Postby draglist » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:36 pm
I stole this from our pal Bill "Badco" Ott... it was posted on Standard 1320. bp
Well, I ain't gonna work on the railroad,
and I ain't gonna work on the farm
Hey, I'll lay around the shack
'til the mail train comes back...
and roll in my sweet baby's arms**
Damn... another American icon gone. I seem to remember him being at one or two of the California Hot Rod Reunions. The first thing the G-Man and I did on our first visit to Bakersfield was have our pictures taken on Buck Owens Boulevard. Did a lot of his stuff when I was playing in Austin. John Fogarty mentioned him on an Creedence number years ago...
"A dinosaur Victrola... listenin' to Buck Owens
do... do... do... lookin' out my back door"
But you know... playing to a full house, then going home and passing in your sleep... there's a hell of a lot worse ways for a musician to go. The following is a brief... and very incomplete... review of some of Buck's recording highlights...
1st record - "Down On The Corner Of Love" 1956
1st record to reach Top 40 - "Second Fiddle" 1959
1st #1 Record - "Act Naturally" 1963
Last Record in Top 40 "Streets Of Bakersfield" 1988 duet w/ Dwight Yoakum
Other #1 singles... in no particular order.....
Loves' Gonna' Live Here - #1 for 16 weeks!
I've Got A Tiger By The Tail
Waitin' In Your Welfare Line
Think Of Me
Together Again
My Heart Skips A Beat
Buck also did some guitar session work playing his familiar Fender Strat, most notably with Gene Vincent. I was always partial to Buck's version of "Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms"**, although Leon Russell and Willie have both done great covers of it too. More old B.S. later.
Badco