My Love Affair with Trains

My Love Affair with Trains
Studio album by Merle Haggard
Released July 1976
Recorded April 1976 in Nashville, TN
Genre Country
Label Capitol
Producer Ken Nelson, Fuzzy Owen
Merle Haggard chronology
It's All in the Movies
(1976)		 My Love Affair with Trains
(1976)		 The Roots of My Raising
(1976)

My Love Affair with Trains is the 23rd studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard, released in 1976. The LP rose to number 7 on the Billboard country albums chart.[1]

Background

The album recalls his 1969 tribute to Jimmie Rogers, Same Train, A Different Time but, with its between song narrations and freight train sound effects, more closely resembles Johnny Cash's 1960 concept album Ride This Train. Haggard, who is also a model train enthusiast, manages only one original composition, "No More Trains to Ride". "Here Comes the Freedom Train" would be the album's only hit single, peaking at number 10 and ending Haggard's incredible run of nine consecutive #1 hits.[2] Other notable selections include the Dolly Parton-penned title track and Jimmy Buffett's "Railroad Lady."

In addition to releasing three albums in 1976, Haggard also appeared on an episode of The Waltons, playing country singer Red Turner, a recovering alcoholic. He performs the song "Nobody's Darlin' But Mine."

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [3]

Thom Jurek of AllMusic praises the album, maintaining that Haggard "weaves an iconographic history of the rails - from past to present to uncertain future - seamlessly and with great taste... [The album] may seem a bit quaint in retrospect, but its soul and emotion don't date. There is great truth in his performances of these songs, and like virtually everything he records, he tells the truth through these songs as he sees it."[3]

Track listing

  1. "My Love Affair With Trains" (Dolly Parton)
  2. "Union Station" (Ronnie Reno)
  3. "Here Comes the Freedom Train" (Stephen H. Lemberg)
  4. "So Long Train Whistle" (Dave Kirby, Lew Quadling)
  5. "Silver Ghost" (Sterling Whipple)
  6. "No More Trains to Ride" (Merle Haggard)
  7. "Coming and the Going of the Trains" (Red Lane)
  8. "I Won't Give Up My Train" (Mark Yeary)
  9. "Where Have All the Hobos Gone" (Dave Kirby, Danny Morrison)
  10. "Railroad Lady" (Jimmy Buffett, Jerry Jeff Walker)
  11. "Hobo" (Dave Kirby, Glenn Martin)

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1976 Billboard Country albums 7

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic entry for My Love Affair with Trains chart.
  2. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 146.
  3. 1 2 Jurek, Thom. "My Love Affair with Trains > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
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