RIP, Buck Owens

Livia · #1 03-25-2006, 02:25 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

'Hee Haw' country star Buck Owens dies at 76
'Act Naturally' singer had more than 20 No. 1 records

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Buck Owens, co-host of television's "Hee Haw" and who shaped the sound of country music with hits like "Act Naturally," has died. He was 76.

Owens died at his home, said family spokesman Jim Shaw. The cause of death was not immediately known. Owens had undergone throat cancer surgery in 1993 and was hospitalized with pneumonia in 1997.

His career was one of the most phenomenal in country music, with a string of more than 20 No. 1 records, most released from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s.

They were recorded with a honky-tonk twang that came to be known throughout California as the "Bakersfield Sound," named for the town 100 miles north of Los Angeles that Owens called home.

"I think the reason he was so well known and respected by a younger generation of country musicians was because he was an innovator and rebel," said Shaw, who played keyboards in Owens' band, the Buckaroos. "He did it out of the Nashville establishment. He had a raw edge."

Owens was modest when describing his aspirations.

"I'd like to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do the job, wrote a few songs and had a hell of a time," he said in 1992.

An indefatigable performer, Owens played a red, white and blue guitar with fireball fervor. He and the Buckaroos wore flashy rhinestone suits in an era when flash was as important to country music as fiddles.

Among his biggest hits were "Together Again" (also recorded by Emmylou Harris), "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail," "Love's Gonna Live Here," "My Heart Skips a Beat" and "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line."

And he was the answer to this music trivia question: What country star had a hit record that was later done by the Beatles?

"Those guys were phenomenal," Owens once said.

Ringo Starr recorded "Act Naturally" twice, singing lead on the Beatles' 1965 version and recording it as a duet with Owens in 1989.
Pickin' and grinnin'

In addition to music, Owens had a highly visible TV career as co-host of "Hee Haw" from 1969 to 1986. With guitarist Roy Clark, he led viewers through a potpourri of country music and hayseed humor.

"It's an honest show," Owens told The Associated Press in 1995. "There's no social message -- no crusade. It's fun and simple."

Owens himself could be rebellious, choosing among other things to label what he did "American music" rather than country.

"I took a little heat," he once said. "People asked me, `Isn't country music good enough for you?' "

He also criticized the syrupy arrangements of some country singers, saying "assembly-line, robot music turns me off."

After his string of hits, Owens stayed away from the recording scene for a decade, returning in 1988 to record another No. 1 record, "Streets of Bakersfield," with Dwight Yoakam.

He spent much of his time away concentrating on his business interests, which included a Bakersfield TV station and radio stations in Bakersfield and Phoenix.

"I never wanted to hang around like the punch-drunk fighter," he told The Associated Press in 1992.
Bakersfield Sound

He had moved to Bakersfield in 1951, hoping to find work in the thriving juke joints of what in the years before suburban sprawl was a truck-stop town on Highway 99, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.

"We played rhumbas and tangos and sambas, and we played Bob Wills music, lots of Bob Wills music," he said, referring to the bandleader who was the king of Western swing.

"And lots of rock 'n' roll," he added.

Owens started recording in the mid-1950s, but gained little success until 1963 with "Act Naturally," his first No. 1 single.

Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. was born in 1929 outside Sherman, Texas, the son of a sharecropper. With opportunities scarce during the Depression, the family moved to Arizona when he was 8.

He dropped out of school at age 13 to haul produce and harvest crops, and by 16 he was playing music in taverns.

He once told an audience, "When I was a little bitty kid, I used to dream about playing the guitar and singing like some of those great people that we had the old, thick records of."

Owens' first wife, Bonnie Owens, sometimes performed with him and went on to become a leading backup singer after their divorce in 1955. She had occasional solo hits in the '60s, as well as successful duets with her second husband, Merle Haggard.

One of her two sons with Owens also became a singer, using the name Buddy Alan. He had a Top 10 hit in 1968, "Let the World Keep on a-Turnin'," and recorded a number of duets with his father.

In addition to Buddy, he is survived by two other sons, Michael and John.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

HomerMcvie · #2 03-25-2006, 02:45 PM

I'm damned close to crying. He was a class act, and a fine gentleman. For anyone who missed the thread last week, I own a Fender "Buck Owens Telecaster"-red,white,and blue sparkle. I sent the pickguard to his secretary, who was going to have him autograph it for me. He didn't think that was good enough, as he was afraid the ink would rub off. So he had it engraved for me. I offered to pay for the engraving. His secretary said he wouldn't hear of it, that he was glad to do that for a fan. What a class act. Every entertainer could take a lesson from him. Rest in peace, Buck.

SteveMacD · #3 03-25-2006, 03:13 PM

I think I'm going to be sick...

Livia · #4 03-25-2006, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I'm damned close to crying. He was a class act, and a fine gentleman. For anyone who missed the thread last week, I own a Fender "Buck Owens Telecaster"-red,white,and blue sparkle. I sent the pickguard to his secretary, who was going to have him autograph it for me. He didn't think that was good enough, as he was afraid the ink would rub off. So he had it engraved for me. I offered to pay for the engraving. His secretary said he wouldn't hear of it, that he was glad to do that for a fan. What a class act. Every entertainer could take a lesson from him. Rest in peace, Buck.

