The Running Kind: Listening to Merle Haggard

The Running Kind is a new and expanded biography of Merle Haggard, covering his life and career, including his death and afterlife as an icon of country music. It focuses on the 1960s and 1970s, when Haggard created some of his best-known and most influential music, exploring the contradictions that define American culture.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 17 May 2022
Publisher: University of Texas Press

The 2022 Belmont Award for the Best Book on Country Music was presented at the International Country Music Conference/Belmont University. The award went to Merle Haggard, a renowned singer-songwriter in the country music genre, for his new and expanded biography titled "The Running Kind."

Haggard's career was marked by numerous artistic and professional triumphs, including over a hundred country hits (thirty-eight of which reached number one), dozens of studio and live album releases, upwards of ten thousand concerts, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, and songs covered by artists as diverse as Lynryd Skynyrd, Elvis Costello, Tammy Wynette, Bobby Blue Bland, Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead, and Bob Dylan.

In "The Running Kind," a new edition that builds upon his earlier analysis, David Cantwell takes readers on a captivating journey through Haggard's music and the life and times that shaped it. Cantwell's focus is particularly on the 1960s and 1970s, when Haggard created some of his most iconic and influential music. The book delves into the fascinating contradictions that define Haggard's music and public persona, as well as the broader American culture.

Through close listening to Haggard's masterpiece-crowded catalogue, which includes hits such as "Okie from Muskogee," "Sing Me Back Home," "Mama Tried," and "Working Man Blues," Cantwell explores the themes of freedom, limitation, and the search for identity that resonate throughout Haggard's work. He also examines the social and political contexts in which Haggard's music was created, highlighting the ways in which it reflected and influenced the times.

"The Running Kind" is a comprehensive and insightful biography that offers a fresh perspective on the life and legacy of Merle Haggard. It is a must-read for fans of country music, music enthusiasts, and anyone interested in the broader cultural landscape of America.

Dimension: 235 x 156 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781477322369