Merle Haggard-new Bear Family set

[m***@hotmail.com]

Just saw the info for the upcoming Bear Family Box set for Merle
Haggard box set covering 1968-1976. The set is entitled "Hag:The
Studio Recordings 1968-1976", and includes his studio output from
those years.

As I quickly looked through the listing, I didn't see any of the
tracks from the "Best &*^% Fiddle Player(Or My Salute To Bob Wills)
lp. Any ideas as to why this wouldn't be included in this set? I
realize that Bear Family released the single cd set of the Jimmy
Rodgers Tribute and excluded it from the first box set.

Assuming I didn't overlook these, any ideas? I assumed these were
recorded in the 1971 time frame.

[Tom Foolery]

Post by m***@hotmail.com
Just saw the info for the upcoming Bear Family Box set for Merle
Haggard box set covering 1968-1976. The set is entitled "Hag:The
Studio Recordings 1968-1976", and includes his studio output from
those years.
As I quickly looked through the listing, I didn't see any of the
tracks from the "Best &*^% Fiddle Player(Or My Salute To Bob Wills)
lp. Any ideas as to why this wouldn't be included in this set? I
realize that Bear Family released the single cd set of the Jimmy
Rodgers Tribute and excluded it from the first box set.
Assuming I didn't overlook these, any ideas? I assumed these were
recorded in the 1971 time frame.

Be patient. I'm sure King Esker will have an answer for you when he
returns. I don't know why that particular LP would be excluded from the
box set, but, even so, sounds like a great collection to me! :)

[[e-mail] (Noah Tall)]

Post by Tom Foolery
Be patient. I'm sure King Esker will have an answer for you when he
returns. I don't know why that particular LP would be excluded from the
box set, but, even so, sounds like a great collection to me! :) <

Agreed. I alluded to the success oF Haggard's "live" recordings in my
last post, but one of the down sides is that during that same period ,
the early 70's, when he was doing all those GREAT "Tribute" LPs, he
had intended to do a "Tribute" to Dixie Blues, and had recorded many/
most of the cuts for it. The problem was, because of the HUGE success
of the live "Okie From Muskogee" and it's follow - up the live "The
Fightin' Side Of Me", they decided to scrap the "Dixie Blues" studio
tribute , and make it a "live" LP too. Most of those studio cuts
eventually made their way onto the remaining Haggard Capitol LPs, and
I have to admit, that even today something like 35 years after he cut
them, they're still among my favorite Merle Haggard recordings.

I mean how can you beat Johnny Gimble and twin fiddles ? It was
because of the Bob Wills sessions that Haggard realized the impotance
of BOTH. You can have all the drum machines, I'll take the fiddle
intro on "The Waltz You Saved For Me" ! :)

Killer STUFF !!!!!!!!

[sanQ]

The Studio Recordings 1968-1976
6CD-Box & Book
Merle Haggard


Audio CD (September 3, 2007)
Original Release Date: 2007
Number of Discs: 6
Label: Bear Family 16749 (IMPORT)
Genre : Country



Disc 1

01. I'd Rather Be Gone
02. Montego Bay
03. I Die Ten Thousand Times A Day
04. California On My Mind
05. California Cotton Fields
06. White Line Fever
07. I Came So Close To Failure
08. Workin' Man Blues
09. The Sea Shores Of Old Mexico
10. Okie From Muskogee
11. If I Had Left It Up To You
12. Streets Of Berlin
13. Huntsville
14. Train Of Life
15. They're Tearing The -
- -. Labor Camps Down
16. The Fightin' Side Of Me
17. I Wonder What She'll -
- -. Think About Me Leaving
18. No Reason To Quit
19. Jesus, Take A Hold
20. I Ain't Got Nobody
21. New York City Blues
22. One Row At A Time
23. Shelly's Winter Love
24. I'll Be A Hero When I Strike
25. If You've Got Time -
- -. (To Say Goodbye)
26. I'm A Good Loser
27. I Can't Be Myself
28. I've Done It All
29. One Sweet Hello


