It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)

It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
Studio album by Merle Haggard
Released December 1972
Recorded March 1970-September 1972 at Capitol Records Studio, Hollywood, CA, Buck Owens Studio, Bakersfield, CA and United Recording Studio, Hollywood, CA
Genre Country
Label Capitol ST-11127
Producer Ken Nelson, Fuzzy Owen
Merle Haggard chronology
Let Me Tell You About a Song
(1972)		 It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad)
(1972)		 I Love Dixie Blues
(1973)

It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) is the seventeenth studio album by American country singer Merle Haggard, released in 1972. It reached number one on the Billboard country albums chart. The lead off single was "It's Not Love (But it's Not Bad)" which also reached #1 on the charts.[1]

Haggard's second studio album of 1972 contains several songs that display an ambivalence towards relationships, such as "Somewhere To Come When It Rains," "My Woman Keeps on Loving Her Man," the adulterous "I Wonder Where I'll Find You at Tonight," and the cynical title track. The LP also contains the Haggard original "I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving," which Conway Twitty took to number 4 in 1971.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [2]
Robert Christgau(B)[3]

AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine calls the album a "frustrating listen," and a "fitfully entertaining album, equally divided between the excellent and the mediocre. A few of the throwaways are entertaining, particularly the rolling 'New York City Blues,' but songs like 'Dad's Old Fiddle' and 'My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man' fail to make an impression."[2] Music critic Robert Christgau wrote "This mainstream country album—his first since Hag—does more justice to its title than many of his more pretentious efforts. Nothing special, just marriage and its travails, but play it twice and you'll remember most of it."[3]

Track listing

All songs by Merle Haggard unless otherwise noted:

  1. "It's Not Love (But it's Not Bad)" (Hank Cochran, Glenn Martin)
  2. "Goodbye Comes Hard for Me" (Tommy Collins)
  3. "My Woman Keeps Lovin' Her Man"
  4. "New York City Blues"
  5. "I Wonder What She'll Think About Me Leaving"
  6. "The Conversion of Ronnie Jones" (Collins)
  7. "Shoulder to Cry On"
  8. "I'd Never Told on You" (Cochran)
  9. "Dad's Old Fiddle" (Martin)
  10. "Somewhere to Come When It Rains" (Red Lane)
  11. "I Wonder Where I'll Find You at Tonight"

Personnel

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1973 Billboard Country albums 1

References

  1. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 147.
  2. 1 2 Cooper, Dan. "It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Christgau, Robert. "It's Not Love (But It's Not Bad) > Review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
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