With people falling over themselves to tell you how great this, that or the other Americana act is, it's a good idea to plug into country's all-time greats occasionally to establish some bearings.

If anybody had ever told Merle Haggard he was fashionable he'd have shot them through the head, and it amused him to fly the redneck flag in Okie From Muskogee ("we don't smoke marijuana..." etc), but country music has rarely seen a finer singer and songwriter.

Inspired by seeing Johnny Cash sing in San Quentin prison, where he was an inmate, Haggard pursued a musical career when he left prison. This 15-track collection contains his most enduring hits, from Workin' Man's Blues and Hungry Eyes to Mama Tried, Kentucky Gambler and the peerless Sing Me Back Home. The uncluttered arrangements make a perfect fit with Haggard's direct and soulful singing - an object lesson all round.