What a great story!

estranged4life · #5 03-25-2006, 04:20 PM

he was one of my parents favorite musicians (My Mom didnt like country, since she was a rocker...But she loved Buck Owens). I remember watching "Hee Haw" all the time as a kid, Seems sad to know he is no longer among us.

He was indeed one a kind...RIP Buck

DavidMn · #6 03-25-2006, 05:24 PM

He was a legebd, thats for sure. Sorry to ehar of his passing.

HomerMcvie · #7 03-25-2006, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

I think I'm going to be sick...

Me too, Steve.
I'm using your sig pic as my new wallpaper.

GiniLeaE · #8 03-26-2006, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

What a class act. Every entertainer could take a lesson from him. Rest in peace, Buck.

That is one of the best stories I've ever heard! I'll pass that one along with your permission to my friends at the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Grand Ole Opry. I had the priviledge to attend both during Fan Fair week in 1994. I loved meeting Buck and Roy Clark because of their antics on Hee-Haw

...and seeing them perform at the Opry with Loretta Lynn that night was mesmerizing and I'm not even a HUGE country music fan. They made fun of Loretta for forgetting the words to one of her songs, and I think it was "Coal Miner's Daughter" of all songs

and what a sense of humor he had!

Here's one of my favorite episodes of Hee Haw where Buck Owens sings 3 times (includes Uncle Penn and Rocky Top! YEEHAW!

) http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OU1XT94U
I met Chely Wright at Jekyll Island's big festival backstage and she said the highlight of her career has been becoming a friend of Buck Owens! Now that speaks volumes...he mentored a lot of the younger generation from what she told me that day. The same goes for Terri Clark and Dwight Yoakam, who always mentioned him when asked about their influences in country music. There aren't a lot of the older generation of entertainers that are willing to do that anymore. We've sure lost a good soul, but heaven has gained a fine one!

Buck Owens and Terri Clark at the Grand Ole Opry
Here's a video showing a duet with an example of someone Buck mentored - Dwight Yoakam with their duet "Streets of Bakersfield" http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CQ5PKF6Y

Here's some interesting info about Buck and one of my fave show's Hee Haw

from his official site, plus an interesting bit about his guitars

that were manufactured in his name in his history section:

Canadian TV producers Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth had conceived Hee Haw, named for its cartoon donkey mascot, as a country music version of NBC’s popular Laugh-In that would mix quick-cut, cornball humor with country music. Buck taped the pilot in 1968 and CBS picked it up as a summer replacement for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, canceled due to its controversial anti-war humor during the Vietnam years. CBS picked up a 13 -show option, and at Buck’s recommendation the producers hired singer Roy Clark as co-host. The show premiered Sunday, June 15, 1969.

Hee Haw was so successful during the summer that CBS slotted it into the fall schedule. The Buckaroos served as the house band, and Buck was suddenly getting national exposure on a weekly basis. With him came the top talents in his stable: Buddy Alan, Susan Raye, and the Haggers.

In 1966 Buck and The Buckaroos had their instruments painted red, white and blue, an extension of Buck’s innate patriotism. When these instruments were seen on Hee Haw, guitar manufacturers began making offers to him to market a guitar in those colors. Though Buck used a red, white and blue acoustic guitar built for him by Semie Moseley of Mosrite Guitars, his business sense told him an expensive model of that type wouldn’t sell to the public.

He finally licensed Chicago Musical Instruments (makers of the prestigious Gibson guitars) to market a $99 acoustic model, and received a $2.50 royalty on each sold. He knew that Sears would market them but had no idea they would sell as well as they did --until the first royalty check came. "The very first statement, they sent me $15,000," he laughs. "I said, ‘Oh, you mean THAT Sears!"

During this time, Buck was also filming what may be the first country music videos ever done. He did four tied to his hit singles "Tall Dark Stranger," Sweet Rosie Jones," "Big in Vegas" and "I Wouldn’t Live in New York City (If They Gave Me The Whole Dang Town)." Filmed in 35 millimeter, they were rarely seen, since there were no outlets for playing videos then and cable TV networks didn’t yet exist.

With Buck Owens now a national TV star, Capitol flooded the market with nine LPs between December 1969 and February 1971. Three were reissues of earlier albums, along with a new gospel album, a live album, three new Buck studio albums, and a Christmas LP. One promotion man complained to the label that they were releasing more Buck product than he could ever promote.

HomerMcvie · #9 03-26-2006, 02:20 PM

Yes GiniLeaE, please pass that story on. I told it onstage last night, and almost lost it. I cut it a little bit short, when I started to cry.

I do look forward to a big Buck tribute at the Hall Of Fame.

Edit- ya know, if the HOF would want to really use it, let me know. I can really elaborate on it for them. How I got Buck's secretary's phone number was: my buddy(who turned me on to Buck) found a HUGE(like five feet tall) Buck Owens movie(?) poster. He contacted the Crystal Palace, to see about the chance of getting Buck to sign it. They told him to ship it out there. Well, Buck fell in love with it, and wanted it! How do you say no to the guy ON the poster? But, they searched and searched, and found another copy somewhere in the US. Buck bought that one for my friend, and sent it to him signed....along with a Buck Owens watch, and a bunch of other Crystal Palace items, and a letter of thanks.

Ah, the memories...