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)

Someday We'll Look Back
(1971)

The Land of Many Churches
(1971)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(B+)

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.

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.'" 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.

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." 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."

All songs by Merle Haggard unless otherwise noted.

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Wikipedia