''Like Never Before'' is the fifty-fifth studio album by American recording artist

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 ...

. It was released in 2004 on his own label, Hag Records.

Background

After several gospel and roots music albums, this collection boasts a more diverse musical landscape than his critically acclaimed comeback album '' If I Could Only Fly'', ranging from the

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 ...

of "Garbage Man" and "Lonesome Day" to the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

-inflected "Because of Your Eyes" and the

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

-infused "Return to San Francisco". Haggard duets with friend

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

on "Reno Blues". The album is perhaps best remembered for the song "That's the News", a scathing indictment of media culture and the Bush administration's handling of the war in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in the early 2000s. In a 2006 interview the notoriously patriotic Haggard defended the

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and E ...

after they were lambasted for their criticism of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

.http://www.sanluisobispo.com/entertainment/music-news-reviews/article70318112.html

Reception

Thom Jurek of

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 ...

praises the album, calling it "meticulously crafted and arranged, full of beautiful charts and striking vocal and instrumental performances." In his review, 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 ...

only wrote "Rebel, patriot, musician, legend, populist, sentimentalist, small businessman."

Track listing

#"Haggard (Like I've Never Been Before)" (Merle Haggard, Doug Colosio) – 3:22 #"That's the News" (Haggard) – 2:33 #"Garbage Man" – 2:56 #"Reno Blues (Philadelphia Lawyer)" (with

) – 3:33 #"The Downside" (Haggard) – 1:59 #"Because of Your Eyes" (Haggard) – 3:48 #"Lonesome Day" (Haggard, Colosio) – 2:06 #"I Dreamed You Didn't Love Me" (Haggard) – 3:04 #"Yellow Ribbons" (Haggard) – 2:59 #"I Hated to See You Go" (Haggard) – 2:53 #"Return to San Francisco" (Haggard) – 2:25

Personnel

*Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar *

Norm Hamlet Norm Hamlet is an American steel guitarist and a member of Merle Haggard's The Strangers band for the past 49 years.Terry Downs: ''The Strangers'', http://www.terrydownsmusic.com/Archive/strangers_article.pdf, n.d., downloaded May 6, 2012.The Ste ...

– pedal steel guitar *Don Markham – saxophone, trumpet *Clint Strong – guitar *Red Lane – guitar *Doug Colosio – keyboards *

Andy Kaulkin Anti- is an American record label founded in 1999 as a sister label to Epitaph Records. While Epitaph's focus has mostly been on punk rock, Anti-'s roster includes gospel (Mavis Staples), country (Merle Haggard), hip hop (Sage Francis, The Cou ...

– piano *Mike Martin – harmonica *

– vocals, guitar *Norman Stevens – guitar *Kevin Williams – bass *Jeff Ingraham – drums *

Kenny Malone Kenny Malone (August 4, 1938 – August 26, 2021) was an American drummer and percussionist. Life and career Malone was born in Denver, Colorado. From the 1970s onwards, he was a prominent session musician in folk, country and many other acoustic ...

– drums *Scott Joss – fiddle, guitar, background vocals *Theresa Lane Haggard – background vocals

References

{{Authority control 2003 albums Merle Haggard albums