Bakersfield Sound

Including a large number of previously unreleased studio and live recordings, radio recordings and demos.

A treasure trove of Bakersfield history presenting country music stars Merle Haggard and Buck Owens, guitar hero Don Rich and dozens of artists like Ferlin Husky, Dallas Frazier, Jean Shepard, Wynn Stewart, Tommy Duncan, Red Simpson, Kay Adams, Duck Curless, Joe Maphis, David Frizzell, The Gosdin Brothers, Clarence White a.m.o.

From hits to deep cuts to alternate takes to album tracks to live material, this set dives deeper into the Bakersfield Sound than ever before. Full-color illustrated, 220 page hardcover book with a plethora of photos, many shown here for the first time, and track-by-track commentary . In depth analysis by Grammy-nominated Bakersfield Sound historian Scott B. Bomar.

Foreword by Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett.

Buck Owens and Merle Haggard emerged from the dim lights, thick smoke and loud, loud music of Bakersfield, California's thriving honky-tonk scene of the 1950s and '60s and changed country music forever. But what is the ''Bakersfield Sound?'' While twanging Telecasters and crying steel guitars come to mind, the music that emanated from Central California in that era reflected a variety of influences that was expressed in myriad ways.

''We represent the end results of all the years of country music in this town,'' Haggard once remarked about the California city that served as home base for the two Country Music Hall of Fame inductees. But how did the musical world from which Buck and Merle emerged come to be? How were the twin pillars of the Bakersfield Sound shaped by the city's larger musical community? Who were their influences, and what were the musical markers along their paths to success? In what ways did their achievements reshape the local scene from which they emerged?