The Roots of My Raising

AMG Review of The Roots of My Raising

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

The Roots of My Raising is Merle Haggard's final recording for Capitol. Like its predecessor, My Love Affair With Trains, it features only one of his originals. But it's difficult to say whether Haggard was saving his own songs for his new deal with MCA or had specifics in mind when he made these albums. It was a hell of a way to go out though: The album garnered two number one singles (Hag's 23rd and 24th) in the title track written by the great Tommy Collins and Cindy Walker's "Cherokee Maiden," which Bob Wills hit with in 1941. The most interesting thing about these songs as hit singles is how far outside the mainstream of country music they were. The music was becoming slicker and more urban for the first time in a decade, and urban cowboy was just around the corner. One of Haggard's most overlooked gems is here, though it was never issued as a single. "What Have You Got Planned Tonight, Diana?" is a deeply moving love song from the bed of a dying man. There's also Haggard's definitive version -- he recorded it three different times -- of Lefty Frizzell's hit "I Never Go Around Mirrors" and his own lovely and poignant "Am I Standing in Your Way." The Strangers remained the most rock-solid of country bands, able to slide from honky tonk to near-luegrass stomp to Jimmie Rodgers-style lues ("Gamblin' Polka Dot Blues" and "Delta Blues") to Western swing with a horn section on "Cherokee Maiden." While The Roots of My Raising ended a 12-year relationship with Capitol, it was also the end of a particular stylistic direction for Haggard. The move to MCA would see an evolution in his sound and recording approach.