''A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills)'' is the eleventh studio album by
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...
backed by
The Strangers, released in 1970.
Background
Although it is often assumed that Haggard, who was enjoying enormous success with the social commentary "
Okie from Muskogee
''Okie from Muskogee'' is the first live album by Merle Haggard and the Strangers released in October 1969 on Capitol Records.
Background
The album was a recorded performance at the Civic Center in Muskogee, Oklahoma on October 10, 1969, the da ...
" and the politically charged "
The Fightin' Side of Me
"The Fightin' Side of Me" is a song written and performed by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in January 1970 as the first single and title track from the album ''The Fightin' Side of Me''. The song ...
" in 1969 and 1970, sought to distance himself from controversy by returning to his musical roots by recording a tribute to his childhood idol
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
, this is not quite accurate; according to David Cantwell's book ''Merle Haggard: The Running Kind'', by the time Haggard's live album ''
The Fightin' Side of Me
"The Fightin' Side of Me" is a song written and performed by American country music artist Merle Haggard and The Strangers. It was released in January 1970 as the first single and title track from the album ''The Fightin' Side of Me''. The song ...
'' appeared in 1970, the Wills album had already been completed for four months. Haggard gathered up six of the remaining members of
The Texas Playboys
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
to record the tribute:
Johnnie Lee Wills
Johnnie Lee Wills (September 2, 1912 – October 25, 1984) was an American Western swing fiddler popular in the 1930s and 1940s.
Biography
Wills was born in Jewett, Texas, United States, and was the younger brother of Bob Wills. He played banjo w ...
,
Eldon Shamblin
Eldon Shamblin (April 24, 1916 – August 5, 1998) was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band. He was a member of The ...
,
Tiny Moore
Billie "Tiny" Moore (May 12, 1920 – December 15, 1987) was a Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s. He played with The Strangers and Merle Haggard during the ...
, Joe Holley,
Johnny Gimble
John Paul Gimble (May 30, 1926 – May 9, 2015) was an American country musician associated with Western swing. Gimble was considered one of the most important fiddlers in the genre. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 i ...
, and Alex Brashear. Merle's band
The Strangers were also present during the recording but unfortunately Wills suffered a massive stroke after the first day of recording. Merle arrived on the second day, devastated that he would not get to record with him.
Haggard spent a few scant months learning the fiddle, an instrument that he had not touched since his childhood violin lessons. Unlike Haggard's previous tribute album to
Jimmie Rodgers
James Charles Rodgers (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...
, which gave the original songs a new sound, his Wills
LP remained true to the original arrangements. As Cantwell observes, "The album's most charming quality, its attention to authentic period detail, is a built-in limitation it never entirely transcends."
Completely
apolitical
Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased pos ...
, the album reached number 2 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' Country Albums Chart and peaked at number 58 on the Pop Album Chart, his highest showing there to date. The album would play a crucial role in the revitalization of
Western Swing
Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United States, South among the region's Western music (North America), Western string bands. It is dan ...
music and inspire younger musicians like
Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...
and
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an American rock band founded in 1967. The group's leader and co-founder was pianist and vocalist George Frayne IV, alias Commander Cody (born July 19, 1944 in Boise, Idaho, died September 26, 2021 i ...
.
Haggard would do more tribute albums to Wills over the next 40 years. In
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
he appeared on ''For The Last Time Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys''. In
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
Haggard collaborated with
Asleep at the Wheel
Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...
and many other artists influenced by the music of
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
on an album entitled ''Tribute To The Music Of Bob Wills And The Texas Playboys''. ''A Tribute'' was re-released on CD on the Koch label in 1995 with both the original Haggard liner notes and new notes by country music and western swing historian Rich Kienzle, who described the album's influence on his interest in delving deeper into Wills and his legacy.
Reception
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album "a ragged, enthusiastic good time. Haggard, the Strangers, and the Playboys play their hearts out, breathing life into Wills warhorses... while bringing attention to lesser-known songs... The fact that Western swing re-established itself as a viable country genre after the release of ''A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player'' is a testament to the power and charm of this record."
Music critic
Robert Christgau
Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
wrote "Now that's the Merle I trust. His uncountrypolitan formal sense has always gone along with a reverence for history, and his subtle, surprisingly tranquil, yet passionate singing style - all that yodel and straining head voice—was made for Wills's pop-jazz-country amalgam."
Track listing
Side one
# "Brown Skinned Gal" (
Bob Wills
James Robert Wills (March 6, 1905 – May 13, 1975) was an American Western swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader. Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing (although S ...
) – 2:50
# "
Right Or Wrong" (Paul Biese,
Haven Gillespie
James Lamont Gillespie (February 6, 1888 – March 14, 1975) pen name Haven Gillespie, was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist. He was the writer of "You Go to My Head", "Honey", "By the Sycamore Tree", "That Lucky Old Sun", " Breez ...
