The ‘Road’ to Merle Haggard Paved With Recording Gems : MERLE HAGGARD: “Down Every Road: 1962-1994” Capitol Nashville (****)

Though best known in his chosen country music, Merle Haggard writes of troubled souls and sweet dreams with the timeless simplicity of a great folk artist, while singing with the soulfulness and conviction of a classic bluesman. There is also in his body of work the independence and renegade attitude of a legendary rocker. It’s no wonder that he is one of the most commanding artists of the modern pop era.

You hear echoes of his style--especially the rich, unpredictable vocal phrasing--in almost every contemporary country artist of merit, from Garth Brooks to John Anderson. In rock, the major artists who have recorded his songs range from Gram Parsons and John Fogerty to the Grateful Dead.

The only weakness in this four-disc package is that it shortchanges Haggard’s post-Capitol years. Of the album’s 100 tracks, just 20 are from his years starting in 1978 at MCA, Epic and Curb Records. That void, however, isn’t enough to keep this set from a four-star rating.

Haggard’s work has ranged from the honky-tonk irony of “Swinging Doors” and the personal isolation of “House of Memories” to the hard-times reflections of “Mama Tried” and “Tulare Dust.”

One of the set’s treats is a few pre-Capitol recordings that Haggard made for Tally Records that show him struggling to find his own style.

On those tunes, you hear Haggard reaching for the offbeat phrasing of Lefty Frizzell, Haggard’s biggest influence and hero, on “Sing a Sad Song,” the bravado of George Jones on “Skid Row” and the brightness of Marty Robbins in “You Don’t Even Try.”

From that point on, however, the vision is pure Haggard--a landmark artist whose character and consistent craft have rarely been matched.