I'm A Lonesome Fugitive ; Branded Man (Remastered, Incl. Bonus Tracks) (1967)

"Two albums from 1967, that both expanded the template that Haggard laid down on his second solo album, 1966's "Swinging Doors" and "The Bottle Let Me Down", continuing with the lean, propulsive spin on the Bakersfield sound pioneered by Buck Owens and Tommy Collins, but adding elements of folk and a stronger honky tonk underpinning. Haggard continued to mine the Tommy Collins songbook, and also started working Jimmie Rodgers tunes into his recorded repertoire, but the biggest development on these two records belonged to Haggard as a songwriter. On both records, he grew by leaps and bounds as a writer, penning such classics as the ghostly "House of Memories," "All of Me Belongs to You," "Someone Told My Story," "Skid Row," "I Threw Away the Rose," and "Branded Man," along with other notable tunes like "Life in Prison," which consciously recalls his own life story. Since there's not much that separates these two albums in an aesthetic sense, they make for an excellent two-fer." (S.T. Erlewine, Allmusic)