Buck Owens, 1929-2006

Just about the worst epitaph you could give to the congenial country star and purveyor of the twangy Bakersfield Sound is precisely the one they came up with in the initial AP report of his death Saturday: ‘Hee-Haw’ co-host.

“Hee-Haw,” the purposely corny twist on “Laugh-in,” that was aimed at the Midwest even as it made fun of it, was the precursor to the ribald red state humor of “Blue Collar TV.” 

Co-hosting it for some 17 years on network and syndication with may have given Buck Owens his widest fame.

But it also spelled the demise of a brilliant musical career that had sparkled since the late 50s.

With a pure voice and ready twang, Buck Owens produced such greats as “Act Naturally,” famously covered by the Beatles, and “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” which competed on the charts with the Fab Four in the days when country, soul and rock and roll were all represented on the Top 40.

It was the flipside of the nearly-novelty “Tiger by the Tail,” the Owens-written “Cryin’ Time” that became a standard after Ray Charles covered it. Among his other singles “Love’s Gonna Live Here Again” and “Together Again.”

He and Merle Haggard were the leading representatives of a twangy, straight-ahead Bakersfield Sound, named after the working class California town that was the base for them both (the two country giants shared more than that; Owens’ first wife Bonnie later married the Hag; it was Haggard who while playing bass in his band for two weeks named Buck’s backup band the Buckaroos).

At a time of countrypolitan Nashville product awash in string of hits – 75 singles  charted; 42 hit the Top 10; 20 of those went to No. 1.

But it was “Hee-Haw” – and the death of a natural musical partner and musical harmonist in Don Rich, who preceded him in death in a 1974 motorcycle accident, that slowed to a stop his recording career.

Happy to stay in the background, running radio stations and a studio, he was lured back into recording by fan Dwight Yoakam in 1987, with whom they made a hit of Owens’ old “The Streets of Bakersfield.” Soon a new generation was rediscovering Owens’ enduring appeal and drawn to the mystique of the Bakersfield sound he kept alive in the roadhouse that became his performing showcase.

Owens played Fridays and Saturdays at Buck Owens Crystal Palace the past 10 years and fans made the pilgrimage from all over the world.

His death Saturday at 76 of undisclosed causes (though he had bouts with cancer and pneumonia in recent years) reminds us now of his great contributions to music. But if they salute it on the evening news with a clip from “Hee-Haw,” kindly turn the channel.

Comments

[Julie]

I really loved and admired Buck Owens. I am in hopes of hearing his sweet voice singing up in Heaven with the angels when I get there... if I'm fortunate enough to make it thru them pearlly gates.
Julie