California Blend by Merle Haggard, Chester Smith

California Blend

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California Blend

Features

Audio CD (May 7, 2002)

Label: Sainte Partners II

Reader Reviews
Ok, first I think there needs to be a little background on who Chester Smith is and why in the world Merle Haggard has put out an album with him. Chester Smith is a Modesto, CA local boy done good. I mean REALLY, REALLY good. He came to California from Oklahoma during the dust bowl days when he was a child. Like most 'oakies', he picked cotton, worked fields and did pretty much everything else described in John Steinbeck's classic novel, The Grapes of Wrath. In the late 40's and early 50's, Chester was something of a local music legend, with a regular radio show and frequent local concerts. It was at one of these local shows, in Riverbank CA, that a 14 year old Merle Haggard first met Chester Smith and Merle decided that music was what he wanted to do for a living. I suppose the rest of Merle's story is musical history. Chester, however, took a turn into the business world and became a pioneer in Spanish TV and radio broadcasting. In fact,it's probably safe to say that Chester basically started and owned most Spanish broadcasting stations in California, a HUGE Spanish language market. It's rumored that Chester is a MAJOR shareholder of Univision. In the past few years, though, Chester has decided to return to his musical roots. In the past few years, Chester and Merle have been hanging out together and doing local concerts here in central CA. Apparently, they have a longtime relationship and I'm sure Merle wanted to help Chester out with his necently revived music career. And since Chester has lots of money, I'm sure that he did this album just for the love of music. Now, as far as this album is concerned, I think it's a great return to old-school, hillbilly, oakie music. It's certainly not modern and it's certainly not for everybody, but I think it's still a great thing to listen to. I'd recommend this album to anybody that likes old school country music, and I do mean OLD SCHOOL, like Hank Williams SR, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. This ain't no 'Dixie Chicks' album.

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