There are certain definites in my life. I am gonna throw something at some point during football season, I am gonna look up some form of porn this week, and if the wife and I go out this Saturday night and get too drunk, we will eat Cracker Barrel on Sunday morning. For us, there is nothing like fried foods and gravy to help you get over the hangover hump. Inevitably, if you go to Cracker Barrel you are gonna have to wait for a table, and during that wait you’ll probably walk around the general store waiting area thing. Such was the case for us last week.

While we were waiting for a table, I was going through the Cracker Barrel cds (believe it or not, CB has been putting together magnificent country albums for years now) and noticed a Merle Haggard cd with a sticker reading “6 New Songs”. After a predictably delicious and fattening breakfast, I bought the cd.

Working Man’s Journey was released back in May and features 6 new songs and 6 Haggard familiars; “Shade Tree Fix-It Man”, “Workin’ Man Blues”, “Kern River”, “Are the Good Times Really Over”, “Rainbow Stew”, and “If We Make It Through December”, all re-recorded for this release. They aren’t reinterpretated, modified or messed with. Just re-recorded with modern techniques and with Merle’s voice as it is now. Of the re-recorded songs, I think “Are the Good Times Really Over” fared best. In fact, I think the renewed version eclipses the original. Maybe it’s Merle’s further aged, more weary voice, maybe it’s the higher production quality…or maybe it’s just me getting older, so the sentiment of the song resonates with me more, but I feel it’s hands-down the best track on the album.

Of the new tracks, “Songman” is easily my favorite. I can imagine Merle singing it while being pushed aside by the Nashville bobbleheads. To quote Darrel Scott’s song “Long Time Gone” (also covered by The Dixie Chicks); “We listen to the radio to hear what’s cookin’ / But the music ain’t got no soul / Now they sound tired but they don’t sound Haggard“.

All in all this is a wonderful album for both those familiar with Haggard, as well as those who are newly discovering this American gem.

Merle Haggard - Are The Good Times Really Over
Merle Haggard - Songman

Merle Haggard - Misery and Gin (the one song I wish would have been included)

Dixie Chicks - Long Time Gone

Merle Haggard’s Official Site, Buy Working Man’s Journey

I would never sit here and claim that I am some huge Dixie Chicks fan. Hell, up until 2 weeks ago, the only Dixie Chicks song I could name was Wide Open Spaces. I had no idea that they are the highest-selling female band in any musical genre ever. I was aware of their little controversy regarding some comments about the mouth breather in office, but only in the most basic sense. Natalie Maines said she was embarrassed Bush was from their home state of Texas and a bunch of overly sensitive people got all “offended”, whined to radio stations and they stopped playing their music. I did not know that to this day, some 4 years later, the country music establishment is still giving them the cold shoulder. Judging from what Nashville, pop country radio and CMT is going to bed with these days, being ignored probably isn’t a bad thing. I can not speak from experience, but I would imagine being in the same room with Toby Keith irreversibly lowers one’s IQ by 15 points or so.

So, a couple of weeks ago the wife and I sit down and watch the Dixie Chicks documentary, Shut Up and Sing. Unbelievable. I kept thinking, “Are you serious? That’s all it was?” What do you think the reaction/backlash would have been if she said that today? I’ll bet there are folks out there that threw their Dixie Chicks cds away 4 years ago that are embarrassed by this administration today.

But this is a music blog, not a political blog. No, if you wanna hear my blind hatred for all things political you must come and get drunk with me, so let’s steer this back to the music.

Before all the controversy, The Dixie Chicks had the number one song on country radio, Traveling Soldier. They kept playing it at the beginning of the movie and I was diggin’ it, so I made a mental note to download it after the flick. As the movie continued, I was surprised and inspired by how well they stuck together as a unit, and their courage to stand up in the face of the controversy and fight back against stupidity. Their refusal to back down off the comments was music to my ears. A big time band with resolve. They could have sucked the dick of the establishment and moved on, but instead they stood up for themselves. INCONCEIVABLE! Watching pieces of the song-writing process for their 2006 release Not Ready To Make Nice gave me enough insight into how personal the song was that I decided I wanted to give it a listen. I wasn’t sure if I was gonna like it or not but I decided to buy it in lieu of downloading it to show support for the girls and the first amendment, and to offer a big “fuck you” to Toby Keith and country radio. That’s probably also the essence of this post.

All in all it’s an “eh?” album for me. I really like the tracks that I can directly identify as being born from commentgate. However, at this point I’m really only lukewarm on the rest of it. That could be because I inherently felt a connection to certain tracks because of the movie and the others will grow on me. It could also be that those are the only tracks on the cd that are likable. I’m gonna give it a few more weeks before I decide, but I can tell you that the high points of Not Ready To Make Nice make it worth checking out, even if it’s by download. The song Traveling Soldier is also terrific, but my main reason for this entire post was to say that you should give this documentary a look see. It is a fantastic rock doc and I bet you’ll feel the same way about The Long Way Around after watching it.

Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice
Dixie Chicks - The Long Way Around
Dixie Chicks - Traveling Soldier

Dixie Chicks Official Site, Dixie Chicks on myspace, Buy The Long Way Around

This is the video for Not Ready To Make Nice. While being the lead single of their last album it is also the direct response to all the controversy. You go girls! You won a fan outta me.

The trailer for Shut Up and Sing: