8/12/1929 -- 3/25/2006
Buck Owens was born in Sherman, Texas, on Aug. 12, 1929. In 1937, his sharecropper family of ten moved to Mesa, Arizona in an attempt to escape the Dust Bowl. At age sixteen, he was performing in clubs and on radio. In 1951, Buck moved to Bakersfield, California, a hot bed for country music. Bob Wills worked there and both The Maddox Brothers & Rose and Ferlin Husky called it home. Buck worked nights at the Blackboard Club, his home base from 1951 to 1958. He also commuted to the Capitol Record studios in Los Angeles where he worked as a backup musician for Tennessee Ernie Ford, Sonny James, Wanda Jackson, Faron Young and Tommy Collins. Buck first recorded as Corky Jones for the small Pep and Chesterfield labels (1955).
Owens signed a contract with Capitol Records in 1957 and his initial sessions under the command of AR executive Ken Nelson flopped, so Owens moved to Washington to pursue a radio career. In 1958, Buck returned to the Capitol studios and recorded four original songs, including "Second Fiddle."
In 1959 he began hosting his own live TV show over KTNT (Tacoma). Among the featured talents was Loretta Lynn. There he met a fiddler by the name of Don Rich. Don would become a staple in the Buckaroos band and on Buck's best recordings. After joining Capitol, Owens formed his own band. The group had no name until one of Buck's early bass players, a talented Bakersfield musician named Merle Haggard, dubbed them "The Buckaroos."
The success of "Second Fiddle" led to another session, which yielded "Under Your Spell Again" his first Top 10 record (No. 4, 1959). In 1960, after a taste of chart success, Buck divested himself of his holdings in Washington and returned to Bakersfield. It would remain his permanent base of operations.
"Act Naturally" rose to No.1 in 1963 and garnered Buck significant recognition. However, "Love's Gonna Live Here," which spent 16 weeks at No. 1, was the biggest song in country music that year, catapulted him into the national spotlight. Between 3/1964 and 7/1967, Buck garnered thirteen No. 1 singles, including "My Heart Skips A Beat," "Together Again" and "I Don't Care" (1964), "I've Got a Tiger By the Tail," "Before You Go," "Only You" and the instrumental "Buckaroo" (1965), "Waitin' In Your Welfare Line," "Think Of Me" and "Open Up Your Heart" (1966) and "Where Does the Good Times Go," "Sam's Place" and "Your Tender Loving Care" (1967). Owens had one No. single in 1968, three in 1969 his final solo No. single "Made in Japan" in 1972. In the early 1970s, Owens and the Buckaroos enjoyed a string of hit duets with his protégé Susan Raye, who subsequently became a popular solo artist with recordings produced by Owens.
Buck's first national TV appearances came in 1963 and 1964 with several guest spots on both ABC's Jimmy Dean Show and NBC's Kraft Music Hall. He first ventured into his own nationwide TV series in 1966 with The Buck Owens Ranch. Among the regulars were eldest son Buddy, who performed as "Buddy Alan" and Susan Raye, who began working with Buck's shows in 1964.
By 1966, Buck, Merle, Tommy Collins, and Wynn Stewart, each with his own style, collectively defined the "Bakersfield Sound.": In 1967, Buck and the Buckaroos toured Japan, a then-rare occurrence for a country musician. With Owens now a national TV star, Capitol flooded the market with nine LPs between 1969 and 1971. Buck teamed with singer/multi-instrumentalist Roy Clark in 1969 to host Hee Haw on CBS-TV. CBS dropped it in 1971, but the show continued in syndication. Owens withdrew from his Hee Haw hosting duties in 1986 and was never replaced although the show continued into 1994. For fifteen years, Hee Haw, rode a crest of popularity and showcased dozens of aspiring and veteran entertainers and comedians from the country music ranks.
On July 17, 1974, Don Rich was killed in a motorcycle accident north of Bakersfield. Buck was devastated and abruptly halted his career. He continued with Hee Haw after Don's death, but parted ways with Capitol (1975) as his records sales had significantly declined. Buck was essentially out of the spotlight until Dwight Yoakam came along. Like Owens, Yoakam was passionate about West Coast country music and was largely influenced by Owens' style of music. Dwight eventually teamed up with Buck for a duet titled "Streets of Bakersfield" (1988). Their recording was Owens' first No. 1 single in 16 years. Also in 1988, Owens re-signed with Capitol Records. That union resulted in two albums and five charted singles, none of which reached the Top 20.
From 10/1959 to 7/1988, Buck placed 61 Top 20 hits on Billboard, including 21 that went to No. 1. In 1996, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame. Buck Owens died on March 25, 2006 in Bakersfield, California. His death brought to close another indelible chapter in the original country music arena.
RJB, Country Music Historian: Nashville, Tennessee USA
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Buck Owens - Cigareettes, Whiskey and Wild Womenby flashbell107,649 views
He had a wonderful voice. He left country music (honky tonk) better than he found it. I am proud to be a Buck Owens fan!
coolguyarm 2 years ago 3
Great version!!!!
jtls8 2 years ago 2