5:01 Blues (album)
| 5:01 Blues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Merle haggard 501 blues.jpg | ||||
| Studio album by Merle Haggard | ||||
| Released | 1989 | |||
| Recorded | Talley Studios, Eleven Eleven Studio | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 30:05 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Producer | Merle Haggard, Ken Suesov, Mark Yeary | |||
| Merle Haggard chronology | ||||
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5:01 Blues is an album by American recording artist Merle Haggard. It was released in 1989 and was his last studio album on the Epic label. It peaked at number 28 on the Billboard country albums chart.
History
Although Haggard's tenure with Epic had been a success in its first three years, producing twelve top-ten hits (with nine of them going to number one), his relationship with the label deteriorated in the latter part of the 1980s. 5:01 Blues was to be his last studio album with Epic. The single, "A Better Love Next Time", became Haggard's last top 5 solo single, while two other singles, "If You Want to Be My Woman" and the title track, failed to crack the top 20 on the country charts.[1] A final single, the opener "Broken Friend" did not chart.[citation needed] "Someday We'll Know" was co-written by Haggard and Teresa Lane, who later become Haggard's fifth wife.
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Robert Christgau | (C+)[3] |
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic deems the album "an amiable, enjoyable set," but concludes that "it's fairly clear things are beginning to wrap up between the singer and the label... he's on his own, working with Mark Yeary and Ken Suesov, just relaxing through a set of laid-back ballads and blues."[2] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote "A slight improvement over 1988's feckless Out Among the Stars, due mostly to a formulaic title tune Hag didn't write. But if he thinks he isn't getting away with shit, he needs a shrink."[3]
Track listing
- "Broken Friend" (Merle Haggard) – 2:41
- "Losin' in Las Vegas" (Richie McDonald) – 3:36
- "5:01 Blues" (Michael Garvin, Jeffery M. Tweel) – 3:14
- "Someday We'll Know" (Haggard, Theresa Lane) – 3:15
- "Wouldn't That Be Something" (Haggard, Freddy Powers) – 3:01
- "Sea of Heartbreak" (Hal David, Paul Hampton) – 2:51
- "A Better Love Next Time" (Johnny Christopher, Johnny Wood) – 2:42
- "If You Want to Be My Woman" (Haggard) – 2:42
- "A Thousand Lies Ago" (Haggard) – 3:54
- "Somewhere Down the Line" (Haggard, Powers) – 2:36
Personnel
- Merle Haggard – lead vocals, guitar
- Jimmy Belkin – fiddle, strings
- Jerry Carrigan – drum programming, percussion
- Gene Chrisman – drums
- Biff Adams – drums
- Johnny Christopher – guitar, background vocals
- Gary Church – cornet, trombone
- Steve Gibson – guitar
- Norm Hamlet – pedal steel guitar
- Susan Boyd – background vocals
- Joe Chemay – background vocals
- Jim Haas – background vocals
- Jon Joice – background vocals
- Bonnie Owens – background vocals
- Mike Leech – bass
- Don Markham – saxophone, trumpet
- Tom Roady – percussion
- Eldon Shamblin – guitar
- Billy Shaw – guitar
- Clint Strong – guitar
- Bobby Wayne – guitar
- Mark Yeary – Hammond organ, piano, electric piano
- Reggie Young – guitar
