Buck Owens

Buck Owens, hand-drawn from the cover of his album, “You’re For Me” in 1962, Hollywood, California, age 33.

Owens was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader.
He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music chart.
He pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound, named in honor of Bakersfield, California, Owens’s adopted home and the city from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call “American music”.

The band’s signature style was based on simple story lines, infectious choruses, a twangy electric guitar, an insistent rhythm supplied by a prominent drum track, and high, two-part vocal harmonies featuring Owens and his guitarist Don Rich.

From 1969 to 1986, Owens co-hosted the popular CBS television variety show Hee Haw with Roy Clark (syndicated beginning in 1971).
According to Owens’ son Buddy Alan, the accidental 1974 death of Don Rich, his closest friend, devastated him for years and impacted his creative efforts until he mounted a comeback in the late 1980s.

Greatest hits: “Act Naturally”, “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass?”, “Love’s Gonna Live Here”, “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail”, “Streets Of Bakersfield”, “Ruby (Are You Mad)”, “Hot Dog”, “Together Again”, “Waitin’ In Your Welfare Line” and “Buckaroo”.

Owens died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack at his ranch just north of Bakersfield on March 25, 2006, only hours after performing at his club The Crystal Palace.
He was 76 years old.

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

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