"Big City" | ||||
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Single by Merle Haggard | ||||
from the album Big City | ||||
B-side | "I Think I'm Gonna Live Forever" | |||
Released | January 11, 1982 | |||
Recorded | July 1981 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 2:59 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Songwriter(s) | Merle Haggard and Dean Holloway | |||
Producer(s) | Merle Haggard | |||
Merle Haggard singles chronology | ||||
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"Big City" is a song recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. Co-written by Haggard and Dean Holloway, the song was released in January 1982 as the second single and title track from his album Big City . In April, the song was his 27th number-one single on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. [1]
The song was inspired by a remark by Dean Holloway, Haggard's lifelong friend and tour bus driver. At the end of a packed two-day recording session at Britannia Studios in Los Angeles, Haggard went to the bus to check on Holloway, who had been minding the bus, and asked him how he was doing. Holloway responded, "I hate this place. I'm tired of this dirty old city." Haggard immediately saw inspiration, and began writing the song, based on Holloway's remark, on a nearby pad of paper. "I'm tired of this dirty old city" became the song's first line. Haggard decided that the chorus should include the narrator talking about moving elsewhere, and asked Holloway where he would rather be, to which Holloway responded, "If it were up to me, it'd be somewhere in the middle of damn Montana." "Somewhere in the middle of Montana" became part of the chorus. Haggard rushed back into the studio, where the band was packing up, and told them to unpack their instruments in order to record one last song; the band recorded the song in one take, with no rehearsal. [2]
Haggard credited Holloway as a co-writer, entitling him to half the royalties for the song, which amounted to around half a million dollars for Holloway. [2]
Haggard's 1981 album Big City was described by Allmusic critic, Thom Jurek, as "a collection of songs focused on the themes of freedom from urban life." The album's title track was the centerpiece of the album's recurring theme. The song, wrote Jurek, "revisits the seemingly eternal themes in Haggard's best work — the plight of the honest, decent working man amid the squalor, complication, and contradiction of urban life."
"Big City" is playing in the background at a bar during the opening scene to the 1996 film Fargo .
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"If We Make It Through December" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard and the Strangers. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from the album Merle Haggard's Christmas Present, and was the title track on a non-Christmas album four months later. In the years since its release, "If We Make It Through December" — which, in addition to its Christmas motif, also uses themes of unemployment and loneliness — has become one of the trademark songs of Haggard's career.
Waylon is an album by American country music artist Waylon Jennings, released in 1970 on RCA Victor.
Somewhere Between is the debut studio album by the American country music singer-songwriter Suzy Bogguss, released on March 21, 1989 through Capitol Records. Preceded by the singles "I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" and "Somewhere Between", the album reached number 41 on the Billboard Top Country Albums during its 37-week chart stay. The album's third single "Cross My Broken Heart" peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs. Following the album's success, Bogguss was named the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist.
"Movin' On" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in May 1975 as the third single and partial title track from the album Keep Movin' On. Originally, it was the theme song to the 1974-1976 NBC-TV series of the same name and references the lead characters of the series, Sonny Pruitt and Will Chandler, by name. A full-length version of the song was released as a single in 1975, and it topped the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart that July.
"Okie from Muskogee" is a song recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers, which Haggard co-wrote with drummer Roy Edward Burris. "Okie" is a slang name for someone from Oklahoma, and Muskogee is the 11th largest city in the state. The song was released in September 1969 as first single and title track from the album Okie from Muskogee, and was one of the most famous songs of Haggard's career.
The discography for American country music singer Merle Haggard includes 66 studio albums, five instrumental albums featuring his backing band the Strangers, as well as several live and compilation albums. Haggard recorded for a variety of major and independent record labels through the years, with significant years spent with Capitol Records, MCA Records, Epic Records and Curb Records, as well as his own label Hag Records.
Big City is the 33rd studio album by Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1981. It was his debut on the Epic label after ending his association with MCA. Big City peaked at number three on the Billboard Country Album charts and number 161 on the Pop Album charts. It was an RIAA-certified Gold album.
Going Where the Lonely Go is the 35th studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1982.
Pride in What I Am is the eighth studio album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers released in 1969 on Capitol Records.
"Always Wanting You" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in February 1975 as the second single from the album Keep Movin' On. The song was Haggard and The Strangers twentieth number-one single on the U.S. country chart. It stayed at number one for two weeks and spent a total of ten weeks on the chart.
That's the Way Love Goes is the 38th studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1983.
"I Always Get Lucky With You" is a song written by Merle Haggard, Freddy Powers, Gary Church, and Tex Whitson. It was first recorded by Haggard on his 1981 album Big City and then covered by American country music artist George Jones in April 1983 as the second single from the album Shine On. The song was Jones' ninth and final number one on the country chart as a solo artist. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent thirteen weeks on the country chart.
"My Favorite Memory" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard, his twenty-fifth number one single. It was released in September 1981 as the first single from the album Big City. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of ten weeks on the country chart.
"Yesterday's Wine" is the title track of the 1971 album of the same name by Willie Nelson. The track was also written by Willie Nelson. It later became a #1 duet for George Jones and Merle Haggard in 1982.
16 Biggest Hits is a 1998 Merle Haggard compilation album. It is part of a series of similar 16 Biggest Hits albums released by Legacy Recordings.
"Making Believe" is a country music song written by Jimmy Work. Kitty Wells recorded a chart-topping version in 1955. The song is on many lists of all-time greatest country music songs and has been covered by scores of artists over the past fifty years, including Thorleifs, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Don Gibson, Roy Acuff, Lefty Frizzell, Wanda Jackson, Connie Francis, Ray Charles, Anita Carter, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Merle Haggard, Ernest Tubb, Social Distortion, Skeeter Davis, The Haden Triplets, Social Distortion and Volbeat. The song is occasionally called "Makin' Believe".
"Are the Good Times Really Over " is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. It was released in May 1982 as the third single from his album Big City. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and #1 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada.
"I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am" is a song written and performed by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in October 1968 as the only single from his album Pride in What I Am. The song peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles chart. It reached number-one on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks in January 1969. The song was covered by Dean Martin and released as a single in mid-1969. A tape recorder version of this song was played at the funeral of late Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist, Ronnie Van Zant.
"Misery and Gin" is a song written by Snuff Garrett and John Durrill, and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was written specifically for inclusion in the 1980 movie, Bronco Billy, and released as a single in June 1980. It was co-released both on the Bronco Billy soundtrack album and Haggard's studio album, Back to the Barrooms. "Misery and Gin" reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart and peaked at number 4 on the Canadian RPM Country Tracks.
"Coming Home" is a song recorded by New Zealand-born Australian country music artist Keith Urban featuring American singer Julia Michaels, released in March 2018 as the second single from Urban's 2018 album Graffiti U. The artists co-wrote the song with Nicolle Galyon and J.R. Rotem, with Merle Haggard receiving songwriting credits for the sampling of his 1968 single "Mama Tried". Urban and Rotem are also the producers.