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Buck Owens Biography |
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Country Music Great Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. was born in Sherman, Texas, on Aug. 12, 1929, and at age 3 or 4 nicknamed himself "Buck" after a mule on the family farm. Dropping out of school at 13, he taught himself to play guitar. By 1951, he had moved to Bakersfield, Calif., and eventually found success in its thriving country music scene. In the clubs of Bakersfield, Buck Owens developed a trademark twisted-note style on his solid body Fender Telecaster. Initially recording as lead guitarist for Tommy Collins in 1953 (on "You Better Not Do That") and then singing for the small Pep and Chesterfield labels, Owens landed on Capitol Records in 1957. When his first single for Capitol fizzled, Owens moved to Puyallup, Wash., (a Tacoma suburb) to pursue a radio career. There he met Don Rich (real name Donald Eugene Ulrich), whose high harmony vocals would combine with Owens' to create a distinctive sound. Rich remained Owens' charismatic right-hand man until he died in a motorcycle accident in 1974. In 1959, Owens made a hit with a recording of "Second Fiddle" in the Ray Price "shuffle" style. Later that year, the success of "Under Your Spell Again" led Owens to return to Bakersfield and form a band, the Buckaroos. Owens's top-notch band, The Buckaroos, won CMA's instrumental group of the year awards in 1967 and '68. In 1963, his recording of Johnny Russell's "Act Naturally" stayed at No. 1 for four weeks, and "Love's Gonna Live Here" spent 16 weeks atop the charts. Throughout the '60s, his recordings regularly topped the country chart. In 1964, Owens helped form the OMAC booking agency, which eventually handled such clients as Merle Haggard, Joe and Rose Maphis, Wynn Stewart, Freddie Hart and Rose Maddox. In 1967, Owens launched Blue Book Publishing and also began to acquire and develop radio stations. Yet another feature of the Owens empire came through Buck Owens Productions in 1966, which produced his syndicated television series, The Buck Owens Ranch Show. Owens teamed with singer/multi-instrumentalist Roy Clark in 1969 to host the infamous television program Hee Haw. In the 1988 Owens combined with the new talent of admirer, Dwight Yoakam to record "The Streets of Bakersfield" which climbed the charts to No. 1. Also in 1988, Owens re-signed to his old label, Capitol Records. That union resulted in two albums and five charted singles. His "Act Naturally" duet with Ringo Starr rose to No. 27 in 1989. In 1996, he was inducted to both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Earlier that same year, he opened his opulent Crystal Palace in Bakersfield. Buck Owens died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack on March 25, 2006, only hours after performing at his Crystal Palace restaurant, club and museum in Bakersfield, CA.
Buck Owens Discography |
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