, Arthur Sizemore) – 2:36
# "Brain Cloudy Blues" (
Tommy Duncan
Thomas Elmer Duncan (January 11, 1911 – July 25, 1967), was an American Western swing vocalist and songwriter who gained fame in the 1930s as a founding member of The Texas Playboys. He recorded and toured with bandleader Bob Wills on and o ...
, Bob Wills) – 3:38
# "
Stay a Little Longer
"Stay a Little Longer" is a Western swing dance tune written by Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan. The title comes from a refrain in the chorus:
The song consists of a number of unrelated verses, one of which (verse three) comes from an old folk song"S ...
" (Duncan, Wills) – 2:48
# "Misery" (Duncan,
Tiny Moore
Billie "Tiny" Moore (May 12, 1920 – December 15, 1987) was a Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s. He played with The Strangers and Merle Haggard during the ...
, Wills) – 3:19
# "
Time Changes Everything
''Time Changes Everything'' is the debut solo album by the England, English guitarist John Squire, released in 2002 on his own North Country Records label.
The album contains many allusions to Squire's former band The Stone Roses, not least th ...
" (Duncan) – 2:36
Side two
# "
San Antonio Rose
"San Antonio Rose" is a swing instrumental introduced in late 1938 by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Quickly becoming the band's most popular number, Wills and band members devised lyrics, which were recorded on April 16, 1940, and releas ...
" (Wills) – 2:53
# "I Knew The Moment I Lost You" (Duncan, Wills) – 3:00
# "
Roly Poly
Roly Poly is an American restaurant chain, chain of sandwich stores. They first opened their doors in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996.
History
The first Roly Poly Sandwich Shop opened in 1997 in the Buckhead (Atlanta), Buckhead section of Atlanta, ...
" (
Fred Rose) – 2:39
# "Old Fashioned Love" (
James P. Johnson
James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...
,
Cecil Mack
Cecil Mack (November 6, 1873 – August 1, 1944) was an American composer, lyricist and music publisher.
Biography
Born as Richard Cecil McPherson in Portsmouth, Virginia, he attended the Norfolk Mission College and Lincoln University in Pennsyl ...
) – 2:32
# "
Corrine, Corrina
"Corrine, Corrina" (sometimes "Corrina, Corrina") is a 12-bar country blues song in the AAB form. "Corrine, Corrina" was first recorded by Bo Carter ( Brunswick 7080, December 1928). However, it was not copyrighted until 1932 by Armenter "Bo Cart ...
" (
Bo Chatmon
Armenter (or Armentia) Chatmon (March 21, 1893 or January 1894 – September 21, 1964), known as Bo Carter, was an early American blues musician. He was a member of the Mississippi Sheiks in concerts and on a few of their recordings. He also ...
,
Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen.
Biography
Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...
,
J. Mayo Williams
Jay Mayo "Ink" Williams (September 25, 1894 – January 2, 1980) was a pioneering African-American producer of recorded blues music. Some historians have claimed that Ink Williams earned his nickname by his ability to get the signatures of t ...
) – 2:16
# "
Take Me Back to Tulsa
"Take Me Back to Tulsa" is a Western swing standard song. Bob Wills and Tommy Duncan added words and music to the melody of the traditional fiddle tune "Walkin' Georgia Rose" in 1940. The song is one of eight country music performances selected fo ...
" (Duncan, Wills) – 2:38
Personnel
*
Merle Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler.
Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...
– vocals, guitar, fiddle
The Strangers:
*
Roy Nichols
Roy Ernest Nichols (October 21, 1932 – July 3, 2001) was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard's band The Strangers for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix o ...
– lead guitar
*
Norman Hamlet – steel guitar, dobro
*Bobby Wayne - rhythm guitar, harmony vocals
*Dennis Hromek – bass, background vocals
*Biff Adam – drums
with
*
Eldon Shamblin
Eldon Shamblin (April 24, 1916 – August 5, 1998) was an American guitarist and arranger, particularly important to the development of Western swing music as one of the first electric guitarists in a popular dance band. He was a member of The ...
– guitar
*
Tiny Moore
Billie "Tiny" Moore (May 12, 1920 – December 15, 1987) was a Western swing musician who played the electric mandolin and fiddle with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys in the 1940s. He played with The Strangers and Merle Haggard during the ...
– fiddle, mandolin
*
Johnny Gimble
John Paul Gimble (May 30, 1926 – May 9, 2015) was an American country musician associated with Western swing. Gimble was considered one of the most important fiddlers in the genre. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999 i ...
– fiddle
*George French– piano
and
*Johnnie Lee Wills– banjo
*Alex Brashear– trumpet
*Joe Holley– fiddle
External links
Merle Haggard's Official Website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World
1970 albums
Merle Haggard albums
Bob Wills tribute albums
Capitol Records albums