HAGGARD, MERLE - Serving 190 Proof (Sealed) (CD)

Many hardcore Haggard fans will go to bat for “Serving 190 Proof” as his best, and they might be right. The album gets cited as Merle Haggard’s most personal and there’s no doubt that’s true. The album is probably best remembered for its opener “Footlights”, a mid-career rumination on the loneliness of a touring musician’s life. The bluesy “Got Lonely Too Early This Morning” and “I Didn’t Mean To Love You”, plus “Driftwood” and “I Can’t Get Away”, opposite sides of the same coin. Though the optimistic “Roses in the Winter” provides an impressive finale. Merle Haggard sings like these songs meant more to him than any he is done in years.