One could easily get the impression, just perusing the front and back covers of this album, that it contains the original recordings of some of
Merle Haggard
's most popular recordings -- this is, as a sleeve note puts it, a "unique, chronological collection." In fact, 13 of the 16 tracks are re-recordings made by
Haggard
in October 1994; only
"Big City,"
"Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver),"
and
"Going Where the Lonely Go,"
three of the 12 number one
country
hits
recorded for
Epic Records
in the 1980s, are the original recordings. Don't be fooled. ~ William Ruhlmann