Songs for the Mama That Tried


Songs for the Mama That Tried is the 32nd studio album by the American country music singer Merle Haggard with backing by the Strangers, released in 1981 by MCA Records. A gospel album, it reached No. 46 on the Billboard country albums chart.

Background

Songs for the Mama That Tried was Haggard's last principal release on MCA, having signed with Epic Records. The title alludes to Haggard's 1968 song "Mama Tried", a song which became a cornerstone of his career. Haggard had recorded a live gospel album in 1971 called The Land of Many Churches, but this set is dedicated to his mother Flossie, who was seventy-nine years old when she posed with Haggard on the cover of the LP. Produced by Haggard, the album features background harmonies from both his second wife, Bonnie Owens, and his then current wife, Leona Williams.
The album yielded no hit singles and was not a big seller. In his 1999 memoir My House of Memories, Haggard writes, "I love those songs as much as Mom did. I can't describe the comfort they've given me. I haven't listened to that album in years."

Critical reception

Writing in the 2013 book The Running Kind, Haggard biographer David Cantwell calls the album "perfect", praising the singer's "reverent, soulful singing."
The album received five stars in the second edition of the Rolling Stone Record Guide.

Track listing

Side one
  1. "When God Comes and Gathers His Jewels" – 2:57
  2. "Supper Time" – 2:42
  3. "He Walks with Me (In the Garden)" – 2:18
  4. "Softly and Tenderly" – 3:00
  5. "Why Me" – 3:09
Side two
  1. "Where No One Stands Alone" – 3:00
  2. "One Day at a Time" – 3:16
  3. "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" – 2:33
  4. "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" – 3:35
  5. "The Old Rugged Cross" – 3:44
  6. "Keep on the Sunny Side" – 2:53

Personnel

Credits adapted from LP liner notes.
Musicians
Technical
  • Merle Haggard – producer
  • Jim Williamson – engineer
  • Glenn Meadows – mastering
  • Dennis Carney – photo of Merle and Mama
  • Larry Du Pont – cover photo