The Steel Guitar Forum

Anybody know if there is a good compilation CD of Merle Haggard with mostly Ralph Mooney on the steel available?

The German Bear Family box set "Untamed Hawk" (5 CDs) contains the complete early work of the Hag, with Mooney (and Norman Hamlet). Not cheap, but classic!

Kind Regards, Walter

seeing as Mooney lasted just over a year with Haggard, he really only appears on one album, the first one cut with the Strangers 'Swinging Doors / The Bottle Let Me Down' from '66 which is essentially one of the greatest honky-tonk albums ever made.

This was issued by Koch on Cd, then a Capitol UK (EMI?)related twofer set coupled with another album, and I think there's a newer US Capitol CD reissue of the album which is in print. (in the same batch as the Glen Campbell 60s LP reissues, no bonus tracks)

I assume Ralph played on some, if not all of the album that Merle cut as a duet LP with Bonnie Owens in '66, but if you want a quick fix, just pick up the 'Swinging Doors / The Bottle Let Me Down' CD, an album so good it had to have two titles.

Thanks Jason, that was the info I was looking for--Jay

I hadn't seen the other Mooney post when I asked this question, I remembered hearing Mooney on the Swinging Doors and Bottle Let Me Down cuts and just assumed he was active on all the cuts from that time frame but after buying the CD yesterday those are really the only two cuts that let Ralph add his flavor to the song, some of the rest he is not on at all and on others is doing little more than padding. It is interesting early Haggard with a ton more Buck Owens singing style going on than I remembered but for those looking for classic Mooney those two songs are really all this album has to offer so some of the other suggestions are better.

He didn't really record a lot with Merle, 1966 was a good year, but by the time Norm joined in '67 (there were other steelers inbetween Mooney who left in late '66, and Norm) it was then that Merle really began to record at a rate that Buck Owens would be proud of.

The lyrical Merle, the most beloved period of his recordings is really post Mooney, the 67-69 period followed by a series of live albums and special projects. For me, if you really want to hear classic west coast Mooney in action you have to check out Wynn Stewart's 1959-65 sides.

Thanks Jason, After checking out the other Mooney post I went to Amazon to try to order the Challenge Masters but apparently other forumites beat me to it because they are sold out, will keep my eyes peeled.

Jay....Ralph recorded with Haggard on four albums that I know of...Merle Haggard and the Strangers Caoitol 2373, Swinging Doors and the Bottle let me down..Capitol ST 2585, Branded Man Capitol 2789 and I'm a lonesome fugitive Capitol 2702. These will be pretty hard to find..I don't know if they are in individual CD form....I suggest the Bear family set " Untamed Hawk"...hope this helps....Stan

Stan's got a good point, a good chunk of 'I'm A Lonesome Fugitive' was cut in '66 with Ralph, while the '65 debut Stranger (not actually with the Strangers s they didn't exist yet) only features Ralph on a few tracks as some of the masters are from the Tally recordings on which there's no steel.

And have been available for some time.

I'd suggest subscribing to either Napster or Rhapsody, because you can have access to tons of Haggard's music, and also most anyone else you can think of. For example, Napster, the one I now subscribe to, shows to have 62 albums by Haggard, including those mentioned above, that you can listen to. Unlimited listening for 9.99 per month, and if you want to download and keep something, you can do so very inexpensively per track.