Merle Haggard – Live From Austin TX (2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Merle Haggard – Live From Austin TX (2017)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 45:38 minutes | 493 MB | Genre: Country
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © New West Records

This 1985 performance of Merle Haggard and his swinging Strangers — with a two-piece horn section that sounds like five — were in fine form at Austin City Limits. There are 15 tunes on Live from Austin, TX many of them barn burners. It opens with “The Okie from Muskogee’s Comin’ Home,” a fine choice since it’s not a novelty song. Haggard sticks to his own material most of the time, and he rambles over it, pulling from classics like “Mama Tried” and “Silver Wings,” to newer material from the MCA and Epic periods — which were creatively fertile times for him. An example is in the lovely “What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest of My Life),” the fourth tune in the set. But there are more, too, in “Place to Fall Apart” and “I Wish Things Were Simple Again.” There are two Tommy Duncan tunes here, where Haggard pays homage to his first real influence, Bob Wills — “Misery,” “Take Me Back to Tulsa,” and one by Wills, as well as “Ida Red.” Thankfully, a great version of Johnny Durrill’s “Misery and Gin” is here from Back to the Barrooms, as is the wonderful closer, Haggard’s own “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink,” to take the thing out on the right note. It’s true most could have lived without his pseudo-orchestral paean to xenophobic political values, “Amber Waves of Grain,” but it wouldn’t be a complete show without an accurate portrayal of the songwriter and the man. Haggard fans will dig this one just fine.

Tracklist:
01. Merle Haggard – Okie from Muskogee’s Comin’ Home (02:45)
02. Merle Haggard – Texas (01:53)
03. Merle Haggard – Thank You for Keeping My House (03:05)
04. Merle Haggard – What Am I Gonna Do (With the Rest of My Life) (04:31)
05. Merle Haggard – Mama Tried (02:56)
06. Merle Haggard – Misery (02:36)
07. Merle Haggard – Take Me Back To Tulsa (02:58)
08. Merle Haggard – I Knew the Moment I Lost You (02:41)
09. Merle Haggard – Silver Wings (02:40)
10. Merle Haggard – Misery and Gin (03:20)
11. Merle Haggard – Ida Red (02:02)
12. Merle Haggard – Place To Fall Apart (03:05)
13. Merle Haggard – I Wish Things Were Simple Again (02:00)
14. Merle Haggard – Amber Waves of Grain (03:09)
15. Merle Haggard – I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink (05:48)

Download: