Merle Haggard & The Strangers: Merle Haggard (vocals, guitar); William "Billy" Mize (guitar, background vocals); Roy Nichols (guitar); Ralph Mooney (pedal steel guitar); George French Jr. (piano); Jerry "Howard Lowe" Ward (bass); Helen "Peaches" Price (drums); Bonnie Owens (background vocals). Additional personnel: James Burton (guitar, dobro); Glen Campbell, Jack Collier, Lewis A. Ley, Phil Baugh, Lewis Talley (guitar); James Ellington, Glen D. Hardin (piano); Robert Morris, Bert Dodson (bass); James "Jim" Gordon (drums). Producers: Fuzzy Owen, Ken Nelson. Reissue producer: Barry Feldman. Recorded at Capitol Recording Studios, Hollywood, California. Includes liner notes by Colin Escott. Although Merle Haggard's early hits are widely available on a number of anthologies, for years his original albums have been out of print. Koch Records has begun to rectify this situation by rereleasing a number of Haggard's early Capitol albums. All are worth owning, but the best of them, SWINGING DOORS/THE BOTTLE LET ME DOWN, may be the best place to start. Haggard's early albums bear the mark of an artist working out his public persona. He did not arrive as a fully formed star; even after his first hits, it took him a while to find his niche as the voice of blue-collar down-and-outers. By the time SWINGING DOORS was released, however, Haggard was beginning to find himself. He had also solidified the "Bakersfield sound" that would define his recordings for the next decade. Furthermore, he had grown into one of country's best songwriters, fully capable of supplementing the album's hits (the self-penned title tracks) with such quality originals as "Somebody Else You've Known" and "I'll Look Over You." The result is that SWINGING DOORS is the most consistent of Haggard's early albums.

• Genre: Country
• Format: Vinyl
• Released: 03/12/2013