| It's All in the Game | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1984 | |||
| Recorded | October 1983/Early 1984 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 29:53 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Merle Haggard, Ray Baker | |||
| Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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It's All in the Game is the thirty-ninth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by the Strangers, released in 1984 by Epic Records. The album peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. [1]
Haggard's only album from 1984 is dominated with songs co-written with Freddy Powers. The country singer's career was booming during this period like it hadn't since the early seventies, and It's All in the Game continued this roll, producing three #1 hits. The first of these, "Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room," recalls the shuffling rhythm of his 1981 hit "Big City" and finds the narrator attempting to playfully reignite the passion of his marriage. The other two chart toppers, "A Place to Fall Apart" (co-written with Willie Nelson and featuring Janie Fricke on background vocals) and the love song "Natural High," have a softer vocal approach more indicative of the album's overall sound. "Little Hotel Room" and "I Never Go Home Anymore" contain Haggard's oft-used themes of loss, loneliness and estrangement. The LP also includes his take on the recent Willie Nelson/Julio Iglesias smash "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" and "You Nearly Lose Your Mind," his tribute to Ernest Tubb, who died in September 1984.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
AllMusic: "In another artist's hands, It's All In the Game might have been a mere crying-in-the-beer soundtrack. In Haggard's, it's deeply personal and emotionally compelling music." [2]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room" | Merle Haggard, Freddy Powers, Sheril Rodgers | 2:48 |
| 2. | "A Place to Fall Apart" (duet with Janie Fricke) | Haggard, Willie Nelson, Powers | 3:36 |
| 3. | "It's All in the Game" | Charles Dawes, Carl Sigman | 3:45 |
| 4. | "Little Hotel Room" | Powers | 3:15 |
| 5. | "I Never Go Home Anymore" | Haggard | 2:33 |
| 6. | "All I Want to Do Is Sing My Song" | Haggard, Powers | 3:15 |
| 7. | "Natural High" | Powers | 3:05 |
| 8. | "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" | Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe | 2:29 |
| 9. | "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" | Hal David, Albert Hammond | 2:54 |
| 10. | "You Nearly Lose Your Mind" | Ernest Tubb | 2:21 |
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Pancho & Lefty by Townes Van Zandt (1972) became well-known through a honky tonk album by outlaw country musicians Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson, released in 1983. Original vinyl copies from 1983 give the album's title as "Poncho & Lefty" on the cover, as well as on the inner sleeve and the record label; the album's title track is similarly rendered "Poncho & Lefty" on the cover, inner sleeve, and label. Later editions correct the title to the intended "Pancho & Lefty.” They are backed by Don Markham of The Strangers.
Hag is the twelfth studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers released on Capitol Records in 1971. It became his fifth album to top the Billboard country album charts. It also reached number 66 on the pop albums chart.
Keep Movin' On is the eighteenth studio album by American country music 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.
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.
"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 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.
"Natural High" is a song written by Freddy Powers, and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. It was released in March 1985 as the third single from the album It's All in the Game. The song was Haggard's thirty-third number one single on the country chart as a solo artist. The single featuring harmony vocals by Janie Fricke went to number one for one week and spent a total of twelve weeks on the country chart.
The Strangers were an American country band that formed in 1966 in Bakersfield, California. They mainly served as the backup band for singer-songwriter Merle Haggard, who named them after his first hit single "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers". In addition to serving as his backing band, members of the Strangers also produced many of Haggard's records, sang lead vocals on select tracks, and co-wrote many of Haggard's songs with him, including the No. 1 singles, "Okie From Muskogee" and "I Always Get Lucky with You".
"A Friend in California" is a song written by Freddy Powers, and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers. It was released in May 1986 as the second single and title track from the album A Friend in California. The song reached number 9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
I Am What I Am is the sixty-second studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released on April 20, 2010 by Vanguard Records. The album peaked at number 18 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
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.
The Epic Collection (Recorded Live) is a live album by Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers released on Epic Records in November 1983.
Kern River is the fortieth studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1985. It reached number 8 on the Billboard country albums chart.
A Friend in California is the forty-first studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1986.
Amber Waves of Grain is a live album by American country music artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1985. It was Haggard's third live album in four years and was recorded at the Hollywood Star Theater. It features a mix of Haggard's big hits and other, more obscure tracks. The title cut, written by Freddy Powers, is a paean to the American farmer, in keeping with the spirit of the Willie Nelson-spearheaded Farm Aid benefit, as does "Tulare Dust" and "The Farmer's Daughter." The LP peaked at number 25 on the Billboard country albums chart.
Chill Factor is the forty-fourth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard, with backing by the Strangers, released on the Epic label in 1987.
Seashores of Old Mexico is a studio album by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. It is a sequel to their enormously successful 1983 duet album Pancho and Lefty and was released in 1987. They are backed by The Strangers. The only charting single was a cover of a 1979 Blaze Foley song, "If I Could Only Fly", which peaked at number 58 on the 1987 Billboard Hot Country Songs singles chart.
Blue Jungle is the forty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard, with backing by his band, The Strangers, released in 1990. The album peaked at number 47 on the Billboard country albums chart. It was co-produced by Mark Yeary, the honky tonk piano player of Merle Haggard's band, 13 years in a row awarded the ACM Band of the Year, The Strangers.
Django and Jimmie is the sixth and final collaborative studio album by American country music artists Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. It was released on June 2, 2015, by Legacy Recordings. The album was Haggard's final studio album prior to his death of pneumonia in April 2016, 10 months after its release.
