1. Mama Tried
2. Sing a Sad Song - Merle Haggard, Stewart, Wynn [1]
3. Swinging Doors
4. I'm a Lonesome Fugitive - Merle Haggard, Anderson, Liz
5. Branded Man
6. Sing Me Back Home
7. The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
8. Hungry Eyes
9. Workin' Man Blues
10. Silver Wings
11. Okie from Muskogee
12. The Fightin' Side of Me
13. Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
14. Carolyn - Merle Haggard, Collins, Tommy
15. It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) - Merle Haggard, Cochran, Hank
16. Everybody's Had the Blues
17. If We Make It Through December
18. Old Man from the Mountain
19. Things Aren't Funny Anymore
20. Movin' On
21. Always Wanting You
22. It's All in the Movies
23. The Roots of My Raising - Merle Haggard, Collins, Tommy
24. Cherokee Maiden
25. Ramblin' Fever
26. I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall - Merle Haggard, Howard, Chuck [1]
27. It's Been a Great Afternoon
28. Footlights
29. The Way I Am - Merle Haggard, Throckmorton, Sonny
30. Misery and Gin - Merle Haggard, Durrill, Johnny
31. I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink
32. Rainbow Stew
33. My Favorite Memory - (newly recorded version)
34. Big City
35. Pancho and Lefty - Merle Haggard, VanZandt, Townes
36. Are the Good Times Really Over (I Wish a Buck Was Still Silver)
37. Going Where the Lonely Go
38. Let's Chase Each Other Around the Room
39. A Place to Fall Apart
40. That's the Way Love Goes - Merle Haggard, Frizzell, Lefty
41. Natural High - Merle Haggard, Powers, Freddy
42. Kern River
43. Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Star
Amazon.com
History occurs twice, first as tragedy, later as farce--or so the adage goes. With these new versions of old classics, Merle Haggard is somewhere between defying and fulfilling that fate. Some cuts are like faded carbon copies; others, given Hag's stately quaver, have a mellow poignancy; a few, like the duets with Jewel, Brooks & Dunn, and Alabama, are simply irrelevant. But just when you're ready to dismiss such misguided revisionism, there's a refreshed, superlative version of "Pancho and Lefty" and the perfected heartbreak of "Going Where the Lonely Go." To his credit, Haggard sticks with his long-running road band, and it's hard to imagine anyone else delivering these songs with more authority, more emotional insight. Anyone, that is, save their original interpreters: Merle Haggard and the Strangers of the '60s and '70s, whose definitive work can still be heard on collections like the four-CD Down Every Road and double-disc Lonesome Fugitive. Haggard may never make records that great again, but perhaps he'll find a new, and not redundant, way to harness his timeless gifts. --Roy Kasten
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For the Record: 43 Legendary Hits
- Audio CD: 0 pages (1999-08-24)
- Publisher: RCA
- Label: RCA
- Studio: RCA
- Average Customer Review:
 based on 20 reviews
- Sales Rank in Music: #18066
Avg. Customer Review:
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the originals; song selection somewhat suspect 2007-12-24
Comment: Although I'm primarily an aficianado of rock and blues (and subgenres such as country rock, rockabilly, etc.), I love Merle Haggard's music.
That having been said, this compilation is something of a letdown. First, as seems to be true with every retrospective, songs that should have made the cut didn't. In particular, "Makeup and Faded Blue Jeans", "Leonard", and "5:01 Blues" should be among the top 43, but they are not represented here.
Even more than the songs selected, the reason I was disappointed with this album is because the songs have all been modified (they are new recordings). I understand how musicians feel the need to update their songs over time, to change the feel, tempo, timing, phrasing, even lyrics, but I think that should be left to live performances. If a person wants to hear the songs exactly as they sound on the radio--listen to the album at home.
But in a "Greatest Hits" or "Best Of" package, such as this one, new wine should not be put into the old wineskins. It's interesting hearing Brooks and Dunn, Alabama, and Jewel (and Willie, of course) mixing it up with Merle, but in many cases it sounds as if Merle is just going through the motions or changing the songs just for the sake of change, rather than because there was a compelling reason to do so. In other words, in my opinion, these "oldies but goodies" are, on the whole, only about 75% as good as the original versions.
If you want an overview of Haggard's work, get "Epic Hits" and "Best Of", not this collection.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Collection 2007-03-13
Comment: All of the great hits in one collaboration. His duets with Jewel are priceless and should not be missed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Ripoff 2006-01-28
Comment: Like many others, I was fooled by this cd. About all the Haggard I'd heard was Mamma Tried and Oakie from Muskogee, so I was looking forward to exploring his work. When Mamma Tried fired up, I realized this was a remake and in a fit of rage I tossed the cd into the back of my closet. Time passed. I realized that I still hadn't heard this man's work, and that I had this cd. So I played it.
What a revelation. The man is great. He has a wonderful voice, an awesome band, great tunes and amazing lyrics. This is a wonderful cd. I am looking forward to hearing the originals, and if they are better than this, then I will be truely blessed.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Remakes 2005-08-13
Comment: A few years ago, Merle Haggard sat down and remade almost all of his biggest hits in a mamoth recording session. Now all of these songs are spreading around to every cheap record company who repackages them.
Be careful, everything here is remakes.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Re-recordings. Avoid like the plague! 2005-06-06
Comment: I bought this CD set thinking the songs were the original recordings. I was wrong. I still respect Merle, and think he's still making wonderful contributions to real country music, but . . . he just didn't have the original strength & punch of his original recordings. It's like listening to Johnny Cash sing "Hurt," and imagining him singing Folsom Prison Blues in the same voice -- painful.
Avoid, avoid, avoid.
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For the Record: 43 Legendary Hits
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