Double Dose of Haggard on Tap for Country Music Fans

It’s not unusual for two greatest-hits albums by a single recording artist to be released simultaneously. But it is rare to have two compact disc albums released by different record companies.

That’s what is happening this month, however, to Merle Haggard, one of the dozen most compelling singer-songwriters ever in country music.

Haggard--whose life has included many of the experiences, from prison sentences through blue-collar frustration, that are highlighted in his songs--is the subject of a fascinating, if typically exhausting profile in the Feb. 12 issue of the New Yorker magazine.

Capitol Records, which was Haggard’s home base from 1965 to 1976, has just released a 20-song, 57-minute CD of Haggard material as part of its noteworthy Collectors Series.

The selections--including 14 of his 38 No. 1 country singles--range from such early honky-tonk exercises as “Swinging Doors” and “The Bottle Let Me Down” through the celebrated social/political commentary of “Okie From Muskogee” and “The Fightin’ Side of Me.”

But there were so many worthy Haggard tracks remaining that Rhino Records next week will release its own 18-song, 54-minute collection titled “More of the Best.”

The CD features 10 additional Capitol recordings--including the essential “Mama Tried” and “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)”--as well as eight singles that Haggard recorded for MCA Records, where he was based from 1977 to 1980. The latter include “Ramblin’ Fever” and “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink.”

Ron Furmanek, who produces and compiles the Capitol Collectors Series, said he already has a second Haggard volume ready--though it includes several of the songs on the Rhino package and will probably not be released for a year.

James Austin, who compiled the Rhino series with Richard Foos, said the company had long been thinking about doing a retrospective CD on Haggard. After learning about Capitol’s Collectors Series plans, Rhino obtained the rights to some of the prized tracks left off Capitol’s CD as well as to the MCA material.

Both albums, complete with illustrated booklets that offer brief histories of Haggard’s career, are highly recommended. The new albums join two other greatest-hits CDs already in stores: one from Epic Records, for whom Haggard has recorded since 1981, and one from MCA Records.

The Epic package, “His Epic Hits/The First 11,” runs 40 minutes and contains two duets with Willie Nelson, “Reasons to Quit” and “Pancho and Lefty,” as well as one of Haggard’s most engaging ballads, “My Favorite Memory.” The MCA package, “Greatest Hits,” is the least valuable of the four because eight of the 10 songs are also on the stronger Rhino album.