Buck Owens
| Buck Owens | |
|---|---|
Warner Brothers Records publicity photo, 1977
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. |
| Born |
August 12, 1929 Sherman, Texas, United States |
| Died | March 25, 2006 (aged 76) Bakersfield, California, United States |
| Genres | Country, Bakersfield sound |
| Occupation(s) | singer, bandleader, TV host |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 1945–2006 |
| Labels | Capitol Records, Sundazed Records |
| Associated acts | The Buckaroos, Susan Raye, Rose Maddox, Dwight Yoakam, Roy Clark |
| Website | Owens' Web site |
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.
Owens was born on a farm in Sherman, Texas, to Alvis Edgar Owens, Sr. and his wife, Maicie Azel Ellington.
"'Buck' was a donkey on the Owens farm," Rich Kienzle wrote in the biography About Buck. "When Alvis Jr. was three or four years old, he walked into the house and announced that his name also was "Buck." That was fine with the family, and the boy's name was Buck from then on." He attended public school for grades 1–3 in Garland, Texas.
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