Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics

Available January 22, 2013
 
18 of Buck’s favorite country songs recorded for
Hee Haw at Buck’s own Bakersfield studio!

Given the opportunity to record a large group of songs that reached far beyond his own best-known works, Buck enjoyed the rare chance to stretch out and have fun performing the hits of other country singers.

Over the course of this collection, pulled from the vast trove of material Buck recorded for Hee Haw, Owens provides us with a concise tutorial on the history of country music–from “In the Jailhouse Now,” a song first popularized by Jimmie Rodgers in 1928–to “Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer,” a hit for Johnny Russell in 1973.

Many of the songs Buck recorded for Hee Haw were originally recorded by some of Buck’s biggest and earliest influences. “Stay a Little Longer” had been a hit for Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys. “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It,” “Jambalaya,” and “Hey, Good Lookin’” were all Hank Williams staples. Other early favorites of Buck’s were Jack Guthrie’s “Oklahoma Hills” and Hank Snow’s “I’m Moving On.”

Also included is “Swinging Doors,” a song written and first popularized by fellow Bakersfield Sound stalwart Merle Haggard.

There are country standards throughout–from Faron Young’s “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young” to Stonewall Jackson’s “Waterloo.”

Our CD’s title track, “Honky Tonk Man,” is a song first popularized by Johnny Horton in 1956. Thirty years later, it became an even bigger hit for Dwight Yoakam (about a decade after Buck had recorded the song for Hee Haw).

In recent years there have been a number of recording artists who seem to have had more “new” material released after they passed away than was released while they were still alive. Not so with Buck Owens. An unreleased Buck Owens track is a rare thing, indeed. To have eighteen previously unreleased sides all together on one CD is a Bakersfield-sized bounty of riches for Buck Owens fans everywhere.

 

 
 
 

Buck Sings Eagles

Available in record stores only on Record Store Day/Black Friday, November 23, 2012
 
Unique 10″ vinyl EP in a beautiful picture sleeve!
4 previously unissued covers of classic Eagles hits!

If Buck Owens wasn’t already a household name by 1968, this Father of the Bakersfield Sound and legend of country music was about to be beamed into the living rooms of America via the new country variety show called Hee Haw to insure he’d never again pull up to a lunch counter unnoticed. Naturally, music was a part of any variety show of the era, and Buck and the Buckaroos were called upon for musical numbers in each episode. To accomplish this in the most professional manner for the broadcasts, the backing tracks were recorded in Buck’s studio and then played back on the show, to which the singers, Buck included, would sing live. However, while recording in the studio, guide vocals were also recorded but not used on the show, and that is how today, we have an incredible treasure trove of previously unissued Buck Owens recordings to hear for the first time.

In these recordings, made for Hee Haw, were four covers of songs cut by the legendary Eagles. Recorded in the ’70s, these selections demonstrate how closely Buck was paying attention to the music of the era and are a natural fit for his style, as the Eagles no doubt, were influenced by the cutting edge country of Buck’s Bakersfield sound to begin with! These tracks are compiled for the first time anywhere on a new 10″ EP coming November 6th that will be released in advance of the forthcoming double-CD release in 2013, Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics.

 
10″ E.P. Track List:

    Side 1:
1. TAKE IT EASY
2. PEACEFUL EASY FEELING

    Side 2:
1. LYIN’ EYES
2. TEQUILA SUNRISE

 
 
 

“Live” At The White House (…And In Space)

 
First time on CD and Digital.
Includes a bonus set recorded for the Apollo 16 astronauts!

September 9, 1968—a classic moment in the long and glorious history of country music.
On that date, country music arrived at The White House. What better a place is there for the people’s music? And the man who brought country music to the White House is the very same man who has done so much to embody and promote the country sound to a mass audience worldwide. His name, of course, is Buck Owens—the boy from northern Texas who has joined Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams as one of the real innovators of country music… the big man from Bakersfield, California, who has made country music grow up.

This album is a document of that classic Owens performance. And, as befits a one-of-a-lifetime experience, it is presented here exactly as that distinguished White House audience heard it—without frills, without electronic hocus-pocus, just the good-natured Owens sound, the music of Buddy Alan, Doyle Holly, Don Rich, The Buckaroos and especially Buck Owens himself. The music of the people.

