Mama's Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard

Although I'm not a real Country Music fan, and had never heard any of Merle Haggard's songs, I am hooked on this Tribute CD to Merle! It is a fantastic compilation from a host of Country Music Stars, running the gamut from one end of the country spectrum to the other. The rocking country blues of "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down" (Brooks & Dunn) had me tapping my foot to the music from the start of this CD. Then along came Clint Black's version of "I Take A Lot Of Pride In What I Am", about the pride of a hobo, with a backbeat that made me envision a rumbling train, and the fantastic sound blew me away! Pam Tillis softens the mood with an angelic rendition of "Silver Wings", while "The Farmer's Daughter" (Vince Gill) is poignant as a Father reluctantly gives his daughter away in marriage to a city boy. My favorite is "Mama Tried" (John Anderson & Marty Stuart), for its great rhythm, vocals, and lyrics. There is not one track on this CD that you will want to skip over. I...Read more

I would not consider myself an advit Country Music fan, although, I enjoy the music of Willie Nelson and some other traditional country singers. For me, I really enjoy the stories that they tell and the way their messages are so humble and heartfelt. A friend of mine gave me this tape to check out, and I could not stop listening to it. I was only familiar with Merle through his Pancho and Lefty song with Willie Nelson, but, after I heard this CD, I became an immediate fan. Even though the songs here are sung by other people, the lyrics and the stories are all Merle. I was touched by the "Farmers Daughter", "Silver Wings", and, of course, Willie Nelsons rendition of "The Day I Started Loving You Again". And I could not stop laughing when I heard, "The Night The Bottle Let Me Down". If you are a fan of good music, not just Country Music, but music period, this is definitely a CD you would want to add to your collection. It will be worth every...Read more

This album from 1994 features many of country music's then biggest names, together with a couple of stars from the seventies and eighties, Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris.

The set opens with a great version of Tonight the bottle let me down by Brooks and Dunn, followed by Clint Black (who has a similar type of voice to Merle) singing I take a lot of pride in what I am. Both of those are well-known Hag classics, but there are some less well-known songs here, including The farmer's daughter (Vince Gill), The running kind (Radney Foster) and Trying not to love you (Alan Jackson). Merle has had so many classic songs, but perhaps the best known of those covered here are Mama tried (done superbly by John Anderson and Marty Stuart) and Mama's hungry eyes (with which Emmylou closes the album).

The songs and singers all well matched, making this an outstanding tribute to one of country music's legends.