Bryan and the Haggards, Dr. Eugene Chadbourne - Merles Just Want To Have Fun (2013)

Tracklist

01. Fightin' Side of Me
02. Old Man from the Mountain
03. Mama Tried
04. I Take a Lot of Pride in What I am
05. Bob Wills medley
06. Listening to the Wind
07. Stay Here and Drink
08. If We Make it through December
09. Working Man Medley
10. Okie from Muskogee
11. The Way I Am
12. That's the News


It was probably inevitable. New York's most decorated avant jazz Merle Haggard cover band really had to get together with Eugene Chadbourne, who has been entertaining the masses with his avant-garde country jazz stylings for decades now. Oh sure, the sax players and drummer may take a few liberties here and there and the "Bob Wills Medley" might have a chicken interlude and scatted bass solo, but this album was definitely made by folks who love Hag's music. You can't be a casual fan and create a mashup like "If Someday We Look Back Through December"! It might read like a joke, and they most certainly have some fun on the album, but "Listening to the Wind" is just a great (if unconventional) reading of a great song, without an ounce of irony or parody. The same could be said for "That's the News" and "The Way I Am" (a lovely banjo duet by Jon Lundbom and the good doctor). Merles Just Want to Have Fun is a fun and loving tribute...that should probably be avoided by country music purists.

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