- Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room · 1988
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1961
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1988
- All-Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 · 1964
- Buck Owens · 1961
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1964
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1972
- All-Time Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 · 1990
- Buck Owens · 1961
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1964
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1964
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 1963
- 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection · 2006
Essential Albums
- This 1965 album captures the king of the Bakersfield sound at his absolute peak. The roaring, rollicking title track alone is enough to ensure Owens’ artistic immortality. On the other side of the coin, “Cryin’ Time,” later covered by everyone from Ray Charles to Lorrie Morgan, is one of the most poignant tearjerkers in all of country music. Bolstered by the Buckaroos’ electrifying accompaniment—especially guitar man Don Rich’s trenchant licks and heaven-sent harmonies—Owens is undeniably firing on all cylinders from start to finish.
- 1964
- When Buck Owens and his crack backing outfit The Buckaroos recorded the hit single “My Heart Skips a Beat” in early 1964, they were in the midst of one of the greatest creative and commercial hot streaks in country music history. Owens and his band honed their chops on the same rough-and-tumble Bakersfield honky-tonk scene that produced the likes of Merle Haggard, Wynn Stewart, and The Maddox Brothers & Rose. Like those performers, Owens favored a stripped-down, boogie-infused brand of honky-tonk that provided a gritty alternative to the increasingly maudlin Nashville sound. Owens and his right-hand man Don Rich were both accomplished lead guitar players who loved rock and R&B as much as they did country, and songs like “A-11” and “Close Up the Honky Tonks” sport blistering guitar breaks that draw as much from Chuck Berry as Chet Atkins. Perhaps the definitive representation of the mid-‘60s Bakersfield sound, Together Again/My Heart Skips a Beat is essential listening for anyone seeking to understand the history of American popular music.
- What do you get when you bring together one of the most innovative stylists in country music history and Nashville’s most celebrated songwriter? You’re listening to it. Early in his career, the baron of Bakersfield paid powerful, album-length homage to the magical pen of Harlan Howard, who’d already written milestone hits for Owens and would write more. Between Buck’s honky-tonkin’, hard-country feel and Howard’s masterful odes to the mysteries of the human heart, this one set the bar pretty damn high.
- 2006
Artist Playlists
- Honky-tonk hits from the pioneer of the Bakersfield sound.
- Country is a little rowdier thanks to this Bakersfield singer.
Singles & EPs
Live Albums
About Buck Owens
Buck Owens can take much of the credit for the electrifying twang that influenced generations of honky-tonking country artists. Although Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. was born in Texas in 1929, it was his adopted home of Bakersfield, California, that would become synonymous with his stage name. In the early ‘60s, Owens and His Buckaroos, alongside Merle Haggard, pioneered what became known as the Bakersfield Sound—a rollicking, rock ‘n’ roll-influenced style easily identifiable by its ripping, twangy guitar. It was a direct reaction to the string arrangements of Nashville country-pop, and the success of singles like 1963’s tragicomic “Act Naturally” and 1964’s raucous “I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail” made it clear listeners were hungry for it. Owens enjoyed a smattering of chart success well into the ‘70s, but lost momentum when his best friend and Buckaroos guitarist Don Rich died in a motorcycle accident. The sound they concocted together, though, remains profoundly influential, and its legacy has been carried on by numerous artists, including neo-traditionalist Dwight Yoakam, who collaborated with Owens for the 1988 hit single “Streets of Bakersfield.”
- HOMETOWN
- Sherman, TX, United States
- BORN
- August 12, 1929
- GENRE
- Country