A Taste of Yesterday's Wine

A Taste of Yesterday's Wine
Studio album by George Jones and Merle Haggard
Released	August 1982
Genre	Country
Length	31:40
Label	Epic/Hallmark
Producer	Billy Sherrill
George Jones chronology
Still the Same Ole Me (1981) A Taste of Yesterday's Wine (1982) Anniversary – 10 Years of Hits (1982)
Merle Haggard chronology
Big City (1981) A Taste of Yesterday's Wine (1982) Going Where the Lonely Go (1982)

A Taste of Yesterday's Wine is an album by American country music artists George Jones and Merle Haggard, released in 1982. This was their first album together; their next album together, Kickin' Out the Footlights...Again, would not come until 24 years later in 2006.^[1]

Background

Jones and Haggard were largely influenced by the Hank Williams and Lefty Frizzell tradition. They had also made no secret about how much they admired each other's work. In a Rolling Stone tribute to Jones after his death in 2013, Haggard recalled their first meeting: "I met him at the Blackboard Café in Bakersfield, California, which was the place to go in '61. He was already famous for not showing up or showing up drunk, and he showed up drunk. I was onstage—I think I was singing Marty Robbins' 'Devil Woman'—and he kicked the doors of the office open and said 'Who the fuck is that?'" Haggard added that Jones's voice was "like a Stradivarius violin: one of the greatest instruments ever made." Jones had said repeatedly over the years that, next to Hank Williams, Haggard was his favorite singer. A Taste of Yesterday's Wine features tributes to both of them: "Silver Eagle", written by Freddy Powers and Gary Church about Haggard, and "No Show Jones", written by Jones and Glenn Martin about the wayward singer's notorious inability to arrive at concert dates. The album's first single was the Willie Nelson-penned title track, which became a number one hit. A second single, "C.C. Waterback", reached number 10. The LP was produced by Billy Sherrill and featured backing vocals by Haggard's wife Leona Williams.

In the UK Hallmark Records issued an LP with the same title, artwork and tracks, but with a different track order.^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Thom Jurek of AllMusic praises the album, marveling that the pair's voices "blend seamlessly and compliment each other in almost symbiotic fashion... Billy Sherrill in the producer's chair was swinging for the radio fences, and he got close, but even he stayed the hell out of the way most of the time here and let the music take its course, and this pair just treated each other deferentially."^[1]

Track listing (Epic)

Track listing (Hallmark)

Chart performance

Album

Singles

Personnel

• George Jones – vocals, guitar
• Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar
• Jimmy Belkin – fiddle
• Bobby Emmons – keyboards
• Don Markham – trombone, trumpet
• Terry McMillan – harmonica
• Bobby Wood – keyboards
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – keyboards
• Weldon Myrick – steel guitar
• Freddy Powers – guitar
• Billy Sanford – guitar
• Dave Kirby – guitar
• Pete Bordonali – guitar
• Bobby Thompson – guitar
• Karen Taylor – backing vocals
• Lea Jane Berinati – backing vocals
• Hershel Wilginton – backing vocals
• Leona Williams – vocals, harmony vocals
• Dennis Wilson – backing vocals

Production notes

• Billy Sherrill – producer
• Ron Reynolds – engineer
• Ed Hudson – engineer
• MC Rather – mastering
• Alan Messer – photography
• Leona Williams-Haggard – liner notes

References

External links

• George Jones' official website
• Merle Haggard's official website
• Record label