Someday We'll Look Back

Someday We'll Look Back
Studio album by Merle Haggard
Released	August 9, 1971
Recorded	1969 and 1970 Capitol Records Studio, Hollywood, CA
Genre	Country
Length	29:38
Label	Capitol ST-835
Producer	Ken Nelson
Merle Haggard chronology
Hag (1971)Hag1971 Someday We'll Look Back (1971) The Land of Many Churches (1971)The Land of Many Churches1971

Someday We'll Look Back is the fourteenth studio album by American recording artist Merle Haggard, released in 1971. It reached number 4 on the Billboard country albums chart.

Recording and Composition

The album is best remembered for the #1 hit "Carolyn," which had been written by Haggard's friend and mentor Tommy Collins. Haggard had his doubts that the pop-tinged ballad was right for him, as Collins explains in the liner notes to the 1994 Haggard retrospective Down Every Road, "He said, 'It's just not for me. It's not country enough or something.' And the only time I ever said this to Merle was at this time. I said, 'Would you give it a try?' And (co-producer) Lewis Talley said, 'Hey, you oughta cut that song. That's a hit.'"^[1] Haggard also returns to the theme of the plight of the working poor on "One Row at a Time," "California Cotton Fields," and the self-penned "Tulare Dust," a song that led music journalist Daniel Cooper to observe in 1994, "Merle has often driven home the point that life is hard, but he's never driven it with quite so few words as he does in 'Tulare Dust.'" The LP's title track was another Top 5 hit, peaking at number 2.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	(B+)[3]

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album "a terrific early-'70s LP from Merle Haggard, one that showcases not only his exceptional songwriting skills, but also his rich, subtle eclectism... one of the finest albums he ever recorded."^[2] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote "An honest two days' work, but don't let the keynote tune fool you into expecting a lot of class-conscious reminiscences."^[3]

Track listing

All songs by Merle Haggard unless otherwise noted.

1. "Someday We'll Look Back" – 2:31
2. "Train of Life" (Roger Miller) – 2:42
3. "One Sweet Hello" – 2:47
4. "One Row at a Time" (Red Lane, Dottie West) – 3:06
5. "Big Time Annie's Square" – 2:34
6. "I'd Rather be Gone" – 2:35
7. "California Cottonfield" (Dallas Frazier, Earl Montgomery) – 2:46
8. "Carolyn" (Tommy Collins) – 2:33
9. "Tulare Dust" – 1:47
10. "Huntsville" (Haggard, Red Simpson) – 3:06
11. "The Only Trouble With Me" – 3:11

Personnel

• Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar
• Roy Nichols – guitar, harmonica
• James Burton – guitar, dobro
• Red Lane – guitar
• Bobby Wayne – guitar
• Tommy Collins – guitar
• Glen Campbell – guitar
• Lewis Talley – guitar
• Norman Hamlet – pedal steel guitar, dobro
• Dennis Hromek – bass
• Willard Price – bass
• Leon Copeland – bass
• Chuck Berghofer – bass
• Jerry Ward – bass
• Biff Adam – drums
• Eddie Burns – drums
• Tommy Ash – drums
• Johnny Gimble – fiddle
• George French – piano
• Glen D. Hardin – piano
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano

Chart positions

References