Negative Positive
Title: A true original
Review: Like many of my fellow northerner college student / rock 'n' rollers, I became enamored with country and roots music by listening to people like Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers, among others. On the Dead's Skull and Roses live record, they covered Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried", which I loved. I soon picked up the vinyl version of this record in a cutout bin and played it to death. To be sure, my friends and I laughed and cringed at certain "yahoo" moments (Muskogee Mayor Bob Brown, Merle's observations on the "hippie problem", the title track), but there was never a doubt that this man was and is, bar none, one of the greatest and most astonishingly original songwriters in any style of popular music, let alone country. This LP features many of his all-time greatest songs, and the band is cracking, especially electric guitarist Roy Nichols, who's right up there with James Burton and Luther Perkins, in my opinion. This is a must-have!
Is the review positive or negative? 