Five years after the triumph of
Pancho & Lefty
,
Merle Haggard
and
Willie Nelson
recorded the follow-up,
Seashores of Old Mexico
. Alas, little of what made the earlier album so great is in evidence. At times the album sounds like a
record with
on hand as support.
"Without You on My Side"
reveals no evidence of
Nelson
and his guitar at all; it sounds like a castoff from
Haggard
's 1987
Chill Factor
album. More importantly, the song selection is a mixed bag, with a few top-notch songs mixed with many second-rate ones. The title track and
"Jimmy the Broom,"
both by
, don't match his best writing of the period, and sound stilted and forced. A cover of
the Beatles
'
"Yesterday"
doesn't really work either, although they give it a good try. The best tracks on the album are the last two:
's
"Why Do I Have to Choose"
"Silver Wings,"
both from the artists' back catalogs. These mark the only times on the album when it sounds like they are really working together. Having achieved a masterpiece on their first outing together,
may have set a standard impossible to match;
certainly doesn't come close. ~ Martin Monkman