If We Make It Through December is an album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Merle Haggard

Merle Haggard

Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...

, released in 1974. The title track was previously released on Haggard's Christmas release of 1973, A Christmas Present

A Christmas Present

Merle Haggard's Christmas Present is a Christmas album by American country singer Merle Haggard, released in 1973. The single, "If We Make It Through December" spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in December 1973 and January 1974, and cracked the Top 30 of...

.

The single spent four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart in December 1973 and January 1974, and cracked the Top 30 of the Billboard Hot 100

Billboard Hot 100

The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

. "If We Make It Through December

If We Make It Through December

"If We Make It Through December" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from album, of the same name. The song was included on Haggard's Christmas album released that year...

" was the No. 2 song of the year on Billboard's Hot Country Singles 1974 year-end chart. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/yearend_chart_display.jsp?f=Hot+Country+Songs&g=Year-end+Singles&year=1974

Track listing

1. "If We Make It Through December
   If We Make It Through December
   "If We Make It Through December" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music singer Merle Haggard. It was released in October 1973 as the lead single from album, of the same name. The song was included on Haggard's Christmas album released that year...
   
   " (Merle Haggard) – 2:42
2. "Love and Honor" (Haggard) – 2:48
3. "To Each His Own" (Jay Livingston
   Jay Livingston
   Jay Livingston was an American composer and singer best known as half of a songwriting duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote the music and Evans the lyrics....
   
   , Ray Evans
   Ray Evans
   Raymond Bernard Evans was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and songwriting duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films...
   
   ) – 2:35
4. "You're the Only Girl in the Game" (Hank Cochran
   Hank Cochran
   Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy Arnold and others...
   
   , Glenn Martin) – 2:55
5. "I'm an Old Old Man Tryin' to Live While I Can" (Lefty Frizzell
   Lefty Frizzell
   Lefty Frizzell , born William Orville Frizzell, was an American country music singer and songwriter of the 1950s, and a proponent of honky tonk music. His relaxed style of singing was an influence on later stars Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, George Jones and John Fogerty...
   
   ) – 2:34
6. "Come on into My Arms" (Marcia Nichols) – 2:48
7. "Better Off When I Was Hungry" (Dave Kirby) – 2:24
8. "I'll Break Out Again Tonight" (Arthur Leo Owens
   Arthur Leo Owens
   Arthur Leo Owens , born November 28, 1930 in Waco, Texas; died October 4, 1999 in Nashville, Tennessee, was an American country music songwriter and singer...
   
   , Sanger D. Shafer
   Sanger D. Shafer
   Sanger D. "Whitey" Shafer is an American country songwriter and musician. He wrote numerous hits for stars such as George Jones, Lefty Frizzell, and George Strait.-Life:...
   
   ) – 2:50
9. "This Cold War With You" (Floyd Tillman
   Floyd Tillman
   Floyd Tillman was an American country musician who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped create the Western swing and honky tonk genres. Tillman was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1970 and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1984.-Early life:Tillman grew up in the cotton-mill town of Post,...
   
   ) – 2:54
10. "Uncle Lem" (Glenn Martin) – 2:54
11. "There's Just One Way" (Merle Haggard, Kenny Seratt) – 2:49

Personnel

• Merle Haggard – vocals, guitar
• Roy Nichols
  Roy Nichols
  Roy Nichols was an American country music guitarist best known as the lead guitarist for Merle Haggard for more than two decades. He was known for his guitar technique, a mix of fingerpicking and pedal steel-like bends, usually played on a Telecaster.-Biography:Roy Ernest Nichols was born in...
  
   – guitar, harmonica
• Tommy Collins – guitar
• Bobby Wayne – guitar
• Dave Kirby – guitar
• Marcy Nichols – guitar
• Ronnie Reno – guitar
• Norman Hamlet
  Norm Hamlet
  Norm Hamlet is an American steel guitarist best known as a member of Merle Haggard's Stranger's group. In 2005 Hamlet had quadruple heart bypass surgery and recovered well at his home in Bakersfield, California. In April 2006 while on tour with Merle Haggard Hamlet's Dobro was stolen and a reward...
  
   – pedal steel guitar, dobro
• Dennis Hromek – bass
• Joe Zinkan – bass
• Johnny Meeks – bass
• Biff Adam – drums
• Johnny Gimble
  Johnny Gimble
  John Paul Gimble , better known as Johnny Gimble, is an American country musician associated with Western swing. He is an award-winning fiddle player and considered one of the most impressive fiddlers in the genre's history....
  
   – fiddle
• Bill Woods – fiddle
• Hargus "Pig" Robbins – piano, organ
• Billy Liebert – piano
• Mark Yeary – piano
• Bill Puett – horns

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1974	Billboard Country albums	4
1974	Billboard Pop albums	190