16. He’d Rather Be Gone

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. INTRODUCTION “Silver Wings” Kansas City, Missouri, September 14, 2001 1
4. 1. “Hungry Eyes,” 1969 11
5. 2. The Roots of His Raising 14
6. 3. “Mama Tried,” 1968 38
7. 4. Toward the Bad He Kept on Turnin’ 41
8. 5. He Loves Them So: A Playlist of Early Influences 57
9. 6. “Leonard,” 1981 78
10. 7. The Bakersfield Sound and Fury 83
11. 8. Someone Told His Story in a Song 96
12. 9. “I Started Loving You Again,” 1968 107
13. 10. The Legend of Bonnie and Him 112
14. 11. “Sing Me Back Home,” 1967 119
15. 12. He’s Living in the Good Old Days 125
16. 13. He Likes Living Right and Being Free 145
17. 14. “Irma Jackson,” 1969 159
18. 15. His Fightin’ Side 164
19. 16. He’d Rather Be Gone 176
20. 17. “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad),” 1972 186
21. 18. He Wishes He Was Santa Claus 188
22. 19. He Takes a Lot of Pride in What He Is (Hint: He’s a White Boy) 194
23. 20. “A Working Man Can’t Get Nowhere Today,” 1977 204
24. 21. His Country Girl with Hot Pants On 206
25. 22. He’s Always on a Mountain When He Falls 211
26. 23. “Rainbow Stew,” 1981 219
27. 24. He Wishes a Buck Was Still Silver (Not Really) and Likes the Taste of Yesterday’s Wine (Really) 221
28. 25. “Kern River,” 1985 237
29. 26. He’s Going Where the Lonely Go 240
30. 27. “Me and Crippled Soldiers,” 1990 245
31. 28. The Hag versus the Man in Black 248
32. 29. If He Could Only Fly: Merle Haggard in the Twenty-First Century 262
33. 30. Cuba, Missouri July 15, 2010 271
34. Selected Discography 275
35. Acknowledgments 281