William Haggard

Merle Haggard - Hag: The Capitol Recordings 1968-1976 - Concepts, Live & The Strangers (2008) {6CD Set Bear Family Records}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 2.78 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.00 Gb | Artwork | 5% repair rar
© 1968-76, 2008 Capitol / EMI / Bear Family Records | BCD 16782 FK
Country / Bakersfield Sound / Honky Tonk / Folk Rock / Progressive Country / Traditional Country / Western Swing Revival

Twelve years after they released their first Merle Haggard box, The Untamed Hawk, Bear Family delivered the sequel, Hag: The Studio Recordings 1969-1976. This picks up where The Untamed Hawk left off, which is more of a musical dividing point than it initially seems. If The Untamed Hawk caught Haggard as he was reaching full flight, Hag captures him in his prime, as every single he released reached the Country Top Ten – often capturing the number one slot – and as he sometimes crossed over into the pop Top 40. Hag was without a doubt the biggest star in country music but the remarkable thing about his reign at the top was that he never played it safe.

William Bell is probably the most woefully underappreciated artist in the Stax Records stable. Primarily a ballad singer, Bell avoided the charismatic stage histrionics of singers like Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett in favor of a more subtle and melodic approach. He was also a gifted songwriter, penning in conjunction with his writing partner Booker T. Jones (of MGs fame) a handful of country-soul classics, including "You Don't Miss Your Water," a hit for Bell in 1961, and "Born Under a Bad Sign," which became the theme song for blues giant Albert King after his version was released in 1967. Bell wasn't afraid to mix pure country elements into the deep soul stew, as "You Don't Miss Your Water" shows, and his 1967 hit "Everybody Loves a Winner" is as much Merle Haggard as it is Otis Redding. "Eloise (Hang on in There)," another Bell/Jones collaboration, sounds like a great, lost Four Tops song, and is one of the many highlights on this revealing anthology, which works not only as an introduction to this underrated artist, but also as a solid survey of his top moments.