Blue Jungle
Blue Jungle | ||||
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Studio album by Merle Haggard | ||||
Released | 1990 | |||
Genre | Country | |||
Length | 29:16 | |||
Label | Curb | |||
Producer | Merle Haggard, Grady Martin, Mark Yeary | |||
Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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Blue Jungle is the forty-seventh studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard, with backing by his band, The Strangers, released in 1990. The album peaked at number 47 on the Billboard country albums chart. It was co-produced by Mark Yeary, the honky tonk piano player of Merle Haggard's band, 13 consecutive years awarded the ACM Band of the Year, The Strangers.
Background
Blue Jungle marked Haggard's first album with Curb after his run on Epic Records ended with his 1989 album 5:01 Blues. Two songs, "My Home Is in the Street" (co-written with wife Teresa) and "Under the Bridge", deal with the topic of homelessness. "Driftwood" is updated from the version that appeared on Haggard's 1979 MCA LP Serving 190 Proof.
"When It Rains It Pours," the first single off of Merle's first record for Curb Records, was a ballad that peaked at number 38 on the music charts. Merle had a run in with Curb executives and refused to let them on his bus at a show in southern California. Following this episode, Curb stopped promoting to radio, Merle's new single, "When It Rains It Pours," (penned by his protege John Cody Carter) and immediately the single was stopped in its tracks. Curb later released the B side of "When It Rains It Pours," a song entitled "Me and Crippled Soldiers" penned by Merle.[1]
Reception
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The AllMusic review states: "...his songwriting expertise still remained intact...Blue Jungle is a glimpse of a performer with nothing to lose, away from the spotlight yet very much engaged with his material. According to Hank Cochran, legendary songwriter and close friend of Haggard, "Cody's song, 'When It Rains It Pours' was the jewel of the album."[2]
Track listing
- "Blue Jungle" (Merle Haggard, Freddy Powers) – 2:27
- "Sometimes I Dream" (Haggard) – 2:57
- "My Home Is in the Street" (Haggard, Teresa Lane Haggard) – 2:27
- "When It Rains It Pours" (John Cody Carter) – 3:27
- "Me and Crippled Soldiers" (Haggard, Bonnie Owens) – 3:12
- "Under the Bridge" (Haggard) – 2:56
- "Lucky Old Colorado" (Red Simpson) – 3:10
- "Driftwood" (Haggard) – 2:47
- "Never No Mo' Blues" (Elsie McWilliams, Jimmie Rodgers) – 3:01
- "A Bar in Bakersfield" (Haggard, Powers) – 2:52
Personnel
- Merle Haggard– vocals, guitar
The Strangers:
- Norm Hamlet - Dobro, steel guitar
- Clint Strong - acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Bobby Wayne - acoustic guitar
- Mark Yeary - keyboards, piano
- Biff Adam - drums, percussion
- Don Markham - saxophone, trumpet
- Gary Church - cornet, trombone
with:
- Grady Martin - electric guitar
- Bonnie Owens - background vocals
and:
- Willie Savage - electric guitar
- Steve Grahn - acoustic guitar
- Gary Tackett - acoustic guitar
- Reggie Brown - bass guitar
- Mike Leech - bass guitar
- Joe Reed - bass guitar
- Eric Griffin - percussion
- Steve Van Stralen - percussion
- Steve Herman - harmonica
References
- v
- t
- e
- The Strangers
- Biff Adam
- Jimmy Belken
- Eddie Burris
- Gary Church
- Wayne Durham
- George French
- Dennis Hromek
- Don Markham
- Johnny Meeks
- Marcia Nichols
- Ronnie Reno
- Clint Strong
- Jim Tittle
- Jerry Ward
- Bobby Wayne
- Mark Yeary
- Strangers
- Swinging Doors ‡
- I'm a Lonesome Fugitive ‡
- Branded Man ‡
- Sing Me Back Home ‡
- The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde ‡
- Mama Tried ‡
- Pride in What I Am ‡
- Same Train, a Different Time ‡
- A Portrait of Merle Haggard ‡
- A Tribute to the Best Damn Fiddle Player in the World (or, My Salute to Bob Wills) ‡
- Hag ‡
- Someday We'll Look Back ‡
- Let Me Tell You About a Song ‡
- It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) ‡
- If We Make It Through December ‡
- Merle Haggard Presents His 30th Album ‡
- Keep Movin' On ‡
- It's All in the Movies ‡
- My Love Affair with Trains ‡
- The Roots of My Raising ‡
- Ramblin' Fever
- A Working Man Can't Get Nowhere Today ‡
- My Farewell to Elvis
- I'm Always on a Mountain When I Fall
- Serving 190 Proof
- The Way I Am
- Back to the Barrooms
- Big City
- Going Where the Lonely Go
- That's the Way Love Goes
- It's All in the Game
- Kern River
- Out Among the Stars
- A Friend in California
- Chill Factor
- 5:01 Blues
- Blue Jungle
- 1994
- 1996
- If I Could Only Fly
- Roots, Volume 1
- The Peer Sessions
- Haggard Like Never Before
- Unforgettable
- Chicago Wind
- The Bluegrass Sessions
- I Am What I Am
- Working in Tennessee
- Songs I'll Always Sing
- Merle Haggard's Greatest Hits
- His Epic Hits: The First 11 (To Be Continued...)
- Down Every Road 1962–1994
- 16 Biggest Hits
- Hag: The Best of Merle Haggard
- Okie from Muskogee ‡
- The Fightin' Side of Me ‡
- I Love Dixie Blues ‡
- Rainbow Stew Live at Anaheim Stadium
- The Epic Collection (Recorded Live)
- Amber Waves of Grain
- The Land of Many Churches ‡
- Songs for the Mama That Tried
- Cabin in the Hills
- Two Old Friends (with Albert E. Brumley, Jr.)
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