The gruff Haggard might seem an unlikely candidate for a kindly Christmas soundtrack. But he is, after all, "just an Okie from Muskogee" (Bakersfield actually), and this 1973 LP is a delicious bit of Plainsy Americana. Handled with Hag's dry croon, the old ditties feel like they really stand for something.
First released in 1973, this '07 reissue brings together a bunch of holiday classics, all done honky-tonk style by country legend, hitmaker, and Hall of Famer, Merle Haggard.