Disc 2

01. Worried, Unhappy, -
- -. Lonesome And Sorry
02. Somewhere In Between
03. The Sidewalks Of Chicago
04. The Farmer's Daughter
05. Tulare Dust
60. When The Feelin' Goes Away
07. Soldier's Last Letter
08. The Only Trouble With Me
09. Making Believe
10. Big Time Annie's Square
11. You're The Only Girl In The Game
12. The Conversion Of Ronnie Jones
13. Carolyn
14. It's Great To Be Alive
15. Someday We'll Look Back
16. Somewhere In Between
17. My Heart Would Know
18. Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
19. Goodbye Comes Hard For Me
20. The Man Who Picked -
- -. The Wildwood Flower
21. You Don't Love Me -
- -. (But I'll Always Care)
22. This Cold War With You
23. Irma Jackson
24. Recitation:
- -. The Proudest Fiddle In The World
- -. (A Maiden's Prayer)
25. Turnin' Off A Memory
26. Grandma Harp


Disc 3

01. They're Tearin' -
- -. The Labor Camps Down
02. Bill Woods From Bakersfield
03. Old Doc Brown
04. A Shoulder To Cry On
05. The Funeral
06. Bring It On Down To -
- -. My House, Honey
07. Combine Blues
08. Blues Stay Away From Me
09. Tired Of Your Understanding Ways
10. Hag's Dixie Blues #2
11. I Ain't Got Nobody -
- -. (And Nobody Cares For Me)
12. Moanin' The Blues
13. Don't Let The Deal Go Down
14. Stingeree
15. Lovesick Blues
16. Blues For Dixie
17. I Forget You Every Day
18. A Shoulder To Cry On
19. I Know An Ending When It Comes
20. Dad's Old Fiddle
21. I'm A White Boy
22. I Wonder Where I'll -
- -. Find You At Tonight
23. My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man
24. It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
25. Somewhere To Come When It Rains
26. My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man


Disc 4

01. I Wonder If They Ever Think Of Me
02. To Each His Own
03. I Wonder What She'll -
- -. Think About Me Leaving
04. I'm An Old, Old Man -
- -. (Tryin' To Live While I Can)
05. I'd Never Told On You
06. I Wonder If They Ever Think Of Me
07. I Forget You Every Day
08. Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
09. If We Make It Through December
10. I'll Break Out Tonight
11. Love And Honor Never -
- -. Crossed Your Mind
12. This Is The Song We Sing
13. There's Just One Way
14. The Emptiest Arms In The World
15. Come On Into My Arms
16. Radiator Man From Waco
17. Uncle Lem
18. Daddy Won't Be Home -
- -. Again For Christmas
19. Bobby Wants A Puppy For Christmas
20. Silent Night
21. Winter Wonderland
22. White Christmas
23. Silver Bells
24. Jingle Bells
25. Grandma's Homemade -
- -. Christmas Card
26. Santa Claus And Popcorn

Disc 5

01. White Man Singin' The Blues
02. Better Off When I Was Hungry
03. Things Aren't Funny Anymore
04. That's The Way Love Goes
05. Got A Letter From My Kid Today
06. Honky Tonk Night Time Man
07. A Man's Got To Give Up A Lot
08. The Girl Who Made Me Laugh
09. No More Trains To Ride
10. Holding Things Together
11. So Long Train Whistle
12. September In Miami
13. A King Without A Queen
14. It Don't Bother Me
15. Travelin'
16. Don't Give Up On Me
17. Here In 'Frisco
18. Railroad Lady
19. Old Man From The Mountain
20. Mirrors Don't Lie
21. Movin' On
22. The Seeker
23. Kentucky Gambler
24. You'll Always Be Special To Me
25. Life's Like Poetry
26. I've Got A Darlin' (For A Wife)
27. These Mem'ries We're -
- -. Making Tonight
28. The Hobo
29. The Coming And The -
- -. Going Of The Trains
30. My Love Affair With Trains
31. The Silver Ghost


