B-side "Old Watermill" Genre Country Label Epic | Released July 1, 1985 Length 3:23 Writer(s) Merle Haggard | |
"Kern River" is a song written and recorded by American country music artist Merle Haggard. It was released in July 1985 as the only single and title track from his album Kern River. The song peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.
The song grimly recounts the story of the singer's girlfriend drowning in the Kern River, California. In the 2013 biography Merle Haggard: The Running Kind writer David Cantwell calls the track "a scary record" that "screamed quiet and startled you alive."
Covers
"Kern River" was covered by Emmylou Harris on her album All I Intended to Be and by Dave Alvin on his album West of the West.
References
Kern River (song) Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA