Songs for the Mama That Tried
Songs for the Mama That Tried (Some versions entitled "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" | ||||
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Studio album by Merle Haggard | ||||
Released | September 1981 | |||
Recorded | Sound Emporium, Nashville Tennessee | |||
Genre | Country, gospel | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Producer | Merle Haggard | |||
Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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Songs for the Mama That Tried is a studio album by American country music singer Merle Haggard with backing by the Strangers, released in 1981. A gospel album, it reached Number 46 on the Billboard country albums chart.[1]
Background
Songs for the Mama That Tried was Haggard's last principal release on MCA, having signed with Epic Records. The title alludes to Haggard's 1968 song "Mama Tried", a song which became a cornerstone of his career. Haggard had recorded a live gospel album in 1971 called The Land of Many Churches but this set is dedicated to his mother Flossie, who was seventy-nine years old when she posed with Haggard on the cover of the LP. Produced by Haggard, the album features background harmonies from both his second wife Bonnie Owens and his then current wife Leona Williams.
The album yielded no hit singles and was not a big seller. In his 1999 memoir My House of Memories Haggard writes, "I love those songs as much as Mom did. I can't describe the comfort they've given me. I haven't listened to that album in years."[2]
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Writing in the 2013 book The Running Kind, Haggard biographer David Cantwell calls the album "perfect," praising the singer's "reverent, soulful singing."[4]
The album received five stars in the second edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide.[5]
Track listing
- "When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels" (Hank Williams). 2:58
- "Suppertime" (Ira F. Stanphill). 2:45
- "He Walks with Me (In the Garden)" (C. Austin Miles, Robert Hebble). 2:21
- "Softly and Tenderly" (Will L. Thompson). 3:02
- "Why Me" (Kris Kristofferson). 3:12
- "Where No One Stands Alone" (Mosie Lister). 3:02
- "One Day at a Time" (Kristofferson, Marijohn Wilkin). 3:18
- "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" (Joseph M. Scriven, Charles Crozat Converse, Sid Feller). 2:36
- "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" (Traditional). 3:38
- "The Old Rugged Cross" (George Bennard). 3:46
Personnel
- Merle Haggard– vocals, guitar
The Strangers:
- Roy Nichols - lead guitar
- Norman Hamlet - steel guitar
- Gordon Terry - fiddle
- Ronnie Reno - rhythm guitar
- Mark Yeary - piano
- Dennis Hromek - bass
- Biff Adams - drums
- Don Markham - saxophone, trumpet
with:
- Bonnie Owens – backing vocals
- Leona Williams - backing vocals
and:
- Kemo Kemolian - fiddle, guitar
Chart performance
Chart (1981) | Peak position |
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U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums | 46 |
References
- ^ Allmusic chart entry for Songs for the Mama That Tried Retrieved December 2009.
- ^ Haggard, Merle; Carter, Tom (2002). Merle Haggard's My House of Memories: For the Record. HarperEntertainment. pp. 204–205. ISBN 0-06-109795-0.
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Cantwell, David (2013). Merle Haggard: The Running Kind. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71771-8.
- ^ 5-Star albums listing. Rolling Stone Record Guide. 1983. Second Edition.
- v
- t
- e
- The Strangers
- Biff Adam
- Jimmy Belken
- Eddie Burris
- Gary Church
- Wayne Durham
- George French
- Dennis Hromek
- Don Markham
- Johnny Meeks
- Marcia Nichols
- Ronnie Reno
- Clint Strong
- Jim Tittle
- Jerry Ward
- Bobby Wayne
- Mark Yeary
- Strangers
- Swinging Doors ‡
- I'm a Lonesome Fugitive ‡
- Branded Man ‡
- Sing Me Back Home ‡
- The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde ‡
- Mama Tried ‡
- Pride in What I Am ‡
- Same Train, a Different Time ‡
- A Portrait of Merle Haggard ‡
- A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills) ‡
- Hag ‡
- Someday We'll Look Back ‡
- Let Me Tell You About a Song ‡
- It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) ‡
- If We Make It Through December ‡
- Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album ‡
- Keep Movin' On ‡
- It's All in the Movies ‡
- My Love Affair with Trains ‡
- The Roots of My Raising ‡
- Ramblin' Fever
- A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today ‡
- My Farewell to Elvis
- I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall
- Serving 190 Proof
- The Way I Am
- Back to the Barrooms
- Big City
- Going Where the Lonely Go
- That's the Way Love Goes
- It's All in the Game
- Kern River
- Out Among the Stars
- A Friend in California
- Chill Factor
- 5:01 Blues
- Blue Jungle
- 1994
- 1996
- If I Could Only Fly
- Roots, Volume 1
- The Peer Sessions
- Haggard Like Never Before
- Unforgettable
- Chicago Wind
- The Bluegrass Sessions
- I Am What I Am
- Working in Tennessee
- Songs I'll Always Sing
- Merle Haggard's Greatest Hits
- His Epic Hits: The First 11 (To Be Continued...)
- Down Every Road 1962–1994
- 16 Biggest Hits
- Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard
- Okie from Muskogee ‡
- The Fightin' Side of Me ‡
- I Love Dixie Blues ‡
- Rainbow Stew Live at Anaheim Stadium
- The Epic Collection (Recorded Live)
- Amber Waves of Grain
- The Land of Many Churches ‡
- Songs for the Mama That Tried
- Cabin in the Hills
- Two Old Friends (with Albert E. Brumley, Jr.)
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