Buck Owens

Thanks to his hammy run on TV's Hee Haw coupled with a lengthy retirement from recording, it's easy to forget that throughout the '60s, Buck Owens ruled the country charts. Although he continued to score hits into the early '70s, the lion's share of his 42 Top 10 country hits came in the '60s -- including 20 that went to #1. Most remarkably, he did it all by bucking the system, forgoing the traditional, string-laden Nashville sound in favor of the Telecaster-and-pedal-steel-fueled honky-tonk characteristic of California's Bakersfield sound. And what his songs might have lacked in emotional depth (compared to those of say, fellow Bakersfield pioneer Merle Haggard), they made up for in sheer, almost Beatlesque catchiness. The Fab Four, in fact, were such avowed Owens fans that they covered his 1963 hit "Act Naturally" almost note-for-note on "Yesterday" . . . and Today. Owens, who openly expressed his admiration for the Beatles despite grumblings from country traditionalists, repaid the honor by covering "Twist and Shout" -- at Carnegie Hall, no less, with his whole band wearing mop-top wigs.

Although Owens' best-known '60s hits ("Act Nat-urally," "Together Again," "I've Got a Tiger by the Tail," etc.) are well represented on various anthologies (the best of which are Rhino's three-disc Buck Owens Collection and its single-disc counterpart, The Hits of Buck Owens), Sundazed's exhaustive reissue series of his Capitol albums better illustrates the extent of Owens' popularity; at last count, 18 titles originally released between 1961 and '68 were available on CD. A pair of perfunctory Christmas albums and an in-strumental collection are included, but it's a testament to Owens' consistency that there's not a dud in the bunch. Like the Ramones, he was essentially a one-trick pony: His records sounded essentially the same -- genial, upbeat, well played, and chock-full of catchy tunes -- and he never dropped a turkey on his fans by straying off the tried-and-true track. So unless you're searching for a particular song, pick up any title -- even the crystal-clear In Japan -- and you'll get the picture: at least one, two, or three #1 hits sung (and usually written) by Owens, a half-dozen non-hits that sound less like filler than equally worthy singles candidates, an instrumental or two, and a couple of songs featuring Buckaroos guitarist/fiddler Don Rich or bassist Doyle Holly on lead vocal.

That said, three titles do stand out by merit of historical significance: the shuffle-heavy Buck Owens, which predates his Bakersfield sound bonanza; I've Got a Tiger by the Tail, representing said bonanza at its most bountiful; and Carnegie Hall Concert, in which Buck and the Buckaroos take Manhattan in high aw-shucks cornball style.

Owens recorded several more albums for Capitol during the first half of the '70s, and a few for Warner Bros. later in the decade, though none have yet been reissued. After the motorcycle-accident death of Don Rich in 1974, Owens showed little interest in recording or performing, until Dwight Yoakam -- for whom Owens had written several songs -- coaxed him out of retirement in 1988. That year's Hot Dog! and 1989's Act Naturally featured likable but lesser remakes of his earlier recordings. Hot Dog! boasts some borderline rock & roll, while Act Naturally presents Owens chumming it up with Ringo Starr on the title tune and harmonizing beautifully with Emmylou Harris on "Crying Time." Both albums have since fallen out of print, but as long as his vintage recordings re-main (newly) readily available, neither is likely to be missed. (PAUL EVANS/RICHARD SKANSE)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide