One of the most compelling larger projects put together by Merle Haggard during his "concepts" years at Capitol Records – a double-length set that has the country legend dipping into the spiritual side of the spectrum, with key recordings at a number of different locations! The album features work recorded at the chapel at San Quentin Prison, at the Big Creek Baptist Church in Tennessee, a Rescue Mission in Nashville, and at the Assembly Of God Tabernacle back in California – all of which make for a nicely varied expression of the way that country music comes into play with spiritual themes, along with help from famous guests The Carter Family, and some vocals from Bonnie Owens too! The Strangers provide the backings, and although there's some spoken bits from time to time, the clear appeal of the record is Merle's great vocals as he takes on tunes that include "The Family Bible", "Guide Me Lord", "Life's Railway To Heaven", "Steal Away", "On The Jericho Road", "Precious Memories", "Turn Your Radio On", "Where Could I Go", "If We Never Meet Again", and "I Saw The Light". CD

One of two unique albums from Willie Nelson – recorded during a brief time when Atlantic Records was dabbling in country, and called on Willie and gave him the freedom to work in a way he wasn't able to do while at RCA! This material's almost a lost chapter in Willie's career – sandwiched between his long runs at RCA and Columbia, and representing a moment when Nelson was keenly in touch with all the new energy on the Austin scene – using it to infuse his already great songwriting with bolder energy in the vocals and instrumentation, and a more badass approach overall! Titles here include the classics "Whiskey River" and "Shotgun Willie" – plus "Slow Down Old World", "Devil In A Sleepin Bag", "You Look Like The Devil", "Bubbles In My Beer", "She's Not For You", "So Much To Do", and "Local Memory". This version features a bonus LP of all sorts of rare tracks recorded during the same sessions – titles that include "Both Ends Of The Candle", "Under The Double Eagle", "I Gotta Have Something I Ain't Got", "I'm So Ashamed", "I Drank All Of Our Precious Love Away", "Save Your Tears", and two takes of "My Cricket & Me", plus alternates of titles on the album. LP, Vinyl record album