Act Naturally

March 25, 2006 10:19 AM

Buck Owens'Hee Haw' country star dies at 76
posted by hortense (58 comments total)

I grew up watching Hee Haw. This makes me sad.
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posted by kimdog at 10:21 AM on March 25, 2006

Goodnight Buck,thank you for "where oh where are you tonight"
posted by hortense at 10:22 AM on March 25, 2006

My favorite country singer, bar none. It pains me to think that he'll be better remembered for Hee Haw than for his string of amazing albums on Capitol.

*Pulls Together Again/My Heart Skips A Beat from the shelf.*
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 10:28 AM on March 25, 2006

On Hee Haw, did he wear his overalls backwards?
posted by found missing at 10:28 AM on March 25, 2006

A dinosaur Victrola list'ning to Buck Owens
Doo, doo, doo, Lookin' out my back door.
posted by fixedgear at 10:36 AM on March 25, 2006

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posted by eriko at 10:39 AM on March 25, 2006

I'll never forget stopping at the Crystal Palace with my old buddy Chuck Farnham, we were driving back from some wierd Vegas or Tijuana road trip, and Chuck proclaimed that we needed to do a Bakersfield detour. It was a Friday night, we pull up to the joint, the parking lot jammed with Cadis, muscle cars, pickups and tourist buses. We go in and, lo and behold, there was Buck and his band playing all sorts of wacky stuff. We sit down, order the greasiest food in Bakersfield, and were amazed at the age and ethnic diversity of the crowd (turns out the tour bus we saw outside had been jammed with Japanese tourists, who were looking happy as clams inside the venue). Buck and the band were taking musical requests from the audience. Being a smartass, I shout out "Highway to Hell", thinking that there's no way they even know who AC/DC is, much less know how to play the tune. Silly me - Buck looks over at me with the most evil, playful grin you could imagine, and dagnabbit, those boys played the finest/only country version of the song I've ever heard, before or since. When we left to get back on the road, we tuned into the FM station that was being broadcast from the Palace, and listened to the live show we just left as we headed out of town. A damned good time, and I bought some Buck Owens CDs the following week. RIP, Buck, you were one of a kind.
posted by dbiedny at 10:42 AM on March 25, 2006 [2 favorites]

Dang. The Buck stops here.

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posted by dobbs at 10:42 AM on March 25, 2006

Oh man, that's not good news. I love Buck Owens. In tribute I will only listen to music with all of the bass out of it for the rest of the month. What a wonderful songwriter.
posted by sleepy pete at 10:43 AM on March 25, 2006

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There was so much more to Buck than Hee-Haw, so fuck you.
posted by keswick at 10:44 AM on March 25, 2006

I'm a-pickin!
posted by pracowity at 10:48 AM on March 25, 2006

Aw, Buck. Damn.

I grew up in North Carolina, and my dad was a big Hee Haw fan. To put it mildly, I was not; I thought Buck was just a corny old hick who told bad jokes and played guitar and sang between idiotic skits.

Then, in college, somebody played me some actual Buck Owens records and I was completely floored. I've been a huge fan of Buck and the Bakersfield Sound ever since.

Rest in peace, Brother Owens.

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posted by enrevanche at 10:51 AM on March 25, 2006

Sam's Place
I've got a Tiger by the Tail (ysi mp3s)
posted by sleepy pete at 10:59 AM on March 25, 2006

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posted by OmieWise at 11:01 AM on March 25, 2006

Big ol' Hee Haw fan, here, too. Big fan of Buck's music and that Hee Haw Gospel Quartet, too.

RIP, Buck.

*sigh*
posted by darkstar at 11:03 AM on March 25, 2006

Here's a good jumping-off spot for all your Buck Owens needs - a self-described

27 page multi-media Biography by Rich Kienzle, complete with photographs sound and video clips. Learn how Buck started out as the son of a sharecropper with a dream of a better life. Music became the inspiration that lead him out of the fields and into a life of a recording artist that not only achieved a dream of success but also helped develop a sound that took the world by storm.

From Buck Owens' Crystal Palace (as mentioned by dbiedny above), Buck's official home page.
posted by hangashore at 11:09 AM on March 25, 2006

(Sorry about the self follow-up, but...)

