| Strangers | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 27, 1965 | |||
| Recorded | 1963-1965 | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 27:50 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Ken Nelson, Fuzzy Owen | |||
| Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Strangers | ||||
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Strangers is the debut studio album by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released on September 27, 1965, by Capitol Records.
Haggard had already recorded several sides for Tally, a record label formed by cousins Lewis Talley and Fuzzy Owen, when he was approached by producer Ken Nelson to jump to Capitol. Initially Haggard refused, opting to remain loyal to Owen and Talley, but Tally Records did not have the resources to break Haggard, who was creating quite a buzz in California. In Daniel Cooper's essay for the 1994 retrospective Down Every Road, Nelson remembers, "So I called Fuzzy, and I said, 'Hey, come on, get down here and let's settle this thing. Because you're not gonna sell records. You don't have the facilities, you don't have the promotion department, you don't have anything.' So he came down, and we signed Merle, and I bought all of his masters. And that's how Merle came on the label." The deal meant Capitol obtained nearly two albums worth of material, including the recordings Haggard had made with Bonnie Owens. Fuzzy Owen became Haggard's manager and co-producer with Nelson at Capitol. [1] The name of the album inspired his backup band's name The Strangers.
Haggard had recorded "Sing a Sad Song" for Tally, first hearing the Wynn Stewart composition when he played bass for Stewart in 1962. The song made it to number 19 on the Billboard country singles chart in 1963, but Haggard's first Top 10 hit was the Liz Anderson-penned "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers." In his 1981 autobiography Merle Haggard: Sing Me Back Home, Haggard recalls having been talked into visiting Anderson—a woman he didn't know—at her house to hear her sing some songs she had written. "If there was anything I didn't wanna do, it was sit around some danged woman's house and listen to her cute little songs. But I went anyway. She was a pleasant enough lady, pretty, with a nice smile, but I was all set to be bored to death, even more so when she got out a whole bunch of songs and went over to an old pump organ...There they were. My God, one hit right after another. There must have been four or five number one songs there..." [2] Anderson also wrote "The Worst is Yet to Come" and would be responsible for Haggard's future hit "I'm a Lonesome Fugitive." Haggard wrote or co-wrote half the songs on the LP, as he had been developing his own skills as a songwriter under Owen's tutelage at the time. At Haggard's first Capitol recording session in April 1965, he cut "If I Had Left It Up to You" and "I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can." The Strangers album is composed of new Capitol recordings, his early singles, and a couple of Tally leftovers. "Sam Hill," for example, had peaked at number forty-five after its June 1964 release. The song, written by friend and mentor Tommy Collins, was not one of Haggard's favorites, with the singer recalling in his 1999 memoir My House of Memories, "I'm glad 'Sam Hill' wasn't a big hit. I didn't much like the song and had it been a giant hit I would have hated to have sung it for the next fifty years." [3] Although Haggard came from the harder-edged Bakersfield Sound, five of the twelve songs are sweetened by strings, one of the hallmarks of the Nashville sound. In addition, a Marty Robbins influence is clearly evident in Haggard's singing on "I'd Trade All of My Tomorrows" and "You Don't Even Try."[ citation needed ]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [4] |
Strangers was a hit album, reaching number 9 on the Billboard country albums chart. In Merle Haggard: The Running Kind, Haggard biographer David Cantwell writes, "Haggard didn't come off as a particularly distinctive artist on Strangers, but his derivativeness was of a high and promising quality." [5]
Critic Steven Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic calls it "an impressive debut," conceding that "there is some filler on Strangers, but that was the case for nearly every country album recorded in the '60s. What counts is the good stuff and the best songs on the record richly illustrate Haggard's talent and his potential." [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "(My Friends Are Gonna Be) Strangers" | Liz Anderson | 2:29 |
| 2. | "Falling for You" | Ralph Mooney | 2:18 |
| 3. | "Please Mr. D.J." | Merle Haggard | 2:26 |
| 4. | "You Don't Have Far to Go" | Haggard, Red Simpson | 2:31 |
| 5. | "Sing a Sad Song" | Wynn Stewart | 2:35 |
| 6. | "Sam Hill" | Tommy Collins | 2:28 |
| 7. | "I'm Gonna Break Every Heart I Can" | Haggard | 2:00 |
| 8. | "You Don't Even Try" | Haggard, Fuzzy Owen | 2:17 |
| 9. | "If I Had Left It Up to You" | Haggard | 2:24 |
| 10. | "I'd Trade All of My Tomorrows (For Just One Yesterday)" | Jenny Carson | 2:31 |
| 11. | "The Worst Is Yet to Come" | Anderson | 2:41 |
| 12. | "Walking the Floor Over You" | Ernest Tubb | 1:45 |
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Billboard Country LPs | 9 |
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).
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.
Bonnie Owens was an American country music singer who was married to Buck Owens and later to Merle Haggard.
Okie from Muskogee is the first live album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers released in October 1969 on Capitol Records.
"Sing a Sad Song" is a song written by Wynn Stewart. It was recorded notably by Merle Haggard in 1963, whose version became his first major hit. It was later recorded by Stewart himself. In 1976, Stewart's own version became a major hit as well.
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'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.
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 the twenty-second 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.
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.
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.
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.
