Song written by Merle Haggard and recorded by the same, on February 25, 1977, for the MCA label, with the production of Hank Cochran, was released on April 18, 1977, reached number # 2 on the US charts. Hot Country Songs, and the # 3 position of Canadian RPM Country Tracks lists.The song would be included in the twenty-second studio album, Ramblin’ Fever (MCA 1977), the album reached # 5 position in the Billboard Country albums charts. It was his first on the MCA label after recording for Capitol Records since 1965.
Few communicated what could be coined by an outlaw arts poetica as the “Ramblin Fever” of Merle Haggard. And who knows better than Merle? A bastard child inside and outside the California juvenile justice system, chronic gambler, thief and drug addict, currently in his fifth marriage, Haggard is known to say after his three years in San Quentin State Prison that his freedom was “The loneliest feeling I’ve ever had, “he wished he could return. It is known to be the original outlaw, and “Ramblin Fever” is one of the mission statements par excellence.
Versions:
Bluegrass Blend 1979 (Leather Records)
The Gibsons 1979 (Wudwink Records)
Cash Backman 1983 (Hammard Records)
Southern Blend 1987 (Old Homestead Records)
Billy Joe Shaver 1994 (HighTone Records)
David Allan Coe 2002 (King Records)
Tanya Tucker 2009 (Saguaro Road Records)
Randy Hauser 2014 (Broken Bow Records)