Back to the Barrooms (MCA MCA-5139, 1980) is widely regarded as a loose concept album tracing the barroom as a theater of heartbreak and escape. Produced by Jimmy Bowen, it features Strangers Norm Hamlet (steel guitar) and Don Markham (saxophone, trumpet) alongside session veterans Johnny Gimble (fiddle), Reggie Young and Billy Joe Walker Jr. (guitars), and Larrie Londin (drums), giving the record a faint Dixieland jazz undertow. The album reached #8 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and yielded three Top 10 singles: "I Think I'll Just Sit Here and Drink," "Misery and Gin," and "Leonard" — a tribute to songwriter and Haggard mentor Tommy Collins. AllMusic called it Haggard's most consistent album since leaving Capitol.
Tracklist
- 1 Misery And Gin - From The "Clint Eastwood's Bronco Billy " Soundtrack 2:49
- 2 Back to the Barrooms Again alt version 2:33
- 3 Make-Up And Faded Blue Jeans 4:05
- 4 Ever-Changing Woman 2:28
- 5 Easy Come, Easy Go 3:31
- 6 I Don't Want To Sober Up Tonight 3:29
- 7 Can't Break The Habit 3:05
- 8 Our Paths May Never Cross 2:44
- 9 (I Don't Have) Anymore Love Songs 3:02
- 10 Leonard 3:38
- 11 I Think I'll Just Stay Here And Drink 4:31
