Beginning with Jimmie Rodgers"s "Peach Pickin" Time in Georgia" and continuing through the next couple of tunes, Merle Haggard sounds almost too laid-back, too nostalgic, on this collection of chestnuts from the venerable Peer-Southern catalog. But by the time he hits W. Lee O"Daniel"s "Put Me in Your Pocket," the delicacy of both the stately band and his parched vocals begin conveying the sense of a life lived hard and, perhaps almost coincidentally, well. Ultimately, the late-night sound becomes as comforting for the listener as it clearly is for the star. Only Haggard, after all, could get away with Rodgers"s "Whippin" That Old T.B.," or with putting the contrasting Floyd Tillman standards "It Makes No Difference Now" and "I Love You So Much It Hurts" on the same CD in the 21st century. --John Morthland