| Branded Man | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 28, 1967 | |||
| Recorded | August 1966–1967 | |||
| Studio | Capitol (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 32:29 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Ken Nelson | |||
| Merle Haggard and The Strangers chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Branded Man | ||||
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Branded Man is the fourth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released on Capitol Records in 1967.
After a troubled youth that saw him in and out of youth reformatories, Haggard was finally sent to Bakersfield jail for a bungled robbery and, after an escape attempt, transferred to San Quentin prison on February 21, 1958. He was released in 1960. By 1967, he was on the cusp of country stardom when he hit number one on the country singles chart with the Liz Anderson composition "I'm A Lonesome Fugitive." Understandably, Haggard was concerned about the effect his time in prison might have on his career but, as Daniel Cooper writes in the liner notes to the 1994 box set Down Every Road, it had little effect at all: "It's unclear when or where Merle first acknowledged to the public that his prison songs were rooted in personal history, for to his credit, he doesn't seem to have made some big splash announcement. [1] In a May 1967 profile in Music City News, his prison record is never mentioned. But in July 1968, in the very same publication, it's spoken of as if it were common knowledge."[ citation needed ] Haggard would be legally pardoned for his past crimes by California's Governor Ronald Reagan in 1971. [2]
The single "Branded Man" hit number one on the US country music charts in 1967, the first of four straight number ones Haggard would score in the next two years. The song is a little reminiscent of an old Roy Acuff song called "Branded Wherever I Go," which producer Ken Nelson had recorded with the Louvin Brothers in 1962. Branded Man kicked off an incredible artistic run for Haggard; in 2013 Haggard biographer David Cantwell states, "The immediate successors to I'm a Lonesome Fugitive - Branded Man in 1967 and, in '68, Sing Me Back Home and The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde - were among the finest albums of their respective years." [3] Haggard wrote or co-wrote seven of the album's twelve tracks, which feature many of the same session players who appeared on his previous two albums, including guitarists James Burton and Glen Campbell, and steel guitarist Ralph Mooney. Also contributing were The Strangers guitarist Roy Nichols and Bonnie Owens. Owens co-wrote two of the album selections with Haggard, while Bakersfield pioneer and Haggard mentor Tommy Collins had a hand in writing four songs.
Ken Nelson took a hands-off approach to producing Haggard. In the episode of American Masters dedicated to him, Haggard remembers: "The producer I had at that time, Ken Nelson, was an exception to the rule. He called me 'Mr. Haggard' and I was a little twenty-four, twenty-five year old punk from Oildale...He gave me complete responsibility. I think if he'd jumped in and said, 'Oh, you can't do that,' it would've destroyed me."[ citation needed ] In the same documentary, Dave Alvin marvels, "There's a purity to those records. A couple of acoustic guitars, a couple of electric guitars, and Merle's voice. And bass and drums. Those are just pure, those are timeless."[ citation needed ] In the documentary Beyond Nashville, Nelson recalls, "When I first started recording Merle, I became so enamored with his singing that I would forget what else was going on, and I suddenly realized, 'Wait a minute, there's musicians here you've got to worry about!' But his songs - he was a great writer."[ citation needed ]
The follow-up to "Branded Man" was the Haggard-penned "I Threw Away the Rose," which rose to number 2, and it was this song that brought Haggard to the attention of George Jones. In his 1981 autobiography Merle Haggard: Sing Me Back Home, Haggard recalls playing somewhere in Texas when someone handed him a phone saying Jones was on the line. Jones slurred his appreciation for the song and said he was coming to see him immediately. "It wasn't hard to see that ol' George was pretty wasted," Haggard wrote. "I hung up the phone and some of the others in the room said they wouldn't be surprised if he showed up. I told them I didn't think so, 'cause hell, he was supposed to be doing concerts all week." The next day Jones arrived, kicking the door in and eventually folding up the roll-away bed that Haggard's sleeping manager Fuzzy Owen was on and wheeling it out of the room. Jones would record "I Threw Away the Rose" himself, as well as several other Haggard compositions over the course of his career, and the pair would record two duet albums together. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.4/10 [6] |
Branded Man topped the Billboard country albums chart.[ citation needed ] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote "Like Swinging Doors before it, Branded Man... is merely a collection of songs pieced together to cash in on a couple of hit singles. Nevertheless, the intent of an album such as this doesn't really matter when the songs are this fine." [5] In 2003, the album was ranked number 484 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums. [7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Branded Man" | Merle Haggard | 3:07 |
