I want a couple of good Merle Haggard songs

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Recomendations please
I'm off to BUY a few from iTunes, and I'm in the mood for Merle ;)

[ 01-13-2005, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[Gary E]

How bout Waylon ?

http://www.poofcat.com/EAGLE.html

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Na I'm looking for some Original Merle.

[ 01-13-2005, 09:12 PM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[Katherine]

Mamma Tried, Okie from Muskogee, Rose Colored glasses, She thinks I still Care

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

welcome to the WBF Katherine, glad to see ol Merle got ya to post in the bilge. ;) Y'all come back now ya hear smile.gif

[yorgie]

Two of my favorites are "Swinging doors" and especially "Lonesome Fugitive".You'll be singing along to 'Fugitive' for the next week.Oh yeah,don't forget "Mama Tried"(oops Katherine already scooped that one).

I'm a big fan of Merle and the whole 60's 'Bakersfield sound'(got 'em on LP),Dwight Yoakum(one of the few good contemporary country singers)does a fine job of capturing the essence of that style.

[ 01-13-2005, 09:39 PM: Message edited by: yorgie ]

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Gary E
Merle's Fighting side is way more right wing patriotic than Waylon :eek:

Artist/Band: Haggard Merle
Lyrics for Song: Fightin' Side of Me
Lyrics for Album: For the Record: 43 Legendary Hits
I hear people talkin' bad,
About the way we have to live here in this country,
Harpin' on the wars we fight,
An' gripin' 'bout the way things oughta be.
An' I don't mind 'em switchin' sides,
An' standin' up for things they believe in.
When they're runnin' down my country, man,
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

I read about some squirrely guy,
Who claims, he just don't believe in fightin'.
An' I wonder just how long,
The rest of us can count on bein' free.
They love our milk an' honey,
But they preach about some other way of livin'.
When they're runnin' down my country, hoss,
They're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

Yeah, walkin' on the fightin' side of me.
Runnin' down the way of life,
Our fightin' men have fought and died to keep.
If you don't love it, leave it:
Let this song I'm singin' be a warnin'.
If you're runnin' down my country, man,
You're walkin' on the fightin' side of me.

[yorgie]

Yeah,'Okie' and 'Fightin' side of me' are pretty "Love it or leave it"(especially from an ex-felon of dustbowl refugee background.But Merle,like everyone,is full of contradictions and complexities.Nowadays he even smokes the stuff he used to claim he didn't smoke in Muskogee. :D

[Gary E]

I remember that one Joe, Good find,
THanks

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

$8 on iTunes and it already sounds like a smoky bourbon soaked honky tonk in my living room smile.gif

[ 01-13-2005, 09:54 PM: Message edited by: Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) ]

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Think I'll just stay here and drink - GOOOOD SONG :D :D :D :D

[Katherine]

Funny that I should be the first to rattle off some ole Merle Haggard songs since they were all recorded DECADES before I was born. tongue.gif

[L.W. Baxter]

I saw Merle in concert in Denver 10 years ago, he was so drunk it was embarassing. Friend and I left early, as did most everybody else.

I forgive him, though wouldn't pay to see him again.

[yorgie]

Even I was born after most or all of those songs were written,but only just in the case of 'Okie from Muskogee'.

But being born decades after these songs!That means you're from the 80's. :eek:

[Katherine]

Late 70's

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Originally posted by Katherine:
Late 70'sYoungin, with an old soul - thats what they used to call me.

Now I finally caught up to my soul ;)

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

The early albums with their original production are excellent....with these tunes..

Sing Me back home (a beautiful song
Workin Man blues (great guitar work)
Mama's hungry eyes
Lonesome fugitive
Swinging doors
Shadetree workin man
Almost persuaded

Great songs...

Out among the stars (one of my favorites)
Tell me something bad about Tulsa
Pancho and Lefty (with Willy)
I can't hold myself in line (with John Paycheck)
Makeup and faded bluejeans

I used to play and sing all this stuff. ;) :D Man it was fun back then. :cool:

[Katherine]

Well, I don't know about the old soul thing, but I sure do feel old some day. Check out Haggard's White Line Fever, that one always reminds me of Dad (who should be calling to check up on me any second now).

[Russell Sova]

Don't know what album but the song is "Moving to Montana".

[Barry]

My Favorite

Big City: Merle Haggard.

