''1994'' is the forty-eighth studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

singer

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

, released in 1994.

Background

Although Haggard's profile remained high in 1994, having been the subject of two tribute albums ('' Mama's Hungry Eyes: A Tribute to Merle Haggard'' and ''Tulare Dust''), ''1994'' was a commercial disappointment, peaking at number 60 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' country albums chart. It had been four years since Haggard's previous album '' Blue Jungle'', and in his Haggard biography ''The Running Kind'', David Cantwell writes that Haggard, "took to bitching in interviews that Curb was happy enough to use his name for bait, luring future stars like

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

to the label, but it wouldn't release his music." The album includes a remake of his 1977 hit "Ramblin' Fever."

Reception

Dan Cooper of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

calls 1994 Haggard's strongest album since '' Big City''. Biographer David Cantwell observed in 2013, "When it finally showed up, ''1994'' improved considerably on ''Blue Jungle''."

Track listing

#"I Am an Island" ( Max D. Barnes) – 3:34 #"In My Next Life" (Barnes) – 3:48 #"Way Back in the Mountains" (Merle Haggard, Barnes) – 3:09 #"What's New in New York City" (Haggard) – 2:47 #"Set My Chickens Free" (Haggard, Richard Smith) – 2:18 #"Chores" (Haggard, Barnes, Billy Davis, Theresa Lane) – 3:06 #"Valentine" (

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

) – 3:09 #"Solid as a Rock" (Haggard, Barnes) – 3:11 #"Bye, Bye, Travelin' Blues" (Haggard, Dean Holloway) – 2:56 #"Troubadour" (Haggard) – 2:28 #"Ramblin' Fever" (Haggard) – 3:58

Personnel

– vocals, guitar *

Norm Hamlet Norm Hamlet is an American steel guitarist and a member of Merle Haggard's The Strangers band for the past 49 years.Terry Downs: ''The Strangers'', http://www.terrydownsmusic.com/Archive/strangers_article.pdf, n.d., downloaded May 6, 2012.The Stee ...

– steel guitar *Biff Adams – drums *Don Markham – trumpet, saxophone *

Larry Byrom Larry Clifton Byrom (born December 27, 1948 in Huntsville, Alabama) is an American guitarist. Byrom performed in a band called the Precious Few in the 1960s, then joined T.I.M.E.; in 1970, he joined Steppenwolf. He left Steppenwolf in 1972 and ...

– guitar *

Glen Duncan Glen Duncan is a British author born in 1965 in Bolton, Lancashire, England to an Anglo-Indian family. He studied philosophy and literature at the universities of Lancaster and Exeter. In 1990 Duncan moved to London, where he worked as a books ...

– fiddle *Sonny Garrish – dobro, steel guitar *Owen Hale – drums *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...

– guitar *Abe Manuel, Jr. – guitar *Joe Manuel – guitar *Hilton Reed – guitar *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. He rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section, which supported so many of Asylu ...

– bass *Gary W. Smith – piano *Joe Spivey – fiddle *

Curtis Wright Curtis Blaine Wright (born June 6, 1955) is an American country music artist. He first played in the 1970s and 80s as a member of the Super Grit Cowboy Band before becoming a solo artist in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Wright charted three s ...

– background vocals *Curtis Young – background vocals Production notes: *James Stroud – producer *Hank Williams – mastering * Julian King – engineer *Steve Ledet – assistant engineer *Rodney Good – assistant engineer *Mark Hagen – assistant engineer *

Lynn Peterzell Lynn Meyer Peterzell (January 10, 1955 – September 8, 1994) was a country music audio engineer from Nashville, Tennessee. Lynn Peterzell was raised in Pascagoula, Mississippi by Frances and Milton Peterzell. He was the third of five childre ...

– engineer, mixing *Doug Rich – production assistant

Chart positions

Notes

References

{{Authority control 1994 albums Merle Haggard albums Curb Records albums Albums produced by James Stroud