The Bluegrass Sessions | McCoury Music | Working Man’s Journey | Cracker Barrel
By JEFF TAMARKIN | August 28, 2007
 |
Merle Haggard has always been a keen observer of American thought and spirit. On two new releases (he’s also one-third of a recent collaboration with Willie Nelson and Ray Price, Last of the Breed), his observations, insight, and wit are as sharp as ever, and his weathered voice still beams strength and integrity. “I miss America,” Hag states in “What Happened?”, a standout on The Bluegrass Sessions. “Everything Wal-Mart all the time, no more mom-and-pop five-and-dime.” The title is a bit of a misnomer — the instrumentation isn’t classic bluegrass, and the album is mostly solo-sung — but The Bluegrass Sessions is acoustic, and its simply structured songs, vivid portraits of folks who pray and work and reminisce, are all classic Hag. The equally good Working Man’s Journey is more traditional Haggard. Half new material and half remakes, it balances disillusionment and optimism, lamenting war and unemployment, yearning for a time “when a president goes through the White House door and does what he says he’ll do,” and wondering, “Does anyone need a good songman?” Anyone who does will know who to call.
Merle Haggard + Willie Nelson + Ray Price | Bank of American Pavilion, Northern Avenue, Boston | September 4 | 617.931.2000
Related:
Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price, Going on sale, March 17, 2006, Dirt merchants, More 
- Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price
With a collective age of 225, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Ray Price live up to this concert DVD’s title, which it shares with an equally superb studio album released last year.
- Going on sale, March 17, 2006
Buckcherry, Click Five, Willie Nelson, Cex, and more
- Dirt merchants
In the hegemony of mid-’80s mega-rock-star benefits, Farm Aid stands as the American blue-collar uncle to Live Aid’s international whiz kid.
- Going on Sale: June 9, 2006
Reggae Sunsplash, Family Values, The Chili Peppers, Black Heart Procession, and Willie Nelson shares the stage with John Fogerty
- Roots of spring
Homegrown recordings from Boston and beyond
- Toby Keith
Let’s click off the arguments against country superstar Toby Keith.
- 30 songs to spill beer on your iPod to
No song captures the quiet desperation of a hard-drinking, hardscrabble nowhere town better than this one.
- Master at work
The best guitarists can always be recognized by their sound, even if they spend their careers swapping amps, effects, or instruments.
- An old poet
Sometime after the lights went out, Willie Nelson walked on stage.
- Boston hits Detroit
There’s a dirty little secret about the J. Geils Band — one that diehard Boston fans don’t always appreciate hearing.
- The Great Debaters
The deck is stacked in favor of our earnest heroes, since Robert Eisele’s formulaic script never once allows our debaters to argue a contrarian’s viewpoint.
- Less
Topics:
CD Reviews
, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, More
, Celebrity News, Entertainment, Music Stars, Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Willie Nelson, Less
