6-CD box (LP-size) with 140-page hardcover book, 165 tracks. Playing time approx. 467 mns

A true legend of American music captured in his prime!
The follow-up to Bear Family's hugely acclaimed 'Untamed Hawk' set
All the studio recordings between 1969 and 1976, including 15 straight #1 country hits.
Includes Vietnam era classics like Okie From Muskogee and The Fightin' Side Of Me, as well as the more moderate unreleased song Somewhere In Between.
More than 20 other unreleased performances!

Merle Haggard occupies a unique place in American music. The man who gave voice to the Silent Majority went on to become a counter-culture favourite. He has scored hits in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, and still works 200 sold-out road dates a year.

Ever since Bear Family released 'Untamed Hawk' in 1995, we've been asked for a follow-up comprising the rest of his legendary Capitol recordings. This is it?on 6 CDs, and it covers the tumultuous years between 1968 and 1976. The only exclusions are his Jimmie Rodgers tribute (already issued on a single CD by Bear Family) and the live recordings, which will be released in a companion volume.

These were the years when Merle Haggard polarized the USA with songs like Okie From Muskogee and The Fightin' Side Of Me, yet, as this set reveals, his approach to politics was more nuanced than many thought at the time. In an unreleased song (one of many) titled Somewhere In Between he says ''I stand looking at the left wing, and I turn towards the right, and my eyes find both good and bad there on either scene ... '' He adds, I'm not too old to understand the young who disagree. '' The unissued recordings also include his original version of That's The Way Love Goes, which became a big hit for him on Epic Records several years later.

These were Merle Haggard's golden years when he gave voice to the voiceless, and scored an unbroken string of #1 hits. This is American country music? make that American music? at its finest.

Track Listing

• I'd Rather Be Gone
• Montego Bay
• I Die Ten Thousand Times A Day
• California On My Mind
• California Cotton Fields
• White Line Fever
• I Came So Close To Failure
• Workin' Man Blues
• The Sea Shores Of Old Mexico
• Okie From Muskogee
• If I Had Left It Up To You
• Streets Of Berlin
• Huntsville
• Train Of Life
• They're Tearing The Labor Camps Down
• The Fightin' Side Of Me
• I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving
• No Reason To Quit
• Jesus, Take A Hold
• I Ain't Got Nobody
• New York City Blues
• One Row At A Time
• Shelly's Winter Love
• I'll Be A Hereo When I Strike
• If You've Got Time (To Say Goodbye)
• I'm A Good Loser
• I Can't Be Myself
• I've Done It All
• One Sweet Hello

• Worried, Unhappy, Lonesome and Sorry
• Somewhere In Between
• The Sidewalks Of Chicago
• The Farmer's Daughter
• Tulare Dust
• When The Feelin' Goes Away
• Soldier's Last Letter
• The Only Truble With Me
• Making Believe
• Big Time Annie's Square
• You're The Only Girl In The Game
• The Conversation Of Ronnie Jones
• Carolyn
• It's Great To Be Alive
• Someday We'll Look Back
• My Heart Would Know
• Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
• Goodbye Comes Hard For Me
• The Man Who Picked The Wildwood Flower
• You Don't Love Me (But I'll Always Care)
• This Cold War With You
• Irma Jackson
• Recitation: The Proudest Fiddle In The World
• (A Maiden's Prayer)
• Turnin' Off A Memory
• Grandma Harp

• The're Tearin' The Labor Camps Down
• Bill Woods From Bakersfield
• Old Doc Brown
• A Shoulder To Cry On
• The Funeral
• Bring It Down To My House, Honey
• Combine Blues
• Blues Stay Away From Me
• Tired Of Your Understanding Ways
• Hag's Dixie Blues #2
• I Ain't Got Nobody (And Nobody Cares For Me)
• Moanin' The Blues
• Don't Let The Deal Go Down
• Stingeree
• Lovesick Blues
• Blues For Dixie
• I Forget You Every Day
• I Know An Ending When It Comes
• Dad's Old Fiddle
• I'm A White Boy
• I Wonder Where I'll Find You At Tonight
• My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man
• It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
• Somewhere To Come When It Rains

• I Wonder If They Ever Think Of Me
• To Each His Own
• I'm An Old, Old Man (Tryin' To Live While..)
• I'd Never Told On You
• Big Bad Bill (Is Sweet William Now)
• If We Make It Through December
• I'll Break Out Tonight
• Love And HOnor Never Crossed Your Mind
• This Is The Song We Sing
• There's Jut One Way
• The Emptienst Arms In The World
• Come On Into My Arms
• Radiator Man From Waco
• Uncle Lem
• Daddy Won't Be Home Again For Christmas
• Bobby Wants A Puppy For Christmas
• Silent Night
• Winter Wonderland
• White Christmas
• Silver Bells
• Jingle Bells
• Grandma's Homemade Christmas Card
• Santa Claus And Popcorn

• Whit Man Singin' The Blues
• Better Off When I Was Hungry
• Things Aren't Funny Anymore
• That's The Way Love Goes
• Got A Letter From My Kid Today
• Honky Tonk Night Time Man
• A Man's Got To Give Up A Lot
• The Girl Who Made Me Laugh
• No More Trains I Ride
• Holding Things Together
• So Long Train Whistle
• Semptemer In Miami
• A King Without A Queen
• I Don't Bother Me
• Travelin'
• Don't Give Up On Me
• Here In 'Frisco
• Railroad Lady
• Old Man From The Mountain
• Mirrors Don't Lie
• Movin' On
• The Seeker
• Kenucky Gambler
• You'll Always Be Special To Me
• Life's Like Poetry
• I've Got A Darlin' (For A Wife)
• These Mem'ries We're Making Tonight
• The Hobo
• The Coming And The Going Of The Trains
• My Love Affair With Trains
• The Silver Ghost

• Where Have All The Hobos Gone
• I Won't Give Up My Train
• Union Station
• When My Last Song Is Sung
• I've Got Yearning
• Always Wanting You
• Nothin's Worse Than Losing
• Colorado
• The Roots Of My Raising
• Living With The Shades Pulled Down
• After Loving You
• Cotton Patch Blues
• Runnin' Kind
• Walk On The Outside
• Let's Stop Pretending (Dirdy Old Hat Band)
• Right Or Wrong
• It's All In The Movies
• The Way It Was In '51
• Goodbye Lefty
• I Never Go Around Mirrors
• Am I Standing In Your Way'
• A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today
• The Waltz You Saved For Me
• Cherokee Maiden
• What Have You Got Planned Tonight, Diana
• Here Comes The Freedom Train
• Campaign Of '76

Additional Details

Label: Bear Family Records

Genre: Country

Run Time: 467 mins

Release Date: 01/02/07

UPC: 4000127167491