Kern River

Kern River, his fortieth studio album, was recorded at Eleven Eleven Studio in Nashville. Haggard produced it with Grady Martin (all tracks but two) and Ray Baker (two). It peaked at number eight on the country albums chart and finished 1985 at number 29 for the year. Roy Nichols, Norm Hamlet, Tiny Moore, Mark Yeary, Dennis Hromek and Biff Adams of the Strangers are on it, with Freddy Powers on rhythm guitar and Janie Fricke on backing vocals. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave it three and a half stars and called it possibly the best example of Haggard's far-reaching, varied tastes. In his 1999 memoir My House of Memories he recounts a CBS Nashville executive who disliked the title track, which strained his relationship with the label.