Disc 6

01. Where Have All The Hobos Gone
02. I Won't Give Up My Train
03. Union Station
04. When My Last Song Is Sung
05. I've Got A Yearning
06. Always Wanting You
07. Nothin's Worse Than Losing
08. Colorado
09. The Roots Of My Raising
10. Living With The Shades Pulled Down
11. After Loving You
12. Cotton Patch Blues
13. Runnin' Kind
14. Walk On The Outside
15. Let's Stop Pretending -
- -. (Dirty Old Hat Band)
16. Right Or Wrong
17. It's All In The Movies
18. The Way It Was In '51
19. Goodbye Lefty
20. I Never Go Around Mirrors
21. Am I Standing In Your Way?
22. A Working Man Can't -
- -. Get Nowhere Today
23. The Waltz You Saved For Me
24. Cherokee Maiden
25. What Have You Got -
- -. Planned Tonight, Diana
26. Here Comes The Freedom Train
27. Campaign Of '76

[[e-mail] (Noah Tall)]

Post by sanQ
The Studio Recordings 1968-1976
6CD-Box & Book
Merle Haggard<

Thanks for posting, but it's still kind of undecided. :)

What's interesting to me is that a lot of the "Wills" related songs
are on there, but I know he cut "Trouble In Mind", because it was
included as a bonus track on one of his CD re-issues, and I didn't see
it listed. I just read it quickly, so I might have missed it.

If not, it's so NOT like Bear Family to miss a song, that either they
are choosing not top duplicate what Koch has already released, or
there is another Wills CD upcoming. As I said, he cut three songs on
The mid-70's Bob Wills LP that I didn't see, and I know he's got 15 -
20 songs he recorded with The Texas Playboys at his house, that aren't
there, so again, it kind of points to a Wills CD. Bear family usually
puts between 25-29 cuts per CD, and that's a little over 20, without
talking about a few more previously unissued Wills material, to round
out the set.

[TEN FOUR]

Factual Informative Polite

Some1 call 911 Esker's being held Hostage


Re: Merle Haggard-new Bear Family set

Group: alt.music.country.classic Date: Wed, Sep 5, 2007, 12:20pm (EDT-3)
From: ***@aol.com (***@aol.com=A0(Noah=A0Tall))
On Sep 4, 10:56?pm, sanQ <***@yahoo.ca> wrote:
The Studio Recordings 1968-1976
6CD-Box & Book
Merle Haggard<
Thanks for posting, but it's still kind of undecided. :)
What's interesting to me is that a lot of the "Wills" related songs are
on there, but I know he cut "Trouble In Mind", because it was included
as a bonus track on one of his CD re-issues, and I didn't see it listed.
I just read it quickly, so I might have missed it.
If not, it's so NOT like Bear Family to miss a song, that either they
are choosing not top duplicate what Koch has already released, or there
is another Wills CD upcoming. As I said, he cut three songs on The
mid-70's Bob Wills LP that I didn't see, and I know he's got 15 - 20
songs he recorded with The Texas Playboys at his house, that aren't
there, so again, it kind of points to a Wills CD. Bear family usually
puts between 25-29 cuts per CD, and that's a little over 20, without
talking about a few more previously unissued Wills material, to round
out the set.

[sanQ]

So when you say it's undecided, do you mean that they haven't come up
with a concrete tracklisting? If that's the case I wonder why it is
that everywhere I search it says that they are going to be releasing
it this month? I've read that it's on the 3rd, the 7th, and the 17th,
from a few different websites. Usually CDs are released on Tuesdays so
I'm wonderin how accurate any of this information is...one good thing
though, is that I am excited as hell to hear another version of
Shoulder To Cry On!!! I hope this comes out soon.

