Merle Haggard and the Strangers “Pride In What I Am”
Merle Haggard and the Strangers “Pride In What I Am” 1969. Today, April 6th, would have been Merle Haggard’s 85th birthday (b. 1937, d. on his 79th birthday, 2016). Pride In What I Am was Merle Haggard and the Strangers’ 8th LP; it went to #11 on the country chart and to #189 on the pop chart. Traditional country is not what I listen to, generally, but it’s hard not love Haggard: raw and honest with songs “packed full with hobos, lost loves and rainy nights remembered from his roving years” (from Pride In What I Am liner notes).
The title track, “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am” (that features the above-mentioned hobos), went to #3 on the Hot Country Singles chart as well as hitting #75 on the Hot 100 and #15 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Other notable tracks are the Haggard-penned bluesy “I Can’t Hold Myself In Line” and the rollicking “I’m Bringing Home Good News.” Haggard and the Strangers perform a couple of non-Haggard originals including a couple by fellow Bakersfield country musician Red Simpson known for his truck-themed songs (Capitol Records originally wanted Haggard to record the trucking tracks but Haggard declined): “Somewhere on Skid Row” and “I Think We’re Livin’ in the Good Old Days.” He also covers Jimmie Rodgers’ “California Blues” aka “Blue Yodel No. 4.”
Daily (maybe) pulls from the vault: 33-1/3, 45, 78, old, older, classic, new, good, bad. Subjective. Autobiographical. Occasionally putting a record up for sale.