Buck Owens
Buck Owens ( born August 12, 1929 in Sherman, Texas, † March 25, 2006 in Bakersfield, actually: Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. ) was an American country singer and pioneer of the Bakersfield sound.
- 2.1 albums
Life
Childhood and youth
Owens grew up in a poor family in rural Texas during the Great Depression. The family moved in the early 1930s in the hope of better living conditions to the west. Even in Arizona, her collapsed self-made cars and allowed just force down in the small town of Mesa. As a 14 -year-old Owens went off from school and worked as a farm helper. But his main interest was music. Self-taught, he learned several instruments. When local radio station and in the local club scene, he gained his first experience. Here he became acquainted with the country singer Bonnie Campbell, whom he married the age of 17. A year later their first child was born.
Musical career
1951 the young family moved to Bakersfield, California. A little later, the marriage ended in divorce. Owens quickly found in the vibrant music scene recording. He founded his own band, the Schoolhouse Playboys, and worked as a studio musician for Capitol Records and the local Lu Valley Studio. Under the producer Ken Nelson, he participated as a guitarist in recordings of known artists like Wanda Jackson and Faron Young. In 1956 he published at the smaller label Pep Records under the pseudonym Corky Jones his first records, including the Rockabilly - Single Hot Dog / Rhythm and Booze, but were unsuccessful. Owens then acted on as a session musician. With his friend, songwriter Harlan Howard, he began to compose. Together they founded the music publishing Blue Book Music.
Owens last single was at Pep There Goes My Heart / Sweethearts in Heaven, then he tried unsuccessfully at the Chesterfield label. In addition to Owens ' commitment as a solo musician, he took over for Bill Woods' Orange Blossom Boys, a local band from Bakersfield, the vocal and guitar part. On some shots of Woods is also heard Owens. During this time, Owens and Woods frequently occurred in Baker Fielder Blackboard Club.
In an appearance in a Baker Fielder club representative of record company Columbia were aware of him. This in turn prompted Capitol, for which he was still working as a session musician to offer him a contract. His first singles were again marked by the Rockabilly, but failures. Owens resigned and moved to Tacoma, Washington, where he participated in a radio station. In 1958 he was persuaded by Ken Nelson for another recording session. His first single, Second Fiddle, reached a middle place in the country charts. The breakthrough came a year later with the top 10 hit Under Your Spell Again.
Owens returned to Bakersfield. His next hit was Above and Beyond, which had been written by his friend Harlan Howard. The next written by him singles were successful. In 1961 his debut album, Buck Owens, which could advance to number 2. In the same year he first took on a single with Rose Maddox. With his band, The Buckaroos, he became a sought-after live act. Relevant share of these had the guitarist Don Rich, with whom he had a long-standing friendship. To get into the loud dance halls hearing, you sat perforce a electric guitars. The Bakersfield Sound took its start here.
1963 reached Buck Owens Act Naturally with the top of the country charts. It was the first of an unbroken sequence of 15 number - one hits and was recorded in 1965 by The Beatles. His greatest success was Love's Gonna Live Here, which was 16 weeks at the top. In 1965 he was chosen by the Academy of Country Music Singer of the Year. He launched The Buck Owens Ranch Show, his own television series, and founded another company. In 1966 he bought a radio station. His record successes continued. Bakersfield, meanwhile, had become an important center of country music. The played hard here Honky Tonk was a welcome alternative to the soft, pop-oriented Nashville sound. New stars like Merle Haggard or Wynn Stewart stepped into the spotlight. Even his ex- wife, Bonnie Owens, with whom he remained on friendly terms, had respectable success.
In 1969, he hosted and Roy Clark the TV show Hee Haw. The exceptionally successful comedy show ran for nearly twenty years, and Buck Owens made known far beyond the country scene beyond. His record successes stopped, although he was increasingly entrepreneurial activity. Among other things, he opened in Bakersfield an ultra-modern recording studio.
1970 awarded him the band Creedence Clearwater Revival with the text line " Dinosaur Victrola, listening to Buck Owens " in their single Lookin 'out My Back Door.
Gradual withdrawal
In July 1974, his close friend Don Rich died in a motorcycle accident. Owens initially lost all drive for further work. His contract with Capitol in 1975 no longer extended. He moved to Warner Music Group, but even here he could not build on his earlier successes. Owens withdrew increasingly from the music business and focused on his business and the still popular television show. 1987 persuaded Dwight Yoakam, a young young musicians Baker Fielder scene Owens to make a comeback. Your co-produced single Streets of Bakersfield reached the top of the country charts.
Encouraged by the success, Owens tried a new beginning. At his old label Capitol in 1988, he signed a contract again. There were two albums and several singles produced, including a duet with former Beatle Ringo Starr.
In the early 1990s he survived a cancer surgery which affected his speaking and singing ability slightly. In 1996 he received the highest award, which has awarded the Country Music: He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the same year he opened in Bakersfield, Club - Restaurant Crystal Palace, where he regularly occurred until shortly before his death.
On March 25, 2006 Buck Owens died of a cancerous condition in which he suffered since 1993.