A Tribute To The Best Damn Fid

Bottom line: it's not bad, but it's not Bob Wills, either. Hag's band, the Strangers, is not entirely suited to this music, and it loses some of its swing. And while Hag's a fine vocalist, he is no Tommy Duncan, and his spoken interjections, a la Wills, don't really come off, at least to me. So I would give five stars for the intention and effort, but if you really want to hear "Time Changes Everything," "Take Me Back To Tulsa," "San Antonio Rose," or other Bob Wills classics...buy a Bob Wills record.

When Merle Haggard and his The Strangers and a handful of retired Texas Playboys recorded this album, he intended to turn back the pages of time, hoping for a glance at what once had been, never dreaming that he would jump start the Western Swing genre back into popularity single-handedly.

Haggard, always a risk taker, lost his father way too soon, ended up riding the rails, 'hoboing' across the US with a Railroad Workers pass in his pocket because of his father's trade. He never used the pass and did it his way. His way, wound him up in San Quentin Prison serving hard time where he turned 21 in solitary confinement next to condemned criminal Caryl Chessman. His offenses, though not the caliber of Chessman, he was a very unsettled young man with a string of convictions ranging from burglary, grand theft auto and more escapes from jails and juvenile institutions than the judge had ever seen. He served his time, paid his debt to society and later California Governor Ronald Reagan eventually gave him a full pardon.

Haggard beat the odds. He emerged from prison a changed man. He left behind a life of crime and ended up a legend in his own hometown of Bakersfield and in Country music, not to mention, a legend in his own time.

At the height of his career, he swept the CMA awards ceremonies in 1969 for his self-penned, mixed message anthem, 'Okie From Muskogee'. It garnered awards for album, song, single, and male vocalist and entertainer of the year. As he stood there accepting the trophys, in the back of his mind was a project that would change music history; 'The Bob Wills Tribute'.

He discussed it with his Strangers and always the perfectionist, never the compromiser; they decided if the project was to have validity, outside assistance was necessary. Merle went to Ft. Worth to see Bob Wills, then ailing from a series of heart attacks and strokes which impaired him where he no longer lead a band or perform. Wills advised, "Get some of my Texas Playboys to help you!" Most were scattered, in retirement except fiddler Johnny Gimble in Nashville who was a popular sideman. Within hours of this meeting with Wills, Merle had received commitments from 6 former Texas Playboys including Johnny Gimble, guitarist Eldon Shamblin, fiddlers Joe Holley and Tiny Moore who also played electric mandolin, trumpet man Alex Brashear, Bob's brother Johnnie Lee Wills on tenor banjo. With the Strangers as a nucleus: guitarist Roy Nichols, steel guitarist, Norman Hamlet, rhythm Bobby Wayne, bass man Dennis Hromek, drummer Biff Adam, fiddler Gordon Terry and pianist George French the two groups merged together and commenced rehearsals on Merle's 33rd birthday, April 6th, 1970. The 3 day session yielded the album that turned back the pages of time, 'A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddler in the World... or My Salute to Bob Wills'.

Talk about taking risks! Having swept the CMA awards and he chose this to be his 'Okie' follow-up album? Capitol Records producer Ken Nelson was NOT amused! Threatening to sue Hag for breach of contract, Nelson, who had produced virtually all of Haggard's early hits, refused to produce the sessions. Calling their bluff, Merle booked studio time and commenced. They were not about to lose their 'cash cow', after all the awards, number one hits, and all that money rolling in. Meanwhile, Capitol released a 'live' follow-up album from a concert in Philadelphia, entitled 'The Fightin' Side Of Me', a sequel to 'Okie'.

Haggard stood his ground, self produced the recordings, while Capitol assigned Earl Ball interim 'producer'; he made sure there was tape on the Ampex recorders. Merle proudly played the fiddle Bob Wills had given him. This recording was about posterity, not hits, or money. It is the album, which brought Western Swing out of mothballs. The music had with the emergence of Television and Rock and Roll. It was dance music but by 1956, Wills' music was taking a backseat to 'I Love Lucy' and Elvis Presley. People preferred to sit at a 'concert' to view a performance instead of 'shaking a leg'. Old-timer's talked about the good old days, teenagers took over music, the recording industry catered to them and the old 78-rpm's gave-way to 45-rpm's.

In 1970, enter Merle Haggard Superstar. He releases this groundbreaking album paying homage to another hero whose music has touched untold thousands. This album was the Rosetta Stone where artists Asleep at the Wheel, George Strait and others took inspiration, emerging as great Western Swing artists. Haggard relit the torch, passed it on to these upstarts and the results speak for themselves.

The album proved several things. Merle had done his homework, this was not some 'Johnny-come-lately-flash-in-the-pan' just out to fulfill contract obligations and make a few bucks. Merle knew Wills, seeing him many times in his neighborhood as a teenager at dances in the 40's at Bakersfield's Beardsley Ballroom from a window he crawled up and sat in. He witnessed legends playing with freshness on each performance yet with standard of excellence, heard on the red Columbia Bob Wills 78 rpm's his mother had bought him. He observed with an intensity that afforded him knowledge of Bob's stage antics as he played his fiddle, and the band extemporized their solos. Merle, who was especially delighted in Tommy Duncan's easy, straightforward singing style and the hot guitar solos. When the tribute album was in the works Merle would say, "Didn't 'we' used to do it like this?" playing a passage on the fiddle. Merle indeed did his homework. He loved their music, and it shows! The album is a labor of love; lots of joy and tears passed between them all before it was completed.

Buy this CD! It is a highly recommend album for all fans of Bob Wills, Western Swing, and Merle Haggard. You will get a birds eye view of what Merle observed from that window as a kid. Let Merle and company turn back the pages of time. Bob Wills is gone and was not present on this album- but his spirit sure was and still IS!

Buddy McPeters
Bay Area, CA June 2002