| 2. | "Loneliness Is Eating Me Alive" | Hank Cochran | 2:35 |
| 3. | "Don't Get Married" | Tommy Collins | 2:30 |
| 4. | "Somewhere Between" | Bonnie Owens, Haggard | 3:06 |
| 5. | "You Don't Have Very Far to Go" | Haggard, Red Simpson | 2:19 |
| 6. | "Gone Crazy" | Bonnie Owens, Haggard | 2:03 |
| 7. | "I Threw Away the Rose" | Haggard | 3:21 |
| 8. | "My Hands Are Tied" | Collins, Haggard, Kay Adams | 2:18 |
| 9. | "Some of Us Never Learn" | Haggard | 2:41 |
| 10. | "Long Black Limousine" | Vern Stovall, Bobby George | 3:14 |
| 11. | "Go Home" | Collins | 2:35 |
| 12. | "I Made the Prison Band" | Collins | 2:29 |
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Merle Ronald Haggard was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Same Train, A Different Time is the ninth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1969, featuring covers of songs by legendary country music songwriter Jimmie Rodgers. It was originally released as a 2 LP set on Capitol (SWBB-223).
Okie from Muskogee is the first live album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers released in October 1969 on Capitol Records.
I'm a Lonesome Fugitive is the third studio album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers released on Capitol Records in 1967.
The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde is the sixth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers released on Capitol Records in 1968. It rose to number 6 on the Billboard country albums chart.
Mama Tried is the seventh studio album by American country music singer and songwriter Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released on Capitol Records in 1968. It reached number 4 on Billboard's country albums chart. The title song was one of Haggard's biggest hit singles and won the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
Sing Me Back Home is the fifth studio album by American country singer and songwriter Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1968 on Capitol Records.
Swinging Doors and the Bottle Let Me Down is the second studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1966 on Capitol Records. It is sometimes called Swinging Doors and has also been released with two fewer songs as High on a Hilltop.
A Portrait of Merle Haggard is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released September 2, 1969.
The Fightin' Side of Me is the second live album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1970. Like the song "Okie from Muskogee" led to a quickly released album, The Fightin' Side of Me was also quickly released because of the run of success of Haggard's patriotic hit single "The Fightin' Side of Me".
Let Me Tell You About a Song is the fourteenth studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1972. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard Country album chart and #166 on the Pop album chart. The lead-off singles were "Grandma Harp" and "Daddy Frank " — both reached No. 1.
Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album is the seventeenth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1974. Contrary to the album's title, this was his 17th studio album; however, the number 30 included his six collaborative albums, three live albums, one 'live' gospel album, one Christmas album, and two greatest hits compilations up to that point.
Ramblin' Fever is a studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard, released in 1977. It was his first on the MCA label after recording for Capitol Records since 1965. It was also his first album without crediting the Strangers. It reached Number 5 on the Country album chart. Ramblin' Fever was reissued on CD in 2002.
That's the Way Love Goes is the thirty-eighth studio album by the American country music singer Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1983.
Ralph Eugene Mooney was an American steel guitar player and songwriter, he was inducted into the Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in 1983. He was the original steel guitarist in Merle Haggard's band, The Strangers and Waylon Jennings's band, The Waylors.
Songs I'll Always Sing is a two-record compilation album by American country music singer and songwriter Merle Haggard, released in 1977. It reached No. 15 on the US Country Charts. The album collects many of Haggard's best known recordings during his successful run at Capitol Records, including nine of his twenty-four No. 1 hits, dating back to 1966.
Strangers is the debut studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released on September 27, 1965, by Capitol Records.
Just Between the Two of Us is a duet album by country singers Bonnie Owens and Merle Haggard with the Strangers. It was released in 1966 by Capitol Records.
Rainbow Stew Live at Anaheim Stadium is a live album by American country music artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers. It was recorded in October 1980 and released in July 1981 on MCA Records.
Heart to Heart is a duet album by Merle Haggard and Leona Williams with backing by the Strangers, released in June 1983 on Mercury Records. It reached number 44 on the Billboard Country music chart.