[[e-mail] (Noah Tall)]

Post by sanQ
So when you say it's undecided, do you mean that they haven't come up
with a concrete tracklisting? <

No not at all. It appears to be complete to me, and I've noticed
there's a dozen or so previously unreleased cuts, including as you
alluded to a second version of "Shoulder To Cry On".

Post by sanQ
If that's the case I wonder why it is that everywhere I search it says that they are going to be releasing it this month? I've read that it's on the 3rd, the 7th, and the 17th,
from a few different websites. Usually CDs are released on Tuesdays so
I'm wonderin how accurate any of this information is...<

I'm gonna guess the Tuesday release is just an American thing, and
since this is a German Bear Family release it's possibly not affected
by the Tuesday rule.

Post by sanQ
one good thing
though, is that I am excited as hell to hear another version of
Shoulder To Cry On!!! I hope this comes out soon.<

I'd bet it will. These sites are usually pretty accurate. Anyhow to
clarify, my only contention was that I didn't see "Trouble In Mind"
which I know he recorded because it appeared as a bonus track on a re-
issue . I ASSUMED perhaps incorrectly that it came from the 1970 Wills
sessions, but since I've never heard it, I could be wrong. Like that
Roger Miller duet, it's possible it was recorded at a later date, and
until I hear it, I have no way of knowing.

So it appears that the list is complete, however, if they are going to
release the "Tribute To Wills" seperately ala the Jimmie Rodgers set,
that seems to make sense too. Those 10 or 11 songs, along with the
three he recorded with Wills and the Playboys on their studio Double
LP, and the 15 or so he recorded at his house would be somewhere
around 28 songs, which again is the usual amount of tracks on a Bear
family CD.

Who knows . I guess we'll just have to wait, but that is so not like
them to leave something unissued. They're either merging with Koch, or
there is a Wills disc on the way.

[[e-mail] (Noah Tall)]

Post by ***@aol.com (Noah Tall)
my only contention was that I didn't see "Trouble In Mind"
which I know he recorded because it appeared as a bonus track on a re-
issue . I ASSUMED perhaps incorrectly that it came from the 1970 Wills
sessions, but since I've never heard it, I could be wrong. <
Like that Roger Miller duet, it's possible it was recorded at a later date, and
until I hear it, I have no way of knowing.
So it appears that the list is complete, however, if they are going to
release the "Tribute To Wills" seperately ala the Jimmie Rodgers set,
that seems to make sense too. Those 10 or 11 songs, along with the
three he recorded with Wills and the Playboys on their studio Double
LP, and the 15 or so he recorded at his house would be somewhere
around 28 songs, which again is the usual amount of tracks on a Bear
family CD.
Who knows . I guess we'll just have to wait, but that is so not like
them to leave something unissued. They're either merging with Koch, or
there is a Wills disc on the way.

I just listened on line to snippets of BOTH "Trouble In Mind" and
"Spanish Two Step" on a recently released Haggard CD, and it sounds to
me to be Johnnie Lee Wills on banjo on "Spanish Two Step" , which
indicates and I would bet the farm it's from the same sessions as the
original "Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player" CD. "Trouble In
Mind" is again definitely from a similar period, but I didn't hear
Johnny Lee Wills, and to me it sounds exactly like the 1972 or so
"Dixie Blues" sessions.

Bottom line, that's two Wills related unreleased songs from the very
same period, as I had assumed. Bear Family does not miss stuff like
this, especially since as I said it's now available on other cds. You
heard it here first "THERE WILL BE A WILLS RELATED CD !!!!!!!!

You're very welcome. My pleasure.

Your humble servant King Country I

Reason # 6,984,325 why I'm the "KING" ! :)
LOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sanQ]

Did anyone here get this set yet?

[K.B. Cunningham]

I just got mine today, and it looks awesome. Haven't listened yet, but
have scanned the book, and as usual, Bear Family has outdone itself.

