Merle Haggard - The Second Disc

Release Round-Up: Week of November 7

November 7, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Wings, Wings [Various Formats] (MPL/Capitol/UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada On November 4, Paul McCartney released Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, an oral history of the superstar’s other band. The hardcover tome, created in collaboration with film director Morgan Neville and editor Ted Widmer, tells Wings’ story through text, photographs, a timeline, a gigography,…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

The Second Disc’s Picks for Record Store Day Black Friday 2021

November 26, 2021 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you’ve enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. (And with plenty of delicious food, too!) Now, Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event is upon us, so we’re spotlighting a dozen of the most eagerly anticipated releases arriving to your local independent brick-and-mortar record shop! Here are our personal picks for RSD BF must-haves; visit Record Store Day’s official website for a list of participating retailers. Happy Listening, and have a great…

Categories:

News

Formats:

CD, Cassette, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Gospel, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

"Weird Al" Yankovic, Aerosmith, Carole King, Dusty Springfield, John Legend, Leonard Cohen, Little Feat, Merle Haggard, Michael Kamen, Osaka Popstar, Ray Price, Record Store Day, The Munsters, The Shangri-Las, The Staple Singers, Willie Nelson

Release Round-Up: Week of December 11

December 11, 2020 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary Edition (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th Anniversary Edition of Neil Young’s classic album features new art based on Gary Burden’s original album cover design. The CD is out today while the vinyl edition will be released in March, 2021 and presented in a box set with the LP and a bonus 7″ single in a newly designed picture sleeve. This set includes two different versions of the After the Gold Rush outtake “Wonderin’.” …

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Release Round-Up

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, SACD, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Alan Jay Lerner, David Heneker, Deftones, Firefall, Frank Sinatra, Jim Croce, John Barry, Kool and the Gang, Maury Yeston, Merle Haggard, Neil Young, Roxette, Willie Nelson

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bear Family Explores “The Bakersfield Sound” on New Box Set

December 9, 2019 by Joe Marchese | 4 Comments

Get Along Down to Town Bakersfield, California is a long way from Nashville – a little under 2,020 miles west, actually. But the distance isn’t quite as great when one considers how much significant country music came out of the city in Kern County. Recent years have seen numerous reissues from legendary Bakersfield artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, as well as a fine exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame. But now Bear Family Records has delivered the ultimate tribute to the city’s remarkable legacy of music. The Bakersfield…

Categories:

Holiday Gift Guide, News, Reviews

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Country

Tags:

Arlo Guthrie, Barbara Mandrell, Bill Woods, Billy Mize, Bonnie Owens, Buck Owens, Ferlin Husky, Liz Anderson, Merle Haggard, Various Artists

Release Round-Up: Week of October 18

October 18, 2019 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Jethro Tull, Stormwatch: 40th Anniversary Edition (Chrysalis) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Jethro Tull continues its long-running box set series with a new 4CD/2DVD expansion of 1979’s Stormwatch, the final Tull album to feature the “classic” line-up of Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, John Glascock, John Evan, David (now Dee) Palmer, and Barriemore Barlow. The new edition features: The original album and associated recordings newly remixed by Steven Wilson; A complete concert from the Netherlands recorded in March 1980; The original album and 13…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Buck Owens, Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Fastball, Idina Menzel, Jason Danieley, Jethro Tull, Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, Julie Andrews, Marin Mazzie, Marvin Gaye, Merle Haggard, Roger C. Reale and Rue Morgue, Roy Orbison, Stephen Bishop, Stone Temple Pilots, The Carter Family, The Muffs, a-ha

Release Round-Up: Week of August 29

August 30, 2019 by Sam Stone | No Comments

Here’s your Release Round Up for the week ahead. Various Artists, Country Music — A Film By Ken Burns: The Soundtrack (Legacy Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Walmart.com Filmmaker Ken Burns has tackled many subjects over the years, from the Civil War to baseball. His documentaries have garnered numerous awards over the years. In 2001, he took an in-depth look at the genre…

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Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Funk, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

The Circle is Unbroken: Legacy To Release The Soundtrack to Ken Burns’ “Country Music” in Box Set, Other Editions

June 14, 2019 by Randy Fairman | 1 Comment

Filmmaker Ken Burns has tackled many subjects over the years, from the Civil War to baseball. His documentaries have garnered numerous awards over the years. In 2001, he took an in-depth look at the genre of jazz. Now, he is aiming to explore a different genre with Country Music, an eight-part, 16-1/2-hour documentary premiering September 15 on PBS. And as with Jazz, there will be an accompanying soundtrack. The most expansive of these is a 5-disc box set debuting on August 30 from Legacy Recordings. Other configurations of the set including a…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Country

Tags:

Charley Pride, Dolly Parton, George Jones, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline, Rosanne Cash, Various Artists, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson

Swinging Doors: Grateful Dead, Emmylou, Dolly, Dino, More Celebrate “The Merle Haggard Songbook”

