One year ago, Buck Owens passed away peacefully in his sleep at home in Bakersfield, California, the place where he started his illustrious and fabulous career. The cause of his death was not immediately known, but he was treated for cancer in 1993 and pneumonia in 1997.

Buck Owens was named Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. when he was born in Sherman, Texas on August 12, 1929.  3 or 4 years later, he nicknamed himself, “Buck” after a mule on the family farm.  The family moved west in 1937, settling in Mesa, Arizona.  Buck taught himself to play the guitar, and by 1951 had moved to Bakersfield, California, where he eventually found success in nightclubs in this thriving country music town.  After a few fizzled attempts at recording for small labels, Buck Owens found his first hit for Capitol Records in 1957, “Second Fiddle.”

Buck developed into a great lead guitarist with a unique style.  You remember the song Tommy Collins recorded in 1953, called “You Better Not Do That”? That’s Buck Owens playing lead guitar. But things were not going right, so Buck moved to Tacoma, Washington. He teamed up with Donald Eugene Ulrich, a name shortened to Don Rich. Don’s voice was a perfect blend, singing harmony with Buck, and the two became inseparable, churning out hit after hit.  However, Buck lost his right-hand man tragically when Don died in a motorcycle accident in 1974.  One of the songs they did together was “Under Your Spell Again.”

It’s not unusual for an artist to struggle in the beginning years of his career. Buck Owens is no exception. In 1958, Buck found himself working in Tacoma, Washington as a disk jockey. Also, he was selling ads for the station and playing clubs around the area. He had a live radio show and featured a new local singer named Loretta Lynn. Convinced that his recording career was over, he decided to do one more recording session for Capitol Records, this time using a steel guitar and a fiddle.  It wasn’t long before he was stringing out the hits, like this one, “Love’s Gonna Live Here.”

Buck, along with Merle Haggard, is given credit for developing the Bakersfield sound, which is described as a “twangy, electrified, rock-influenced version of hardcore honky tonk” that emerged in the 1960’s. Buck was the very first of the Bakersfield bunch to really “hit it big,” racking up 15 consecutive number one hits in the mid-1960s. One of the songs that propelled Buck Owens into prominence was a song written by Johnny Russell,  “Act Naturally.”

You’ve heard about people who can’t take success, and wind up broke after making a fortune. That is not the case with Buck Owens. Encouraged by his manager, Jack McFadden, Buck began investing in entertainment properties. In 1964 they formed a booking agency and began handling artists like Merle Haggard, Wynn Steward and Freddie Hart. In 1967 Owens started Blue Book Publishing, which he sold to Tree Publishing in the 1980s. He added radio stations to his small empire, an empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The poor boy from Texas certainly made his mark in the business world as well as with his singing career. Another big Buck Owens hit was  “My Heart Skips A Beat.”

Another part of the Owens Empire came with the establishment of a company called Buck Owens Productions. This enterprise produced his syndicated television series, The Buck Owens Ranch Show. Starting in 1966, the show was shot in Oklahoma City. In all, 78 half-hour color shows were taped and distributed in 100 markets. Owens’ topnotch band, The Buckaroos, won CMA’s instrumental group of the year awards in 1967 and ’68. They recorded “Buckaroo” and the instrumental was widely played.

Unquestionably, Buck was the leading country artist of the 1960s, selling over a million records a year. He made over 300 personal appearances a year, including Carnegie Hall and the White House. In the mid-60s Buck had racked up 15 consecutive Number One hits.

In 1969, Buck Owens teamed up with singer and guitarist Roy Clark to host “Hee Haw,” which as you know by now became a very popular show.  However, CBS-TV only carried it about 2 years, but the show continued as a syndicated project. Owens and Clark had a “pickin’ and grinnin’” part in each show, and both sang and recorded in the popular Hee Haw Gospel Quartet. Buck continued in the show until 1986 when he withdrew from his hosting duties. He was never replaced although the show continued to air well into 1994. 

In 1996, Buck Owens was elected to both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. In the same years, he opened his beautiful Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, where it still operates today. Most of Buck’s songs were up-tempo and pretty much novelty songs, like “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail.” But one of Buck’s best ballads was  “Together Again.”

Dusty Owens
TCM Radio News