I'm tired of this dirty old city.
Entirely too much work and never enough pay.
And I'm tired of these dirty old sidewalks.
I think I'll walk off my steady job today.

Turn me loose, set me free,
Somewhere in the middle of Montanna.
Gimme all I got comin' to me.
And keep your retirement,
And your so called social security.
Big city, turn me loose and set me free.

Been working everyday since I was twenty.
Haven't got a lot to show, for anything I've done.
I know folks who never work and they've got plenty.
I think it's time folks like you and me had some fun.

Turn me loose, set me free,
Somewhere in the middle of Montanna.
Gimme all I got comin' to me.
And keep your retirement,
And your so called social security.
Big city, turn me loose and set me free.

I said big city, turn me loose and set me free.

[cs]

What about:

Poncho & Lefty
Yesterday's Wine
If You've Got The Money (I've Got The Time)
If We're Not Back In Love By Monday
From Graceland To The Promised Land
If We Make It Through December
Bottle Let Me Down
Green, Green Grass of Home
The Wild Side Of Life

That is the ones that I would recomend.

While we are on old country let me recomend one of my all time favorite country songs.

He Stopped Loving Her Today - George Jones

Chad

[yorgie]

Merle,George and Hank(sr that is!) are probably the three best but Marty Robbins,Dolly Parton and Mel Tillis have the nicest voices.

Must have song(s) from the Louvin Brothers:

Tiny Broken Heart
Tell the News to Mother

My favourite of the brother harmony duos.

[Jim H]

Since you are cut-off from the world I thought this might be a good song for you. ;)

Folsom Prison Blues
Johnny Cash

I hear the train a comin'; it's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when.
I'm stuck at Folsom Prison and time keeps draggin' on.
But that train keeps rollin' on down to San Antone.

When I was just a baby, my mama told me, "Son,
Always be a good boy; don't ever play with guns."
But I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.
When I hear that whistle blowin' I hang my head and cry.

I bet there's rich folk eatin' in a fancy dining car.
They're prob'ly drinkin' coffee and smokin' big cigars,
But I know I had it comin', I know I can't be free,
But those people keep a movin', and that's what tortures me.

Well, if they freed me from this prison, if that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move on over a little farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison, that's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away

[Willin']

" Moving to Montana?" You couldn't be confusing ol' Merle for another good ol' boy, Frank Zappa, now could ya Russel?

"Movin' to Montana soon,
Gonna be a dental floss tycoon,"

That's the kind of rainy day music that raises a smile with me!

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Jim I got a ton of Cash and ayup kinda feels weird to be sort of on an island. Absolutely amazing what water pressure can do.

[canoes]

hi,
There all great very hard to pick a favorite, but one of mine is "going where the lonely go".

Enjoy Larry

[Katherine]

If you're going to go for Johnny, you have to have "One Piece at a Time". Since I work in the auto industry and am a cheapskate, I always get a laugh out of that one.

[Jim H]

Originally posted by Katherine:
If you're going to go for Johnny, you have to have "One Piece at a Time". Since I work in the auto industry and am a cheapskate, I always get a laugh out of that one.One Piece At A Time
Johnny Cash

Well, I left Kentucky back in '49
An' went to Detroit workin' on a 'sembly line
The first year they had me puttin' wheels on cadillacs
Every day I'd watch them beauties roll by
And sometimes I'd hang my head and cry
'Cause I always wanted me one that was long and black.

One day I devised myself a plan
That should be the envy of most any man
I'd sneak it out of there in a lunchbox in my hand
Now gettin' caught meant gettin' fired
But I figured I'd have it all by the time I retired
I'd have me a car worth at least a hundred grand.

CHORUS
I'd get it one piece at a time
And it wouldn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round.

So the very next day when I punched in
With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends
I left that day with a lunch box full of gears
Now, I never considered myself a thief
GM wouldn't miss just one little piece
Especially if I strung it out over several years.

The first day I got me a fuel pump
And the next day I got me an engine and a trunk
Then I got me a transmission and all of the chrome
The little things I could get in my big lunchbox
Like nuts, an' bolts, and all four shocks
But the big stuff we snuck out in my buddy's mobile home.

Now, up to now my plan went all right
'Til we tried to put it all together one night
And that's when we noticed that something was definitely wrong.

