Posted on 03/27/2006 11:24:12 AM PST by 300magnum
Buck Owens was a different kind of country music star: He played Carnegie Hall, not the Grand Ole Opry; he lived for Bakersfield, not Nashville.
Owens, the "Act Naturally" singer-songwriter who made a music mecca of a central California farming town, and a weekly event of a cornpone TV variety show known as Hee Haw, died Saturday at his home, according to his Website, BuckOwens.com. He was 76.
And, yes, as if there were ever any doubt, Owens' home was in Bakersfield.
Bakersfield, California, is where the Texas-born Owens moved in 1951. And it was where he helped give rise in the 1950s and 1960s to the so-called "Bakersfield Sound," a twangier, harder-driving country. For evidence of the style, try almost any classic track by Waylon Jennings. Or Merle Haggard. Or Buck Owens.
As a Salon.com tribute to Owens observed in 1999, the man "was no poet...but [he] owned country in the '60s."
According to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, of which Owens was an inductee, Bakersfield ties or no, Owens reeled off 15 straight number one records from 1963-67.
"Act Naturally" was among Owens' catchiest hits. Certainly, it caught the ears of the Beatles. The British band recorded it, with Ringo Starr on vocals, in 1965 for Help!. (For those more familiar with the bastardized U.S. versions of the early Beatles albums, the song was a cut off the collection known as Yesterday...and Today.)
From 1969-86, Owens hosted, along with Roy Clark, Hee Haw, a mix of comedy, music and girls in pre-Daisy Duke Daisy Dukes.
Developing story. More to come.
He was ahead of his time, in a weirdly retro way, if that makes any sense. Yoakam and Junior Brown sort of fill the same role today.
Goin to the big Hee Haw in the sky!
Oh man, some of my favorites, Buck Owens, Dwight Yoakum & Junior Brown.
RIP Buck!
He was one of my all time favorites.
Tiger by the Tail
Crying Time
Love's Gonna Live Here
And so many more. Rest in peace, Buck. You were great.
yeah, but now we'll have to put up with the all-star tributes from the likes of commie Faith "sleeping my way to the top" Hill (who never apparently met a producer she didn't like enough to sleep with) and the rest of the phoney "country stars"....ugh!
Definitely gonna miss him. A great American artist. RIP Buck!
There was a CCR song with a Buck Owens reference - think it was called "Lookin' Out My Back Door."
It went something like, "Listenin' to Buck Owens, do, do, do, lookin' out my back door."
Some others:
Act naturally
Together Again
Tall Dark Stranger (means 'danger')
Ditto Buck.
I started listening to Buck Owens in college a few years ago. He is one of my favorite all time in country. I love "Act Naturally," and "Above and Beyond." God Bless Buck Owens!
B R 5 4 9
I'ma pickin'!
...and I'ma grinnin'!
Wel, I never cared for "Hee-Haw", nor was I a fan of his, but I am sorry to hear this. He wasn't like so many of these stars, full of himself and excrement. He was a nice, down-home, decent fella. And I wish him a peaceful rest.
Buck Ownes will definately be missed. I always loved watching Hee Haw with my grandpa. I was only a child in those days. The show was really funny, and played good music too.
Wow--that's exactly the same for me. Some of my earliest memories are of curling up on the livingroom couch with Grampa and watching Hee Haw. Never liked Owens much (sorry!) but I loved the show. If it came out on DVD, I'd buy the whole collection.
You can get reruns on DVD now. I saw a commercial for them a while back on CMT. But I couldn't tell you how to order them. You might could go to CMTs web site and find out from there.
Remember those goofy twin singers?
And "Gloom, despair and agony on me..."
Buck Owens was also part of the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet along with Grandpa Jones. Lots of stars with his number of hits would have such egos that they would not take the time to be a part of a hillbilly quartet. Owens was different.
I've seen Hee Haw collections out on DVD. Loved the early years with Junior Samples. Almost everybody loves to laught at country bumpkins. Plus the first year's show made the trendy Lefties upset because they hated seeing the Smothers Brothers "relevant" humor replaced by such corny stuff as Hee Haw.
Ahh. I first met Buck as a teen, when "Tiger By The Tail" was a new release. I remember shaking hands with him and getting a close look at that huge cluster of diamonds. That was the fanciest ring I had ever seen up close.
Later in life, we had the chance to work with some of his band in the recording studio. Buck Owens will always be a great name in the entertainment world, with fans that included everyone from the Beatles to Dwight Yoakam to all of us little people.
Musicians may die, but their music never does.
Buck Owens' sound was never quite the same after Don Rich was killed. Those two together could have patented that two part harmony.
The Hager Twins
Now, we're not ones to go around spreading rumors
Why, really, we're just not the gossiping kind
No you'll never hear one of us repeating gossip
So you better be sure and listen close the first time!
I'm a longtime Buck Owens fan, so I don't want to take away from the solemnity of this thread, but I have to ask: What IS the difference between a butt and a rectal opening?
One is the spent end of a fag; the other often serves in Congress.
Saw Big & Rich Saturday night at Universal Orlando. They did a nice tribute, raising a glass on stage, then doing a great version of "Act Naturally." May have been the highlight of a great show.
Amazon.com
Yeah, but $190 for about 24 episodes... no thanks. I'll wait for the whole-season collections...
A tip of my 10 gallon hat to Buck and his beloved Bakerspatch ... may he rest in peace and ride into the sunset into eternity. They don't make 'em like that any more.
The Hagar Twins. Blech...Couldn't stand those guys.
I met Misty Roe at the Grand Old Opry one time. It was love at first sight, for me anyway!
That was a shame when he died. Gifted singer and guitarist, and always had that smile. A great showman in his own right.
Buck Owens and the Buckaroo's.
A quote from Misty:
"I could write a Karma Sutra type book. I'd call it the Misty's Many Sex Positions. All of them would be for very slim but busty women." (Movie Buff Magazine, Issue 2, December 1989)
Why that naughty girl!
I also met Louise Mandrell. The TV doesn't do her justice. She's stunning.
bttt
Most of the new stuff is pretty boys and girls crooning a mild rock version of country music.
Another piece of trivia I haven't seen mentioned yet -
The song "I will always love you" was written by Dolly Parton for Buck.
I am not going to take anything away from Buck Owens because I too have been a fan of Buck and the Buckaroos since the early sixties. Its the writing from some of these news types that have not a clue about Buck, Nashville, or country music that irritates the hell out of me.
That's so true. And it's because Buck was never the same after that. By all accounts, a very close collaboration.
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