Review: Merle Haggard – I Am What I Am
Merle Haggard. The man is a country legend, a 72 year-old singer with a still-wonderful voice, a clear baritone with gravitas to spare. So he’s released a new album this week, I Am What I Am. The title basically says it all; Haggard’s not one to update his sound, so the collection’s a standard set of stodgy old man music. The key is that it’s good stodgy old man music, if you’re into the classic country scene. It’s established on the outset, when Haggard brags about how he saw Bob Wills and Elvis (not the glasses-wearing one!) “when they played a show.”
Haggard, a recent cancer survivor, chooses to use the record to celebrate life. So, there are a lot of relaxed songs about love here. He loves his wife, love itself… and Mexican bands. He pays tribute to the latter in the song “Mexican Bands,” a funny song punctuated with horns and lyrics about sombreros and not understanding Spanish. He is what he is: a Bob Wills superfan. “Live and Love Always” approximates the Wills’ sound: a rowdy looseness, audible instructions to the players, swingin’ fiddle playing. It’s fitting that on an album celebrating life, one of the stand-out tracks would celebrate one of his heroes.
On the other end of the spectrum is “Bad Actor.” Showing a level of self-reflectiveness and security, knowing his reputation and knowing what he is now, it’s a great, moving track. If it feels heavier than the rest of the album, it’s to good effect. It’s a reflective song, looking at his persona as a performer and facing how it clashes with his “real” self. It’s the most resonant song here and elevates the set as a whole by being seemingly a more naked confessional moment, sounding deeply personal from a man whose sung from an outlaw’s perspective for most of his recording career.
The rest of the album is the kind of country he’s long-perfected. There’s something pleasant, if inessential, about this album. There’s a sense that most of this is just fun for him at this point -- and who can blame him? Let him sing the things he loves, not quite repeating himself but not quite showing an artistic trajectory. He’s Merle fucking Haggard, he am what he am.
Merle Haggard:
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Jere is not from Chicago. Nor is he from Parts Unknown. But he sure loves to hear things. Follow him on Twitter!Email this Author | All posts by Jere