To answer one of the questions posed, according to the book; Bear Family
is releasing another Hag box set in "early 2008". called "Hag, The
Capitol Recordings1958-1976; Concepts, Live, and the Strangers". It is
a six disc set, containing the "Same Train...", sessions, the "Best Damn
Fiddle Player" sessions, the live "Okie", "Fightin' Side", and "Love the
Dixie Blues" albums, the Strangers' instrumental albums, the "Land of
Many Churches" albums, and assorted other recordings. I was very
disappointed that there were no previously unreleased "bonus" tracks of
the live recordings. I know that there have to be many songs that were
recorded at these concerts, but not released.

I had pre-ordered this set from Amazon, but had since found it on eBay
(from a 100% feedback seller) for FIFTY bucks cheaper! Don't know why
the big cost difference, but I cancelled with Amazon, and am very
pleased with my eBay order.

[[e-mail] (Noah Tall)]

Post by m***@hotmail.com
Just saw the info for the upcoming Bear Family Box set for Merle
Haggard box set covering 1968-1976. The set is entitled "Hag:The
Studio Recordings 1968-1976", and includes his studio output from
those years.
As I quickly looked through the listing, I didn't see any of the
tracks from the "Best &*^% Fiddle Player(Or My Salute To Bob Wills)
lp. Any ideas as to why this wouldn't be included in this set? <

Not really, BUT ...

This LP WAS released on CD by KOCH in 1995. Besides including the
complete original liner notes and artwork, it also included a 12 or 14
page booklet with liner notes by Rich Kienzle. In other words, except
for the fact that it did not include the usual complete detailed
session discography that Bear Family sets do, this CD looks, smells,
walks, talks and sounds like a Bear Family set, and even mentions
"Special Thanks" to Richard Weize among others, who I'm sure many of
you know to be the owner of Bear Family. The only other thing that
sticks out of course is that the set was produced by Earl Ball, unlike
most/all Haggard's Capitol recordings which were of course produced by
Ken Nelson.

My guess is it has to be either a business thing where Ball was
holding out for more money, or Koch was/is/or is about to be
incorporated into Bear Family, and like the Rodgers set you alluded
to, since it's already available, there's no need to duplicate any
tracks on these excellent box sets. Nobody wants Bear Family's
reputation to sink to the level of another Barf Brooks CD , with
three new songs and 20 others you already have ! :)

Bottom line, this CD is long overdue, since the first installment came
out over 12 years ago, :) so who knows. What's interesting to me, is
that since they've decided not to include the "Live" LPs from the same
time frame, that tells me that somewhere down the road Bear Family
intends to release some/all of Merle Haggards available "Live"
recordings together as a set. . They've always been his biggest
selling LPs, and no doubt the Box Set will be too .

Personally, the thought of having a huge set of unreleased and bootleg
"live" recordings, that have never been available before, cleaned up,
annotated, etc ...together in one giant box set for my listening
pleasure , might not be worth my first born, :) but my youngest could
be moving out a lot sooner than she thought ! LOL !!!!!!!! :)
?

Post by m***@hotmail.com
realize that Bear Family released the single cd set of the Jimmy
Rodgers Tribute and excluded it from the first box set.
Assuming I didn't overlook these, any ideas? I assumed these were
recorded in the 1971 time frame.

Exactly, and who knows it could have plans to do the same with the
Wills set, but I'm betting on a business deal with KOCH. Anyhow for
the record, you are correct of course about the time frame, in that
the Wills LP was recorded I believe April 6, 7, & 8th, 1970 .

One final thought , what is interesting to me, is the possibility of a
complete Bob Wills set. For instance, like the Jimmie Rodgers set,
Haggard frequently included a few Bob Wills covers on his LPs, and I
have yet to see a set list for this new box. Are they included ? He
also cut three vocals on "For The Last Time" , the 1973/1974 Capitol
Bob Wills Lp. Are they included ? The other thing that I'm curious
about is that Haggard actually recorded with Bob Wills' Playboys at
his own house around the same time ? Are any of THOSE songs included ?
That'll probably answer the question. If the Wills "covers" are not
included, there's obviously a Wills box upcoming.