Mama Tried
by Merle Haggard & The Strangers
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Merle Haggard & The Strangers bestography
The best album by Merle Haggard is Mama Tried which is ranked number 7995 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 158.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Mama Tried on YouTube
Mama Tried track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 78 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Mama Tried rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Weepingguitarman | Top 38 Music Albums of 1968 | 19/38 | 3 |
| 2026 | adbrack1988 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s | 84/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | daCritic | Greatest Country Albums | 36/75 | - |
| 2026 |  Repo | Top 64 Music Albums of 1968 | 20/64 | 4 |
| 2026 |  RockyRaccoon | Country/Bluegrass | 42/100 | - |
| 2026 | amirmishali | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 28/100 | 4 |
| 2026 |  ERadio | Top 35 Music Albums of 1968 | 35/35 | 0 |
| 2026 |  travelful | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 78/100 | 23 |
| 2026 | RockyRaccoon | Top 100 Music Albums of 1968 | 64/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | daCritic | Top 34 Music Albums of 1968 | 22/34 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 61 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 158 | |||
Mama Tried collection
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Mama Tried ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 54 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 09/11/2026 22:14 | travelful | 3,853 | 72/100 |
| ! | 01/17/2026 20:20 | BrianBoehm | 87 | 94/100 |
| ! | 12/24/2025 07:36 |  zags7000 | 20,568 | 64/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 78.0/100, a mean average of 77.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.
Mama Tried favourites
Showing all 5 members who have added this album as a favourite
Mama Tried forum mentions
Romanelli 08/30/2022 22:11 in Our Country Music Chat
drakonium 04/16/2014 21:17 in happy albums?Mama Tried comments
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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junodog4 TOP 100 COMMENTER 07/08/2014 02:59 | #116254 | TOP COMMENT
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On par with Johnny Cash for songs of mistakes and regret.
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
Romanelli TOP 100 COMMENTER 06/25/2019 00:57 | #238205 | TOP COMMENT
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.
This is just a great damn record.
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