Bear Family
1995
Untamed Hawk: The Early Recordings Of Merle Haggard
About This Album
The thing that makes Bear Family's Untamed Hawk a little difficult to listen to for pleasure is the very reason it's necessary for serious Merle Haggard fans and collectors: Over the course of five discs, it contains all of the Capitol recordings (plus his early work for Talley) between 1962 and 1968, including alternate takes and unreleased cuts. This is a bonanza, since from the outset, Haggard was one of the most reliable of all country singers, turning out consistently enjoyable work due to his terrific ear for material and excellent songwriting and performances. He certainly did record a few duds, or at least unrealized tracks, during this time, but those are fascinating in context (either on the original albums or in this box set). Yet the consistency is rather remarkable; the singles are usually the standouts, but there are many tracks nearly as compelling as well. This is all apparent on the original albums as well as Untamed Hawk, but the box set may not be the best way to hear this music, largely because of the sequencing. Like many Bear Family boxes (or at least their sets from the '80s through the mid-'90s), this places chronological order before listenability, as it presents everything in session order -- which means that the alternate takes and false starts slow the momentum of the sessions.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 3,6,7,9,11,13,15,17,18,19,20,22,23,26,27,28 and 29)

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Disc 2 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,15,19,23 and 27)

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Disc 3 (try tracks 2,3,4,5,11,18,22 and 26)

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Disc 4 (try tracks 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11,13,14,15,16,18,20,25,26 and 27)

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Disc 5 (try tracks 1,2,6,8,9,11,13,15,18,19,20 and 21)

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