''It's All in the Game'' is the thirty-ninth studio album by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
artist
Merle Haggard backed by
the Strangers
Strangers are people who are unknown to another person or group.
Strangers or The Strangers may also refer to:
History
* Elizabethan Strangers or Strangers, a name applied to French and Belgian immigrants to Norwich, East Anglia, England, during ...
, released in 1984 by
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
. The album peaked at number 1 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 ...
''
Top Country Albums
Top Country Albums is a chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The 50-position chart lists the most popular country music albums in the country, calculated weekly by Broadcast Data Systems based on physical sales a ...
chart.
Recording and composition
Haggard's only album from 1984 is dominated with songs co-written with Freddy Powers. The country singer's career was booming during this period like it hadn't since the early seventies, and ''It's All in the Game'' continued this roll, producing three #1 hits. The first of these, "
Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room," recalls the shuffling rhythm of his 1981 hit "
Big City" and finds the narrator attempting to playfully reignite the passion of his marriage. The other two chart toppers, "
A Place to Fall Apart
"A Place to Fall Apart" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard as a duet with Janie Fricke and backed by The Strangers. It was released in October 1984 as the second single from the album '' It's All in ...
" (co-written with Willie Nelson and featuring Janie Fricke on background vocals) and the love song "
Natural High," have a softer vocal approach more indicative of the album's overall sound. "Little Hotel Room" and "I Never Go Home Anymore" contain Haggard's oft-used themes of loss, loneliness and estrangement. The
LP also includes his take on the recent
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 ...
/
Julio Iglesias
Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
smash "
To All the Girls I've Loved Before
"To All the Girls I've Loved Before" is a song written by Hal David (words) and Albert Hammond (music). It was originally recorded by Hammond in 1975 on his album ''99 Miles From L.A.'', but is more famous for a 1984 recording by Julio Iglesias ...
" and "You Nearly Lose Your Mind," his tribute to
Ernest Tubb
Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, "Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), m ...
, who died in September 1984.
Critical 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 ...
: "In another artist's hands, ''It's All In the Game'' might have been a mere crying-in-the-beer soundtrack. In Haggard's, it's deeply personal and emotionally compelling music."
Track listing
Personnel
*
Merle Haggard– vocals, guitar
The Strangers
Strangers are people who are unknown to another person or group.
Strangers or The Strangers may also refer to:
History
* Elizabethan Strangers or Strangers, a name applied to French and Belgian immigrants to Norwich, East Anglia, England, during ...
:
*
Roy Nichols - lead guitar
*
Norm Hamlet – steel guitar
*
Tiny Moore – fiddle, mandolin
*Mark Yeary – keyboards
*Dennis Hromek - bass guitar
*Biff Adams - drums
*Jim Belken – fiddle
*Don Markham – horns
with:
*Freddy Powers - rhythm guitar
and:
*Bobby Wood - keyboards
*Mike Leach - bass guitar
*
Lloyd Lindroth Lloyd Lindroth (June 6, 1931 – June 9, 1994) was an American harpist who was nicknamed "The Liberace of the Harp". He had played for millions of people at the time of his death. A Seattle native, Lindroth began playing at age 14. In 1983, he moved ...
- harp
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Authority control
1984 albums
Merle Haggard albums
Albums produced by Ray Baker (music producer)
Epic Records albums