It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)

Last updated
It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
Its Not Love But Its Not Bad.jpg
Studio album by
Merle Haggard and The Strangers
ReleasedDecember 1972
RecordedMarch 1970 – September 1972
Studio
Genre Country
Label Capitol ST-11127
Producer Ken Nelson, Fuzzy Owen
Merle Haggard and The Strangers chronology
Let Me Tell You About a Song
(1972)		It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
(1972)		 I Love Dixie Blues
(1973)
Singles from It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
  1. "It's Not Love (But it's Not Bad)"
    Released: August 28, 1972

It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) is the fifteenth studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1972. It reached number one on the Billboard country albums chart. The lead off single was "It's Not Love (But it's Not Bad)" which also reached No. 1 on the charts. [1]

Contents

Haggard's second studio album of 1972 contains several songs that display an ambivalence towards relationships, such as "Somewhere To Come When It Rains," "My Woman Keeps on Loving Her Man," the adulterous "I Wonder Where I'll Find You at Tonight," and the cynical title track. The LP also contains the Haggard original "I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving," which Conway Twitty took to number 4 in 1971.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Christgau's Record Guide B [3]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls the album a "frustrating listen," and a "fitfully entertaining album, equally divided between the excellent and the mediocre. A few of the throwaways are entertaining, particularly the rolling 'New York City Blues,' but songs like 'Dad's Old Fiddle' and 'My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man' fail to make an impression." [2] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote "This mainstream country album—his first since Hag—does more justice to its title than many of his more pretentious efforts. Nothing special, just marriage and its travails, but play it twice and you'll remember most of it." [3]

Track listing

All songs by Merle Haggard unless otherwise noted:

  1. "It's Not Love (But it's Not Bad)" (Hank Cochran, Glenn Martin)
  2. "Goodbye Comes Hard for Me" (Tommy Collins)
  3. "My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man"
  4. "New York City Blues"
  5. "I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving"
  6. "The Conversion of Ronnie Jones" (Collins)
  7. "A Shoulder to Cry On"
  8. "I'd Never Told on You" (Cochran)
  9. "Dad's Old Fiddle" (Martin)
  10. "Somewhere to Come When It Rains" (Red Lane)
  11. "I Wonder Where I'll Find You at Tonight"

Personnel

The Strangers:

with

and

Chart positions

YearChartPosition
1973Billboard Country albums1

Related Research Articles

<i>A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills)</i> 1970 studio album by Merle Haggard

A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World is the eleventh studio album by Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1970.

<i>Kickin Out the Footlights...Again</i> 2006 studio album by George Jones and Merle Haggard

Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again is a studio album by American country music artists George Jones and Merle Haggard, released in 2006.

<i>Last of the Breed</i> (album) 2007 studio album by Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price

Last of the Breed is a two-disc album by American country music artists Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and Ray Price, released in 2007. It debuted at number 64 on the U.S. Billboard 200, selling about 13,000 copies in its first week. The album has 100,000 copies in the U.S. as of May 2015. The album was ranked number 33 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.

<i>Going Where the Lonely Go</i> 1982 studio album by Merle Haggard

Going Where the Lonely Go is the thirty-fifth studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard backed by The Strangers, released in 1982.

<i>Hag</i> (album) 1971 studio album by Merle Haggard and 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.

<i>Back to the Barrooms</i> 1980 studio album by Merle Haggard

Back to the Barrooms is the thirty-first studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard, released in October 1980. He is backed by Norm Hamlet and Don Markham of The Strangers.

<i>The Fightin Side of Me</i> (album) 1970 live album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers

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".

<i>Someday Well Look Back</i> 1971 studio album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers

Someday We'll Look Back is the thirteenth studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1971. It reached number 4 on the Billboard country albums chart.

<i>Let Me Tell You About a Song</i> 1972 studio album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers

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.

<i>I Love Dixie Blues</i> 1973 live album by Merle Haggard and The Strangers

I Love Dixie Blues is a live album by American country singer Merle Haggard and The Strangers, released in 1973.

<i>Thats the Way Love Goes</i> (Merle Haggard album) 1983 studio album by Merle Haggard

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.

<i>Songs Ill Always Sing</i> 1977 compilation album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers

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.

<i>Heart to Heart</i> (Merle Haggard and Leona Williams album) 1983 studio album by Merle Haggard and Leona Williams

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.

<i>Kern River</i> (album) 1985 studio album by Merle Haggard

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.

<i>A Friend in California</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Merle Haggard

A Friend in California is the forty-first studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1986.

<i>Chill Factor</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Merle Haggard

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.

<i>Seashores of Old Mexico</i> 1987 studio album by Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson

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.

<i>5:01 Blues</i> (album) 1989 studio album by Merle Haggard

5:01 Blues is the forty-sixth studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard, with backing by The Strangers. It was released in 1989 and was his last studio album on the Epic label. It peaked at number 28 on the Billboard country albums chart. It was co-produced by Mark Yeary, keyboardist of The Strangers.

<i>Blue Jungle</i> 1990 studio album by Merle Haggard

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 consecutive years awarded the ACM Band of the Year, The Strangers.

<i>Unforgettable</i> (Merle Haggard album) 2004 studio album by Merle Haggard

Unforgettable is the fifty-seventh studio album by American country singer and songwriter Merle Haggard, released in 2004.

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944–2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 147.
  2. 1 2 Cooper, Dan. "It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) > Review". AllMusic . Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: H". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved February 24, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.