Live From Austin, TX '78 (CD)

When he stepped onto the Austin City Limits stage for the very first time on that brisk January day in 1978, Merle Haggard was at the top of his game. It had been over a decade since his first national hit, Sing A Sad Song, and not that long after Okie From Muskogee had firmly planted his music in the public consciousness. He had already been declared Entertainer of the Year by both the Country Music Awards and Academy of Country Music in the same year (1970). He had just released A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (Or My Salute to Bob Wills), which sparked a revival of interest in western swing. And with his band, The Strangers, its no stretch to say that he had the best live show in country music of his day.

Clean-shaven and hatless, Merle looks almost boyish as he bounces around the stage, sporting a broad grin and waving his fiddle as he leads the band. Extraordinary musicians like Roy Nichols, finger-picking and bending notes on his telecaster like no other country guitarist, Norm Hamlet on pedal steel, Gordon Terry on second fiddle and Merles ex Bonnie Owens singing back up, produced a sound that made The Strangers a world-class band.

The boy from Oklahoma had come a long way since his family moved to California to escape the Great Depression. After his father died when Merle was only nine, he started getting into trouble with the law, bouncing around from juvenile detention to county jail before landing in San Quentin for burglary. He went from digging ditches in 1960 to recording his first hit in 64, then on to one of the most remarkable careers in country music.

Yet this is the show that almost didnt happen. Merle wasnt familiar with the fledgling PBS music series, but he had been befriended by the legendary University of Texas Longhorns football coach and consummate country music fan Darrell Royal, who convinced him to take a detour from his Texas tour to play our show. Thanks to Coach Royal, the magic from that night is on display for all to enjoy.

- Terry Lickona (Producer Austin City LimitsÆ)

CD : 1 Working Man Cant Get Nowhere Today (2:52) 2 Silver Wings (3:00) 3 Ramblin Fever (3:12) 4 Lonesome Fugitive (1:43) 5 Sing Me Back Home (3:44) 6 Orange Blossom Special (4:30) 7 Old-Fashioned Love (3:41) 8 Long Black Limousine (4:35) 9 Cherokee Maiden (2:59) 10 San Antonio Rose (3:33) 11 Misery (2:57) 12 Farmers Daughter (3:15) 13 Brain Cloudy Blues (5:39) 14 Workin Man Blues (4:20) DVD 1 Working Man Cant Get Nowhere Today (2:52) 2 Silver Wings (3:00) 3 Ramblin Fever (3:12) 4 Lonesome Fugitive (1:43) 5 Sing Me Back Home (3:44) 6 Orange Blossom Special (4:30) 7 Old-Fashioned Love (3:41) 8 Long Black Limousine (4:35) 9 Cherokee Maiden (2:59) 10 San Antonio Rose (3:33) 11 Misery (2:57) 12 Farmers Daughter (3:15) 13 Brain Cloudy Blues (5:39) 14 Workin Man Blues (4:20)

• Format Detail: Other This is a CD/DVD package. CD audio and DVD is 5.1 audio and visual of the show.
• Format: CD
• Label: New West Records
• Genre: Country