Buck Owens

Alvis Edgar "Buck" Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006) was an American musician, singer, songwriter and band leader who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band the Buckaroos. They pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, a reference to Bakersfield, California, the city Owens called home and from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call American music.

While Owens originally used fiddle and retained pedal steel guitar into the 1970s, his sound on records and onstage was always more stripped-down and elemental. His signature style was based on simple storylines, infectious choruses, a twangy electric guitar, an insistent rhythm supplied by a drum track placed forward in the mix, and high two-part harmonies featuring Owens and his guitarist Don Rich.

Beginning in 1969, Owens co-hosted the TV series Hee Haw with Roy Clark. He left the cast in 1986. The accidental death of Rich, his best friend, in 1974 devastated him for years and abruptly halted his career until he performed with Dwight Yoakam in 1988. Owens died on March 25, 2006 shortly after performing at his Crystal Palace restaurant, club and museum in Bakersfield.

Owens is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Links to Peel
JP had a natural affinity for country music after his exposure to it in America but Buck Owens' songs appear rarely on Kat's Karavan: he seems to have preferred the maudlin Christmas laments to his other material and aired them on his shows in the 2000s. Owens' song Act Naturally was covered by the Beatles on their 1965 LP Help!, with Ringo Starr on vocals.

Festive Fifty Entries

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Sessions

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Other Shows Played

 * 18 December 2001: 'It’s Christmas Time For Everyone But Me (LP-Christmas With Buck Owens & His Buckaroos)' (Sundazed)
 * 20 December 2001: 'Blue Christmas Lights (LP-Christmas With Buck Owens And His Buckaroos)' (Sundazed)
 * 19 December 2002: 'Blue Christmas Lights (LP-Christmas With Buck Owens And His Buckaroos)' (Sundazed)
 * 26 December 2002 (Radio Mafia): 'It's Christmas Time For Everyone But Me (LP-Christmas With Buck Owens & His Buckaroos)' (Sundazed Music)