Amber Waves of Grain

Amber Waves of Grain
Live album by Merle Haggard
Released	1985
Recorded	Hollywood Star Theater
Genre	Country
Length	27:44
Label	Epic
Producer	Merle Haggard, Bob Montgomery
Merle Haggard chronology
Kern River (1985) Amber Waves of Grain (1985) A Friend in California (1986)

Amber Waves of Grain is a live album by American country music artist Merle Haggard with backing by The Strangers, released in 1985. It was Haggard's third live album in four years and was recorded at the Hollywood Star Theater. It features a mix of Haggard's big hits and other, more obscure tracks. The title cut, written by Freddy Powers, is a paean to the American farmer, in keeping with the spirit of the Willie Nelson-spearheaded Farm Aid benefit, as does "Tulare Dust" and "The Farmer's Daughter." The LP peaked at number 25 on the Billboard country albums chart.^[1]

Title

The title comes from the line "For amber waves of grain," from the song "America the Beautiful".

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Track listing

1. "Amber Waves of Grain" (Freddy Powers) – 3:49
2. "Tulare Dust/Mama Tried" (Merle Haggard) – 3:00
3. "The Farmer's Daughter" (Haggard) – 2:51
4. "The Okie from Muskogee's Comin' Home"(Haggard, Powers)/"Okie from Muskogee" (Haggard, Eddie Burris) – 3:44
5. "Gone with the Wind" (Dennis Barney) – 2:02
6. "I Wish Things Were Simple Again" (Haggard, Tommy Collins, Russell Pate) – 2:30
7. "Workin' Man Blues" (Haggard)/"Always Late with Your Kisses" (Lefty Frizzell, Blackie Crawford) – 3:10
8. "American Waltz" (John Greenebaum, Troy Seals, Eddie Setser) – 3:09

Personnel

• Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar, fiddle

The Strangers:

• Roy Nichols – guitar
• Norm Hamlet – steel guitar
• Clint Strong – guitar
• Mark Yeary – keyboards
• Dennis Hromek – bass
• Biff Adams – drums
• Jim Belkin – fiddle
• Don Markham – horns
• Gary Church – horns

and:

• Reggie Young – guitar
• Don Potter – guitar
• Hoot Howler – fiddle
• Janie Fricke – backing vocals
• Tammy Wynette – backing vocals
• Donna Faye – backing vocals
• Curtis Young – backing vocals

References