing Me Back Home
Sing Me Back Home | ||||
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Ken Nelson | ||||
Merle Haggard and The Strangers chronology | ||||
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Singles from Sing Me Back Home | ||||
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Sing Me Back Home is the fifth studio album by American country singer and songwriter Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1968 on Capitol Records.
Background
The album's title track was inspired by an inmate Haggard knew while he was serving time in
Although Haggard wrote or co-wrote most of the tracks on Sing Me Back Home, the song credits also list several important figures from his musical past, such as
While many country LPs during this period were often haphazardly assembled collections of studio cuts and cover songs to support a hit single or two, the quality of Haggard's albums during this period were remarkably high.[
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Pitchfork Media | 8.8/10[7] |
Sing Me Back Home was released on January 2, 1968, and became Haggard's second straight number-one album. At the time of the album's release, Life stated that the title track "could be a Top 40 hit tomorrow if the big-city stations would play it." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic writes: "Sing Me Back Home follows the blueprint of Merle Haggard's first three albums, balancing a hit single with album tracks and a couple of covers, but there is a difference. Where the previous album Branded Man was a transitional album, hinting that Haggard's talents were deepening substantially, Sing Me Back Home is the result of the flowering of his talent."[6]
Track listing
All tracks composed by Merle Haggard; except where indicated
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | " Tommy Collins, Haggard | 2:48 | |
5. | "If You See My Baby" | Eddie Miller, Bob Morris | 2:32 |
6. | "Where Does the Good Times Go" | Buck Owens | 2:06 |
7. | "I'll Leave the Bottle on the Bar" | 2:41 | |
8. | "My Past Is Present" | Haggard, Wynn Stewart | 1:58 |
9. | "Home Is Where a Kid Grows Up" | Haggard, Stewart, Bob Wills | 1:57 |
10. | "Mom and Dad's Waltz" | Lefty Frizzell | 2:27 |
11. | "Good Times" | 2:59 | |
12. | "Seeing Eye Dog" | 2:41 |
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
- Billy Mize – guitar
- Bonnie Owens – harmony vocals
and
- Glen Campbell – guitar
Charts
Chart (1968) | Peak position |
---|---|
Billboard Country LPs | 1 |
References
- ^ "Merle Haggard: The Outlaw". Rolling Stone. Haggard reports the name as "Hendricks" in his autobiography, but this appears to be an error.
- ISBN 978-0-292-71771-8.
- ^ Down Every Road 1962–1994 compilation album. Liner notes by Daniel Cooper
- ^ ISBN 0-06-109795-0.
- ISBN 978-0-671-45275-9.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Sing Me Back Home > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved July 2, 2011.
- Pitchfork Media. Retrieved February 19, 2015.