In early 1972 (the year the actual “Live” At The White House album was released), Buck received another call from his country. This time his mission was to provide music to go to space aboard Apollo 16. A half-hour show was recorded by Buck and his band at his Bakersfield sudios. Astronaut Charlie Duke recollects that the crew enjoyed listening to the tapes in space: “It was really fun—we played those tapes a lot during our flight to and from the Moon.” Now, for the first time, the rest of us Earthbound folks have a chance to hear what those on Apollo 16 heard in space nearly 40 years ago!

From the White House to outer space and the moon! Buck Owens really got around!

 

 
 

 
 
 

Coloring Book E.P.

Exclusively available for Record Store Day—April 21, 2012—limited to 2,500 copies.
Locate your favorite independent record store at the Record Store Day website.
 

Oringal 1970 Vintage Stock Buck Owens Coloring Book! (No Kidding!)
For Record Store Day, Fall 2012, Omnivore Recordings will release an original Buck Owens Coloring Book in a limited edition of 2500! Commissioned by Buck Owens in 1970, these original, uncirculated vintage coloring books have been stored by Buck Owens Enterprises . . . yes, since 1970! Original copies fetch high prices among collectors. The story told in the coloring book culminates in Buck & The Buckaroos playing a concert with four of Buck’s biggest hits “Act Naturally,” “Together Again” “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail,” and “Crying Time” specifically highlighted and named below the double-page spread (and you can color it in). The flexi-disc and digital download card included with this coloring book feature rare live versions of those exact songs and they’re true to the era as well!

Viewable from the outside of the package, this disc has all four of the above mentioned songs from Buck Owens & The Buckaroos historic performance at the White House for President Lyndon Johnson on September 9, 1968. The album “Live” At The White House, from which the tracks are drawn, was issued almost exactly four years later on September 5, 1972 and has never been reissued in any form. But keep yer eyes peeled for the Omnivore reissue coming in June!

 
 
 

Close Up The Honky Tonks (Early Version) / My Heart Skips A Beat (Early Version)

Now available as a digital single.
Record Store Day 2011 limited-edition 7″
(1,300 yellow vinyl copies worldwide): SOLD OUT.

 

Buck? Yeah!

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr., was born in 1929 and by the age of four had declared his new name as “Buck”—after the family mule. This steadfast nature would follow Buck as he became a pioneer, a superstar and a legend.

1963’s “Act Naturally” was Buck’s first of 21 number one singles—many of which were recorded with his band, The Buckaroos. In a time when Country & Western had lost the “Country,” Buck brought it back in—stripped down and with honky-tonk rhythms that resonated with the world. Releasing over 30 albums with Capitol Records (including twelve #1s), his success allowed him to ultimately gain control of most of his recorded output. He also purchased a number of radio stations in and around his adopted home of Bakersfield, California.

After Buck acquired all of his masters from Capitol Records, most everything he recorded for the label found its way back into the marketplace in one form or another. Everything, that is, except this January 28, 1964, take of “Close Up The Honky Tonks.”

Recorded at the same sessions as his double-sided, #1 single “My Heart Skips A Beat” / “Together Again,” the Omnivore version of “Close Up The Honky Tonks” was recently discovered, buried on a multi-track reel—thought to be lost for years. It’s in a different key than the released version (recorded five months later), and whether this was an abandoned take (it does not feature Buck’s trademark, overdubbed harmonies) remains unclear. What is clear is that it is a fascinating peek into the evolution of The Buckaroos and a classic song. Although never issued as a single, “Close Up The Honky Tonks” became a fan favorite and has been covered by artists including Dwight Yoakam, The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers.

 

Research at the Buck Owens’ tape vault reveals the “lost” recording. Project producer Patrick Milligan
with Jim Shaw—Manager at Buck Owens Productions (and a Buckaroo since 1970!).

 

The flip features “My Heart Skips A Beat,” recorded during the “Act Naturally” sessions in 1963. Very much in the “old” Buck Owens vein, this early performance carries elements—like fiddle and the honky-tonk shuffle—that Buck would eventually move away from. The track was finished and apparently readied for release, but the song was buried until the tune was re-cut almost a year later (it is possible that the success of the newer sound of “Act Naturally” was the reason for shelving the original version). While this version appeared on the Bear Family box in 2008, it has never been released in mono on a 45.

This beauty is probably the coolest Buckin’ A & B side you’ll ever find.

 
Got a minute? Go check out Buck’s site and get all the info for your next vacation to the Crystal Palace!