"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.
"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.
"Hungry Eyes" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in February 1969 as the first single from the album A Portrait of Merle Haggard. The song was one of the most famous of his career.
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.
Keep Movin' On is the eighteenth studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers released in 1975. It reached number one on the Billboard country albums chart. "Movin' On" was a full-length version of a song Haggard recorded as the theme song to the TV series Movin' On.
"Branded Man" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in July 1967 as the second single and title track from the album Branded Man. The song was Haggard and The Strangers second number one on the country charts. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent 15 weeks on the chart.
"Sing Me Back Home" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in November 1967 as the first single and title track from the album Sing Me Back Home. The song was Merle Haggard and The Strangers third number one. The single spent two weeks at number one and a total of 17 weeks on the country chart. In 2019, Rolling Stone ranked "Sing Me Back Home" No. 32 on its list of the 40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time.
"It's Not Love " is a song written by Hank Cochran and Glenn Martin, and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in August 1972 as the first single and title track from the album It's Not Love . The song was Haggard and The Strangers thirteenth number one on the country chart. The single hit number one for one week and spent a total of twelve weeks on the country chart.
"Carolyn" is a song written by Tommy Collins, and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in November 1971 as the second single from the album Someday We'll Look Back. The song was Haggard and The Strangers eleventh number one on the U.S. country singles chart. The single stayed at number one for three weeks and spent a total of fifteen weeks on the chart.
"Grandma Harp" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in March 1972 as the second single from the album Let Me Tell You About a Song. The song was Merle Haggard and The Strangers 12th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in May 1972, staying atop the chart for two weeks, and spending a total 14 weeks in the top 40.
"Everybody's Had the Blues" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in June 1973 as the third single from the album I Love Dixie Blues.
"It's All in the Movies' is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in September 1975 as the first single and title track from the album It's All in the Movies. The song was Merle Haggard and The Strangers twenty-second number one single on the country chart. The single stayed at number one for a single week and spent a total of thirteen weeks on the country chart.
"Going Where the Lonely Go" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. It was released in October 1982 as the first single and title track from the album Going Where the Lonely Go. The song was his twenty-eighth number one country single. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of thirteen weeks on the country chart.
"Someday When Things Are Good' is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released in March 1984 as the third single from his album That's the Way Love Goes. The song was Haggard's thirty-first number one country single as a solo artist. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of thirteen weeks on the country chart. Haggard wrote the song with then-wife Leona Williams.
"Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. It was released in July 1984 as the first single from the album It's All in the Game. The song was Haggard's thirty-second number one country single as a solo artist. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of twelve weeks on the country chart. Haggard wrote the song with Freddy Powers and Sherill Rodgers.
"A Place to Fall Apart" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard as a duet with Janie Fricke and backed by The Strangers. It was released in October 1984 as the second single from the album It's All in the Game. The song was the first single where both Haggard and Fricke worked together. The single went to number one for one week and spent a total of fourteen weeks on the country chart. Haggard wrote the song with Willie Nelson and Freddy Powers.
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, Skeeter Davis, The Haden Triplets, Social Distortion and Volbeat. The song is occasionally called "Makin' Believe".
"I Threw Away the Rose" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in February 1967 as the first single from the album Branded Man. The song peaked at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles. In 1994 Lorrie Morgan recorded a version of the song which replaced the "I" in the lyrics with "you", changing it from a self-referential song to a song about someone else, for the Merle Haggard tribute album Mama's Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard.
"Running Kind" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in January 1978 as the second and final single from the album, A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today. The song peaked at number 12 on the U.S. country singles chart and at number 10 on the Canadian country singles chart. The song was later covered by Radney Foster for the Haggard tribute album Mama's Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard. Foster's version was released as a single in 1994 and peaked at number 64 on the U.S. country singles chart. Johnny Cash also covered the song with Tom Petty on the Unearthed box set.
