R.I.P. Buck Owens

Aw Geez.

Buck Owens died this morning at his home in Bakersfield. I really liked the guy on Hee Haw. After all, that was our weekend ritual when we were growing up. Corny jokes, great musicianship, girls in not too many clothes (before Daisy Duke even thought of her now eponymous short shorts). There was something for everybody there.

He was the straight man to Roy Clark’s larger personality. It was hard to figure out which one was the greater talent. There seemed to be a competition, unmentioned, going on there, but I found out much later that both of them were giants.

And now that I’m doing the tiniest bit of research for this post I’ve found that Buck had a huge empire of media holdings, a restaurant/cabaret in Bakersfield, and had something of a resurgence in the 80s. Here’s a truncated video clip from Buck’s own site (sorry for the Real Media link, but that video was the cleanest) of his duet with Dwight Yokum from 1986. It holds up nicely, I think. (wonder if it’s on iTunes?)

The man was the go-to guy for West Coast Country and cripes! he played to a packed house last night! Jeebus Jumpin’ Jehosephat! That’s commitment.

“Gloom, Despair, and Agony?” I hope not. Rather my prayers to Buck’s family and friends in their loss, and ours too.

– bob