I would have to agree with the powers that be about Merle’s “bluegrass” album not getting recognized. I got the album thinking that it would be his tunes done in the bluegrass style but I was sorely dissapointed. Mostly everything was Merle’s country songs done with bluegrass instrumentation “unplugged style” with the same old country arrangements. I expected that the producer to present his songs arranged differently, at least with a bit of energy. I suppose that “bluegrass” can be interpreted many ways and continues to be the age-old argument about what is and what ain’t bluegrass. I love Merle Haggard and his music but I feel that this effort was entirely mis-represented to the bluegrass world. The title of the project should have been Merle Haggard Unplugged or something more suitable to what it really is. The producers of this project missed the mark as far as I’m concerned.