May 23, 2019 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

Along with Buck Owens – with whom he shared a musical history and a wife – Merle Haggard (1937-2016) defined The Bakersfield Sound of country music: authentic, raw, rooted in honky-tonks. But unlike the Texas-born and Arizona-raised Owens, Haggard was actually born in Bakersfield and raised just across the river from that California town. “Hag,” as he preferred to be known, rocketed to superstardom thanks to “Okie from Muskogee,” his controversial 1969 song that was either a scathing indictment of the younger generation or of the smalltown, heartland folk criticizing them. (Hag…

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News, Reviews

Formats:

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

Dean Martin, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Grateful Dead, Jerry Lee Lewis, Merle Haggard, Tammy Wynette, The Byrds, The Everly Brothers, Various Artists

In the Pocket: Ace Salutes Mickie Most, Reggie Young on New Anthologies

March 6, 2019 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

The names of Mickie Most and Reggie Young might not be among the most familiar except to diehard music aficionados, but the songs that benefited from their respective golden touches certainly are among the most well-known ever. Ace Records has recently paid tribute to both of these late talents with a pair of deluxe anthologies. The Pop Genius of Mickie Most may be the most lavish single-disc package yet released by Ace, housed in a heavy slipcase also containing a squarebound 74-page biography of the producer-impresario. Most (1938-2003) made no bones about…

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News, Reviews

Formats:

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul

Tags:

Donovan, Dusty Springfield, Elvis Presley, Herman's Hermits, Jackie DeShannon, Jeff Beck, Johnny Cash, Lulu, Merle Haggard, Mickie Most, Reggie Young, Solomon Burke, Various Artists, Waylon Jennings

Release Round-Up: Week of June 2

June 2, 2015 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

This week’s Release Round-Up is headlined by a legendary singer-songwriter’s first appearance on Second Disc Records, plus an array of box sets, reissues and beyond from across the musical spectrum! Paul Williams, A Little on the Windy Side: Expanded Edition (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The newest release from our very own Second Disc Records imprint of Real Gone Music is here! The first-ever American reissue of Paul Williams’ 1979 Portrait Records album has been newly remastered and features four bonus tracks – three previously unreleased outtakes and one…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks

Tags:

Black Oak Arkansas, Charley Pride, David Shire, George Jones, Heatwave, Iron Butterfly, Lesley Gore, Little Richard, Merle Haggard, Paul Williams, Robin Gibb, Silver Convention, Tammy Wynette, The Bee Gees, Willie Nelson

Release Round-Up: Week of March 25

March 25, 2014 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

Johnny Cash, Out Among the Stars (Columbia/Legacy) This new album of newly-discovered mid-’80s outtakes is perhaps better than what was released at the time. Gorgeous and, at times, haunting, the way Johnny Cash albums should be. CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: 40th Anniversary Edition (Mercury/Rocket/UMe) Elton’s classic double album comes back to glorious life with several lavish editions, featuring new covers of songs from the set, B-sides, live material and more. 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 4CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1BD:…

Categories:

News, Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, DVD

Genres:

Tags:

Aztec Camera, Blue Nile, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Merle Haggard, Miles Davis, My Chemical Romance, Pantera, Rod Stewart, Small Faces, The Monkees, Toto, Vinyl

Return of the Okie from Muskogee: Live Merle Haggard Records Paired for Reissue

March 21, 2014 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

If you like livin’ right and free, you’re going to love the recent revelation that Merle Haggard’s famed live album Okie from Muskogee will be reissued next week, paired with a follow-up live record making its CD debut. Named for the 1969 country chart-topper that’s easily Haggard’s signature song – a tongue-in-cheek lampooning of the liberal values that were taking youth culture by storm at the time – Okie from Muskogee is a perfect distillation of Haggard’s unique voice and sound, a uniquely harmonic, twangy country indicative of the Bakersfield sound fans have come…

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News

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Merle Haggard

Along Came Jones (And Robbins, Too): Morello Revives Classic Country from George and Marty

September 13, 2013 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Cherry Red’s busy Morello Records imprint has continued its classic country revival with three recent releases – all available now – from some very legendary names: George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck and Marty Robbins. George Jones was the first artist to be reissued on the Morello label, and just a few months ago, the two-fer of Jones Country (1983) and You’ve Still Got a Place in My Heart (1984) arrived. Morello’s exploration of Jones’ latter-day work has now brought the reissue on one CD of two Epic Records albums: he autobiographically-titled…

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News

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Genres:

Tags:

Marty Robbins, Merle Haggard

Review: The Buckaroos, “Play Buck and Merle” and Don Rich, “That Fiddlin’ Man”

July 23, 2013 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

“Who’s going to want to listen to the band with Don [Rich] playing the melody line to the song, when you could hear Buck [Owens] doing the real deal?” queried drummer Willie Cantu of The Buckaroos when called upon to record 1965’s all-instrumental The Buck Owens Song Book. Capitol Records surely thought there would be an audience for the LP, proclaiming on its back cover that “you too can sing Buck’s country-western songs to the rousing, rhythmic playing of his buddy Don Rich and The Buckaroos!” The original album has been out…

