Merle's tribute to the Honky Tonk music he grew up on includes songs by Lefty Frizzell & Hank Williams & more. An Epitaph Records release packaged in a jewel box with O-card.

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The album is called Roots: Volume 1 and has been a pet project of Haggard's. He plans to release more Roots albums, but Volume 1 is a special volume, containing songs from the artists that he admires the most. Roots is on the punk label, Anti-Records and was recorded in a way that is different from most albums. In order to have an authentic sound that really captures the mood of the songs on the album, Haggard had the recording sessions in his own living room. The album contains several Lefty Frizzell songs, and Haggard went so far as to recruit Lefty's former guitar player to add some riffs to the album. Lefty Frizzell's best known and most loved songs are included on the album. Haggard does such a wonderful job with "Always Late" that I found myself checking the album cover just once more to make sure I was hearing Merle Haggard. It was as if the ghost of Lefty had crept his way into the speakers. Haggard also pays tribute to Hank Williams and Hank Thompson with extraordinary covers. It is interesting that he does not attempt the best known songs by either one of the Hanks, but sticks with the songs that lean the most toward his style. Haggard also penned a few originals for the album and they fit in very naturally with the other songs. Every song is timeless. Nothing sounds like it was written last year and nothing sounds like it was written fifty years ago. Each and every song transcends the boundaries of time.

This is the kind of country music that reminds fans of the simplicity of the genre and the way in which less says so much more. More of today's new artists could take a lesson from Merle Haggard that the best music is made when you're unplugged. Of course, to sound right, they would have to have a voice like Merle Haggard's and there just weren't a lot of those handed out.

1 of 1 found the following review helpful:

Quite possibly the best Merle Haggard record, ever?Jan 13, 2004
Many have attempted to capture.. or re-capture that old fashioned country music sound. That sound that is known as "classic country". But there's something about the way those songs were recorded.. the lack of technology.. the stripped down approach to the recording sessions of Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams Sr., Floyd Tillman, & Jimmie Rogers.

What Merle Haggard has done in 2001 is capture that "classic country" sound.

Merle's producer Lou Bradley told me that they used a small mixer. Something that an indie artist recording his own material may use. They sat down in Merle's living room and just recorded this thing. The sound is absolutely breath taking.

This record really is a tribute to Merle's hero, Lefty Frizzell. Lefty's original guitar player, Norm Stephens(who is now a member of Merle's band), plays on this record and obviously adds to that classic sound that they were attempting to capture.

Merle also adds a few original tunes that fit right along side the classics written by his idols. "More Than My Old Guitar" & "Runaway Mamma" sound like they came straight out of a small recording session from the 50's.

There is no weak song at all on this album, it's worth every penny. And, it may be the greatest Merle Haggard record that there has ever been. That's a tribute to just how good Merle still is in his 60's.

2 of 2 found the following review helpful:

A short walk into counry music's pastAug 25, 2002
Merle Haggard is credited with being one of the greatest songwriters in country music history, and he is well deserving of that monarch. But would an album that only has three original Merle tunes on it be worth listening to. The answer to that question my friends is Yes, Yes, 1,000 times YES. On this record Merle takes songs by such legends in country music as Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell and males them sound like they were an original Merle tune. In addition, Merle's singing on this album is original and fresh, but don't worry hardcore merle fans, he's not sounding like Toby Keith. It's old-school honky tonk played at its very best, a literal milestone of songs that have already become classics. But the way that this album sounds, Merle's cover's will be remembered in the same way the originals were and still are remembered by Merle.