Country singer, songwriter and guitarist Merle Haggard was among the founders of the popular and distinctive "Bakersfield sound." While Nashville was, and is, the undisputed capital of country music, Bakersfield, California, often called the "second Nashville," emerged as its rival, noted for an element of western swing that produced a more up-tempo style than the "Nashville sound." Haggard, with Buck Owens, Tommy Collins, Red Simpson, and Billy Mize, was the core of this western headquarters of country music, and Haggard and Owens rode the sound to stardom over the next two decades. After helping to establish this new "honky-tonk" music, known for its harder edge and barroom themes, Haggard branched out into other styles of music and, by the 1970s, had joined the ranks of country's crossover artists. His career represents a combination of change and tradition: despite the diversity of his music, he...