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Reviews

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Genres:

Tags:

Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, The Buckaroos

They’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail: Don Rich and The Buckaroos Return From Omnivore

May 17, 2013 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Omnivore Recordings is going back to Bakersfield. Building on the success of such projects as Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics, Don Rich Sings George Jones, Buck Owens Live at the White House, Buck Sings Eagles, and (this author’s personal favorite!) the Buck Owens Coloring Book and Flexi Disc, Omnivore is mining the rich, rough-and-tumble country-and-western legacy of that California town for two new releases due on July 23. Buck Owens’ iconic band The Buckaroos are celebrated with The Buckaroos Play Buck and Merle, in which they pay tribute to the…

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News

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, The Buckaroos

Release Round-Up: Week of February 12

February 13, 2013 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

Merle Haggard, The Complete ’60s Capitol Singles / Wanda Jackson, The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles / George Jones, The Complete United Artists Solo Singles (Omnivore) Joe’s review of all three of these new country/rock singles anthologies from Omnivore speaks for each of them pretty well! Merle: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Wanda: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. George: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Borderline, Sweet Dreams and Quiet Desires/The Second Album / Sam Dees, The Show Must Go On / Kenny O’Dell, Beautiful People / Pozo Seco, Shades of Time / Sam Samudio, Hard and Heavy / Billy Joe Shaver, The Complete Columbia Recordings /Rick Wakeman, No Earthly Connection (Real Gone Music) The latest from Real Gone (some of which…

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News, Release Round-Up

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Bing Crosby, Merle Haggard, Pat Boone, R.E.M., Rick Wakeman, Wanda Jackson

Review: “Classic Singles” of Merle Haggard, George Jones and Wanda Jackson

February 12, 2013 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

What makes a (living) legend most? Based on the label’s three most recent releases, Omnivore Recordings certainly has some ideas. Omnivore has just issued singles anthologies from three tried-and-true country titans: Merle Haggard’s The Complete ‘60s Capitol Singles, George Jones’ The Complete United Artists Solo Singles, and Wanda Jackson’s The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles. All three titles reiterate the eclectic label’s commitment to reissuing some of the most significant C&W music of all time. Like another Omnivore favorite, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard epitomized the “Bakersfield sound” of country music, a…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Country

Tags:

George Jones, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson

The Race Is On! Singles Collections Coming From George Jones, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson

December 18, 2012 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

One thing the folks at Omnivore Recordings are, well, omnivorous about is country music. For Record Store Day’s Black Friday event, the label previewed four upcoming releases with special vinyl EPs from Buck Owens, Wanda Jackson, Merle Haggard and George Jones. Following the January 23, 2013 release of Owens’ Honky Tonk Man and Don Rich Sings George Jones, Omnivore will issue three new compilations on February 12: Haggard’s The Complete ‘60s Capitol Singles, Jones’ The Complete United Artists Solo Singles, and Jackson’s The Best of the Classic Capitol Singles. The vinyl EPs…

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News

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Genres:

Tags:

Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson

Black Friday 2012: Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa Lead Off Packed Slate of RSD Exclusives

November 21, 2012 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Here in the U. S. of A., Black Friday is almost upon us: that unusual date following the prior day of giving thanks, in which consumers make a mad dash to the local big-box store, mall or shopping center to procure bargains for the holiday season ahead. Retailers are controversially beginning Black Friday “festivities” even earlier than usual this year, with many sales starting on Thanksgiving Day itself and not even at midnight but in the early part of the evening. For a number of recent years, music buyers have had our…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets

Genres:

Soundtracks

Tags:

Bob Dylan, Buck Owens, Lee Hazlewood, Leonard Cohen, Love, Marshall Crenshaw, Merle Haggard, Miles Davis, Nirvana, The Beach Boys, The Grateful Dead, The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, Vinyl, Wanda Jackson

WE HAVE A WINNER! A Complete Set of BLACK FRIDAY/RECORD STORE DAY Releases from OMNIVORE RECORDINGS!

November 19, 2012 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

CONGRATULATIONS TO MICHAEL HOWE, WINNER OF THE BLACK FRIDAY/RSD PRIZE PACK!

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Giveaways!, News

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson

Omnivore’s Black Friday Schedule: Capitol Rarities on Vinyl, Jellyfish Instrumentals on CD

October 15, 2012 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

We’re close to that most wonderful time of the year, folks! No, not Christmas, but – well, yeah, I guess Christmas is closer than we’d all wish it would be. But ANYWAY, the wonderful time I was alluding to is Record Store Day’s Black Friday event. The day after Thanksgiving, our beloved local independent record stores join forces with major and independent labels alike to release special exclusive treats as a way of thanking us for patronizing their businesses. While a full list of RSD exclusives has yet to materialize, at least…

Categories:

News

Formats:

CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Country, Pop, Rock

Tags:

Buck Owens, Jellyfish, Merle Haggard, Wanda Jackson