From the last page of the bio above, let's give Buck the last word:

"I think I’m gonna be remembered the same way that people remember me today. There’s gonna be those that liked me and those that didn’t like me. I’d like just to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do the job, wrote a few songs, and had a hell of a time."

posted by hangashore at 11:16 AM on March 25, 2006

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posted by jlkr at 11:29 AM on March 25, 2006

My cousin Dean is the spitting image of Buck Owens.

Once, my mom asked him, "Hey Deany, you watch Hee Haw much?"

"Oh yeah, all the time. That Buck Owens sure is an ugly cuss though, ain't he?"

Really. I kid you not.

My mom STILL gets mileage out of that story.
posted by Relay at 11:34 AM on March 25, 2006

He used to play the Future Farmers of America dance every year at Santa Maria High School when I went there. It was always the school's biggest fundraiser
posted by buggzzee23 at 11:40 AM on March 25, 2006

There was so much more to Buck than Hee-Haw, so fuck you.

He started the show (with Roy Clark), he was on it for about 17 years, so fuck you too. Buck Owens seemed to think Hee Haw was a pretty good setting for his brand of music. I agree with Buck Owens.
posted by found missing at 11:48 AM on March 25, 2006

Aw. Who's gonna mow my grass now?
posted by scratch at 11:57 AM on March 25, 2006

There was so much more to Buck than Hee-Haw, so fuck you.

He started the show (with Roy Clark), he was on it for about 17 years, so fuck you too. Buck Owens seemed to think Hee Haw was a pretty good setting for his brand of music. I agree with Buck Owens.

Keswick, it would appear that you just got smacked the fuck down.
posted by soiled cowboy at 12:09 PM on March 25, 2006

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posted by Smart Dalek at 12:12 PM on March 25, 2006

I'm not a fan of the obit posts, but if Buck Owens deserves dots, then Cindy Walker, who also just died, deserves a dot deluge.
posted by found missing at 12:45 PM on March 25, 2006

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*Pictures Buck reunited with Don Rich*
*Feels better*
posted by stet at 1:11 PM on March 25, 2006

I have no clue who this guy is but there's a Melvins song called 'Buck Owens'.
posted by cellphone at 1:13 PM on March 25, 2006

Of the recent spate of celebrity deaths, this one hits me the hardest. It seems, (growing up near Branson, me in the biz) that he's always been on the periphery. I am actually shocked that I never met him, though I have worked with his pedal steel player.

I will be listening to "Live At Carnegie Hall" tonight.
posted by sourwookie at 1:18 PM on March 25, 2006

If I ever own a guitar, it's gonna be red, white, and blue.

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posted by evilcolonel at 1:32 PM on March 25, 2006

Shoot. He was my favorite.
Waitin' in St. Peter's welfare line, now.

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posted by mimi at 1:40 PM on March 25, 2006

He's pickin' and grinnin' in the great beyond now. RIP, dude.
posted by bim at 1:56 PM on March 25, 2006

Dang.
I liked Buck Owens' music but didn't know he was on Hee Haw.
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Wasn't familiar with Cindy Walker, but some googling shows that she was indeed damn good as well, and so:
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posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:40 PM on March 25, 2006

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posted by Duncan at 3:03 PM on March 25, 2006

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posted by lilboo at 4:00 PM on March 25, 2006

Damn.

All you folks in Orlando might want to head to the Dwight Yoakam show. I'll bet he does a tribute.
posted by donpardo at 4:06 PM on March 25, 2006

*sigh*

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posted by scody at 5:25 PM on March 25, 2006

"...There's a giant doing cartwheels,
a statue wearing high heels,
look at all the happy creatures
dancing on the lawn.
A dinosaur Victrola
list'ning to Buck Ownes.
Doo, doo, doo lookin'
out my back door...,"CCR sang.

This lyric, I suppose, caused me to put down my bong for a moment in the 70's, and consider Buck beyond Hee Haw. So he stops here then.
posted by BillyElmore at 6:31 PM on March 25, 2006

I remember my granddad watching Hee Haw much to the chagrin of us kids who had no appreciation for Buck Owens or the Hee Haw Honeys at that early an age.

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posted by geekyguy at 6:59 PM on March 25, 2006

Gloom, despair and agony on me!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery!
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all!
Gloom, despair and agony on me!
posted by bigbigdog at 8:35 PM on March 25, 2006

My wife and I went to a Bob Dylan / Merle Haggard show year before last. Towards the end of Merle's set, he called out a friend from backstage - Mr. Owens himself. Honestly, that brief bow Buck took was better (for me) than Hag's and Dylan's sets combined.

