''Ramblin' Fever'' is the 22nd studio album by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

singer

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 ...

, released in 1977. It was his first on the

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

label after recording for

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

since 1965. It was also his first album without crediting

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 ...

. It reached Number 5 on the Country album chart. ''Ramblin' Fever'' was reissued on CD in 2002.

Background

Haggard had enjoyed an immensely successful artistic and commercial run with Capitol and producer Ken Nelson, accumulating twenty-four #1 country singles since 1966. According to music journalist Daniel Cooper's essay for the 1994 Haggard retrospective ''Down Every Road'', there was no animosity or disillusionment with the Capitol brass, and the change was made simply because MCA had made a better offer.''Down Every Road 1962–1994'' compilation album. Liner notes by Daniel Cooper In his 2013 Haggard biography ''The Running Kind'', David Cantwell notes that by the latter half of the 1970s the singer had placed forty-three singles on ''

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 advertis ...

s country charts, had won the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre. The objectives of the organization are to guide and enha ...

's top prize, "Entertainer of the Year," had been pardoned by

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

governor Ronald Reagan, had performed for President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was t ...

, and had made the cover of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine, and in response, "He ran. As the Seventies wound to an end, he was more restless than usual.... He even moved to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

for a while, and in 1978, divorced Bonnie Owens and married

Leona Williams Leona Belle Helton (born January 7, 1943, in Vienna, Missouri, United States) is an American country music singer known professionally as Leona Williams. Active since 1958, Williams has been a backing musician for Loretta Lynn and Merle Hag ...

. Then, in 1979, he announced he was quitting music entirely." Haggard's tenure with MCA would be far shorter than his stay at Capitol; he would sign with Epic Records in 1981.

Recording and composition

Haggard's final two Capitol albums, '' My Love Affair with Trains'' and '' The Roots of My Raising'', contained only two Haggard-written songs, a far cry from his earlier albums when he would routinely compose most of the songs himself. ''Ramblin' Fever'' only features a couple Haggard originals: the southern rock-tinged title track, which rose to #2 on the country charts, and "I Think It's Gone Forever," a co-write with Leona Williams. "I wrote it at Leona Williams' house in the Seventies there one afternoon," Haggard remembers in the 1987 concert video ''Poet of the Common Man''. "I don't recall what in the hell caused me to write it." His first single at MCA, "If We're Not Back In Love By Monday," had also peaked at #2. According to Daniel Cooper's ''Down Every Road'' liner notes, Haggard hated his vocal on the

Sonny Throckmorton James Fron "Sonny" Throckmorton (born April 2, 1941) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Known primarily for his songwriting, Throckmorton has had more than 1,000 of his songs recorded by various country singers. He has also had ...

tune. In his 1999 memoir ''My House of Memories'', Haggard wrote of the song: "That one rose to number two for two weeks in 1977, but its melody sounded too much like "

If We Make It Through December "If We Make It Through December" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard and the Strangers. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from the album '' Merle Haggard's Christmas Present'', and was th ...

", which was number one for four weeks in 1973."

Reception

In his 2013 Haggard biography ''The Running Kind'', David Cantwell writes that while the "Ramblin' Fever" single showed promise, "there doesn't seem to have been much good stuff coming from Merle at this time, or much new stuff at all."

Track listing

#"Ramblin' Fever" (Merle Haggard) – 3:11 #"When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again" (Wiley Walker, Gene Sullivan) – 3:18 #"Ghost Story" (Joe Allen) – 2:45 #"Set Me Free" ( Curly Putman) – 2:41 #"Love Somebody to Death" (

Red Lane Red Lane, born Hollis Rudolph DeLaughter with surname pronounced ''Dee-LAW-ter'' (February 9, 1939 – July 1, 2015), was an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist who was a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1993) ...

, Glenn Martin) – 3:16 #"If We're Not Back in Love by Monday" (Martin,

) – 3:16 #"I Think It's Gone Forever" (Haggard,

) – 2:57 #"Ain't Your Memory Got No Pride at All" (

, Royce Porter, Bucky Jones) – 2:35 #"My Love for You" ( Jeannie Seely) – 2:26 #"Last Letter" (

Rex Griffin Alsie "Rex" Griffin ( – ) was an American country musician and songwriter. Biography Early years Griffin was born in Gadsden, Alabama as the second of seven children to Marion and Selma Griffin. He grew up on a farm and received little schoo ...

) – 3:33

Personnel

* Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar *

Grady Martin Thomas Grady Martin (January 17, 1929 – December 3, 2001) was an American session guitarist in country music and rockabilly. A member of The Nashville A-Team, he played guitar on hits such as Marty Robbins' "El Paso", Loretta Lynn's " C ...

– guitar * Dave Kirby – guitar *

– guitar * Bob Moore – bass * Joe Allen – bass * Buddy Harman – drums * James Isbell – drums

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1977 albums Merle Haggard albums MCA Records albums Albums produced by Ken Nelson (United States record producer)