Merle Haggard Goes Back ...And Forth

On 2 recent CD's, Merle Haggard reinvents some oldies, throws in some new ones and generally sounds comfortable in his 70 year old skin. The Bluegrass Sessions and the Cracker Barrel only Working Man's Journey (you can order it Crackerbarrel.com) both feature typical latter day Hag. The former isn't any more Bluegrass than any other Haggard release. Sure, the best Bluegrass pickers are on it, but it's really hardcore Country. More laidback than the Cracker Barrel release. Working Man's Journey is more typical of Haggard's recent CD's, but with some rerecorded oldies worked in. Of the two, the Cracker Barrel has the best of his new songs ("Stormy New Orleans", "Songman"), while Bluegrass has another good political song, "What Happened". Either way you can't go wrong. I've longed believed that outside of Hank Sr., Haggard is the best Country Music Songwriter. And these two prove my point.