The transmission was a '53
And the motor turned out to be a '73
And when we tried to put in the bolts all the holes were gone.
So we drilled it out so that it would fit
And with a little bit of help with an A-daptor kit
We had that engine runnin' just like a song
Now the headlight' was another sight
We had two on the left and one on the right
But when we pulled out the switch all three of 'em come on.

The back end looked kinda funny too
But we put it together and when we got thru
Well, that's when we noticed that we only had one tail-fin
About that time my wife walked out
And I could see in her eyes that she had her doubts
But she opened the door and said "Honey, take me for a spin."

So we drove up town just to get the tags
And I headed her right on down main drag
I could hear everybody laughin' for blocks around
But up there at the court house they didn't laugh
'Cause to type it up it took the whole staff
And when they got through the title weighed sixty pounds.

CHORUS
I got it one piece at a time
And it didn't cost me a dime
You'll know it's me when I come through your town
I'm gonna ride around in style
I'm gonna drive everybody wild
'Cause I'll have the only one there is around.

(Spoken) Ugh! Yow, RED RYDER
This is the COTTON MOUTH
In the PSYCHO-BILLY CADILLAC Come on

Huh, This is the COTTON MOUTH
And negatory on the cost of this mow-chine there RED RYDER
You might say I went right up to the factory
And picked it up, it's cheaper that way
Ugh!, what model is it?

[huisjen]

I just don't get it.

Katey's with Willin' and Frank.

Dan

[Alan D. Hyde]

Merle's an ex-con., and has some experience behind his songs.

Don't forget Johnny Horton, though.

IIRC, he married Hank Williams widow, and then she lost him, too...

Alan

[garland reese]

Tulare Dust
It's been a great afternoon
Let's Chase each other 'round the room tonight
Kern River
Caroline
It's all in the movies
Big City
Anything from his tribute to Bob Wills Album
Anything from My Love Affair with Trains album
If I could only fly
Branded Man
Okie (I AM an Okie, really!!) from Muskogee
Things aren't funny anymore
Tell me somethin' bad about Tulsa
Milk Cow Blues
Merle is great. Though he has certainly had his glory, I think he is one of the most understated country artists of our time.

[imported_Daniel]

This is a Doc Watson song and can be found on the exceptional recording, Will the Circle be Unbroken, by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with such old time luminaries as Roy Acuff, Earl Scruggs etc. etc. A great find that I recommend to everyone.

Along about eighteen twenty five

I left Tennessee very much alive

And I never would got through the Arkansas mud

If I hadn't been a-ridin that Tennessee Stud

I had me some trouble with my sweetheart's Paw
One o' her brothers was a bad outlaw
I sent her a letter by my Uncle Fud
Then I rode away on the Tennessee Stud

Chorus:

The Tennesee Stud was long and mean

The color of the sun and his eyes were green
He had the nerve and he had the blood

And there never was a horse like The Tennesee Stud

We drifted on down inta no man's land
And crossed that river called the Rio Grande
I raced my hoss with a Spaniard's foal
'Til I got me a skin full of silver and gold

Me and the gambler we couldn't agree
We got in a fight over Tennessee
We jerked our guns and he fell with a thud
And I got away on the Tennessee Stud

Chorus

Well I got just as lonesome as a man could be
A-dreamin of my girl in Tennessee
The Tennessee Stud's green eyes turned blue
'Cause he was dreamin bout his sweetheart too

We loped right back across Arkansas
I whooped her brother and I whooped her Paw
When I found that girl with the golden hair
She was a-ridin that Tennessee Mare
Ad lib Whoa Boy

Chorus

Stirrup to stirrup and side by side
We crossed them mountains and the valleys wide
We came to big muddy and then we forded a flood
On the Tennesee Mare and the Tennessee Stud

There's a prety little girl on the cabin floor
And a little horse colt layin on the floor
I love that girl with the golden hair
And the Tennesee stud loves the Tennessee Mare

Ad lib They're good horses

Chorus

[Bill Perkins]

Peter I agree "Sing me back home " is a good one ( in its maudlin country way ) . Down here The Home Depoe Has ripped off the tune for its ads .Maybe Merle's getting paid ?

[Katherine]

If you're into the real tear jerkers try Red Sovine. If it's Humor you want try some old Jerry Reed.

[Jim Mathieson]

Hey, thanks for the Merle memories!
Last I heard of Merle was on my old LP'S ,I'll have to get updated with a CD soon.Thanks again!