From growing up in Texas, to living in his car, to landing his first publishing deal, to writing fifteen #1 songs, Word for Word is a lavishly illustrated look at the lyrics of an icon among songwriting giants.

Emmylou Harris—who once employed Rodney Crowell as the guitarist, harmony singer, and arranger in her legendary Hot Band—introduced many listeners to his finely-crafted songs, including “Til I Gain Control Again,” “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight,” “I Ain’t Living Long Like This,” “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” and “Ashes by Now.” They all went on to be become hits for other performers, while Crowell went on to carve out a career as the first country singer to earn five #1 singles from one album.

Rodney continued writing and recording classics, such as “Lovin’ All Night,” “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried” (which was nominated for a Best Country Song Grammy), and “After All This Time” (which was nominated for both CMA and ACM Song of the Year and won a Grammy for Best Country Song). And other artists continued to take his songs to the top of the charts, including Bob Seger’s recording of “Shame on the Moon,” The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper’s Dream),” Tim McGraw’s recording of “Please Remember Me,” and Keith Urban’s cover of “Making Memories of Us.” By the early 2000s, Crowell was already a legend. But the poetic songs continued to flow as he became the embodiment of the growing Americana movement and continued to release new material that can be considered among his best work.

In this disarmingly intimate look at Crowell’s songs, he shares pages from his lyric notebooks, personal photographs, scribbles, and correspondence, alongside his memories and stories of some of the songs that have defined his life and career. Experiencing Word for Word is experiencing the heart of one of this generation’s finest songwriters.

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