Another artist I will regret for having not seen perform live to the end of my days.
posted by joseph_elmhurst at 9:08 PM on March 25, 2006

I've searched the world over, and thought I found true love,
You met another, and *Ttthhuuubbbthhh* you was gone.
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 10:11 PM on March 25, 2006

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posted by whatideserve at 10:21 PM on March 25, 2006

Your daddy said "No, I won't give up drinkin'".
Your mamma would cry, on her knees she would beg.
One night he came home, he came home cold sober.
The dog didn't know him and bit off his leg.

Where? Oh, Where, are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone.
I searched the world over, and thought I found true love.
But you met another, and *Ttthhuuubbbthhh* you was gone.


/I recall that vividly from third grade. Bizzare the things that stick with us, eh?
posted by RavinDave at 11:22 PM on March 25, 2006

Sooo..back from the gig.

I had to pull out "who's gonna mow your grass (when I'm gone)" for the double entendre.

this post inspires me to write the next country classic, "i'm too tired (for the shift key)"
posted by sourwookie at 11:50 PM on March 25, 2006

Buck's bootlegs from his 1968 (I think) European tour (with the Buckaroos, of course) are more raucous than the Stones ever thought about being, and are some of the best live performances I've ever heard. My father watched Hee-Haw religiously, and watching it with him turned me on to Johnny Cash and George Jones. Anyone who paints Buck Owens as a hick and a hack doesn't know beans about country music. Bye, Buck. Even some of us old punks will miss you.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:54 PM on March 25, 2006

Says Buck of Legendary Missourian Steel Player Tom Brumley (long time Buckararoo), "You talk about people that don't know nothin', here's an ol' boy don't even suspect nothing!"

On album, even! Oh, snap!
posted by sourwookie at 12:07 AM on March 26, 2006

Dammit! I want to go to bed, but I'm afraid of the gravity of this loss I must face tomorrow.
posted by sourwookie at 12:14 AM on March 26, 2006

I was at The Crystal Palace about two years ago. Buck had been out with pneumonia since the first of the year. It was well known to the locals that he hadn't been well.

My parents watched Hee Haw a lot, and being a little kid I watched it along side them. RIP Buck. Thanks for the memories.
posted by 6:1 at 12:37 AM on March 26, 2006

Buck's Allmusic bio has lots of interesting detail about his early years.

He started the show (with Roy Clark)

Er, no:

Hee Haw was the concept of two Canadian TV producers, who envisioned it as a down-home, country version of the popular Laugh-In. Owens was hired as its host, and he brought on singer/guitarist Roy Clark as a co-host. Owens only had to tape the show twice a year -- once in June and once in October -- and his segments were spread throughout the season's shows.
posted by mediareport at 8:47 AM on March 26, 2006

And this is misleading too:

he was on [Hee Haw] for about 17 years

The show was produced for only two years, then found major popularity in syndication.
posted by mediareport at 8:51 AM on March 26, 2006

Host of Hee Haw, from 1969-1986. Why are you people trying to distance Buck Owens from Hee Haw?
posted by found missing at 8:56 AM on March 26, 2006

Oh, and sorry I used the phrase "started the show (with Roy Clark)" too loosely for you, mediareport; but, my question stands.
posted by found missing at 9:04 AM on March 26, 2006

Oh, good lord; I'm not trying to distance him from anything; he liked the show. But to say he hosted it from 1969 to 1986 is ridiculous, regardless of IMDB's shorthand way of conflating actual filming with reruns. He filmed segments a couple of times a year from 1969-1971. You're being silly.
posted by mediareport at 9:12 AM on March 26, 2006

mediareport, you are wrong here. The show was in first run syndication, not reruns.
posted by found missing at 9:15 AM on March 26, 2006

Wow, I'm sorry.
posted by mediareport at 9:21 AM on March 26, 2006

I played some selections from the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet at church tonight in homage.
posted by darkstar at 11:17 AM on March 26, 2006

For our first Valentine's together, my then-boyfriend and I drove down to Bakersfield to see Buck at the Crystal Palace. We had the band at our wedding play "Above and Beyond".

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Buck, you will be missed.
posted by echolalia67 at 7:02 PM on March 26, 2006

All of Bakersfield is in mourning, or so I understand. That guy owned that town.
posted by Todd Lokken at 11:52 AM on March 28, 2006