For the Record: 43 Legendary HitsAmazon. com History occurs twice, first as tragedy, later as farce or so the adage goes. With these new versions of old classics, Merle Haggard is somewhere between defying and fulfilling that fate. Some cuts are like faded carbon copies; others, given Hag's stately quaver, have a mellow poignancy; a few, like the duets with Jewel, Brooks & Dunn, and Alabama, are simply irrelevant. But just when you're ready to dismiss such misguided revisionism,