There is nobody better for a Merle Haggard tribute than Joe Nichols.
So here’s a weird story. Well, I guess it’s not that weird. I was planning on reviewing this song today and earlier I was driving in my car and this song came on the radio. It was the original Merle Haggard version. It’s one I really haven’t heard as often as other Merle songs, but this one is just as good and worthy of being included on the recent Broken Bow Records Merle Haggard tribute.
My Favorite Memory – Joe Nichols
Broken Bow has a wonderful collection of country artists today. It includes Joe, Jason Aldean, Thompson Square, Dustin Lynch and Randy Houser among others. They’re all included on the new tribute album, which we first looked at yesterday with one of Jason Aldean’s covers.
Of all those artists, though, I think Joe Nichols had the biggest challenge. The reason is that his voice sounds the most like an artist from Merle’s generation. There is a tradition and richness in Joe’s voice and it even sounds a little like Merle’s. You can easily tell that it’s Joe Nichols, but man can you hear the Merle influence.
Joe still manages to do a great job on the record. It’s a classic Merle song about someone he’s loved for a long time. Merle always had a great way with simple words. He could bring words together in a way that was both fresh yet familiar. His phrasing always made sense and it always made you feel some kind of emotion that you’ve felt in the past.
Great song and what a great performance by one of today’s best singers.
CML Points: 92/100
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