Mama Tried
by Merle Haggard & The Strangers

Album
Mama Tried by Merle Haggard & The Strangers
Year: 1968
Overall rank: 9,030th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 54 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (115th)
Award Top albums of of the 1960s (645th)
Award Best albums of all time (9,030th)

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Merle Haggard & The Strangers bestography

The best album by Merle Haggard is Mama Tried which is ranked number 9030 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 136.

Merle Haggard & The Strangers album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (9,030th)
Mama Tried Lower ranked (9,030th) »
Mama Tried

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Mama Tried rankings

Mama Tried rankings summary
Overall rank: 9,030th | 1960s rank: 645th | 1968 rank: 115th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 3 hours ago).
Filter Filter
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YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026daCriticGreatest Country Albums36/75 -
2026 RockyRaccoonTop 100 Music Albums of 196864/1002
2026 zags7000Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s48/10011
2026 RepoTop 63 Music Albums of 196820/633
2026Rm12398Top 100 Music Albums of 196839/1003
2026daCriticTop 33 Music Albums of 196822/332
2026 RockyRaccoonCountry/Bluegrass42/100 -
2026WeepingguitarmanTop 38 Music Albums of 196819/383
2026pjerskeTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s50/10010
2026adbrack1988Top 30 Music Albums of 196819/302
2026adbrack1988Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s80/1004
2026amirmishaliTop 100 Music Albums of 196828/1004
2025WayneMCTop 100 Music Albums of 196874/1001
2025JohnnyoAlbums of the year 1968 by Acclaimed Music65/73 -
2025mostlymorTop 100 Music Albums of 196889/1001
2025JohnnyoGreatest albums of the year 1968 by U R C28/100 -
2025 zags7000Top 73 Music Albums of 196824/733
2024JohnnyoGreatest albums of the 60’s (101 - 200) by URC23/100 -
2024 ArthurknightTop 100 Music Albums of 196842/1003
2024 djnizziTop 50 Music Albums of 196845/501
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 59
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 136
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

Mama Tried collection

Mama Tried ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 54 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 54 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
95/100
 !		01/17/2026 20:20 BrianBoehm  Ratings distribution  8794/100
 
90/100
 !		12/24/2025 07:36 zags7000  Ratings distribution  20,56864/100
 
85/100
 !		06/26/2025 11:49 travelful  Ratings distribution  3,81772/100
 
80/100
 !		03/20/2024 18:37 djnizzi  Ratings distribution  2,86580/100
 
70/100
 !		10/05/2023 16:40 replacementlevel  Ratings distribution  7,74070/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.9/100, a mean average of 77.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.0/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.


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Mama Tried favourites

Showing all 5 members who have added this album as a favourite

travelful
djnizzi
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Mama Tried comments

Showing all 4 comments |
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From 06/25/2019 00:57 | #238205 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Merle Haggard was as outlaw as they came. Unlike any of the others, he actually did time in prison (San Quentin), and many of his songs (listen to the title track here!...or "The Fightin' Side Of Me") are the actual definition of what outlaw country not was...is. you may not think he's outlaw...but everyone who IS outlaw knows that he's one of the KING outlaws.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 11/13/2016 01:31 | #178347
Merle Haggard is kind of a classic country hero. He wasn't an outlaw like Waylon or Willie, but he's often put in that category because his music is sincere and real. Like most country, Haggard's singles were valued over completing solid albums. This is one I can sit all the way through. It's funny to hear the title track in the horror movie The Strangers (which coincidentally is the name of Haggard's band)

He passed in 2016.

Track Pick: Wine Drinker Me
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 02/14/2016 21:36 | #159741 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
This is just a great damn record.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 07/08/2014 02:59 | #116254 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
On par with Johnny Cash for songs of mistakes and regret.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of  1968
1. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
2. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
4. Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
5. The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
6. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
7. White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
8. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
9. Music From Big Pink by The Band
10. At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash