Buck and Cover

Every Saturday night in the late 60's and early 70's, I was glued to the T.V with my dad, watching Hee Haw. Yup. Cornball, perhaps, but even as a youngster I never discounted the fabulous talent I was witnessing on that B&W screen. My favorite? Buck Owens. Beyond those sparkly "Nudie" suits and that cool red/white/blue acoustic guitar, Buck's harmonies with Don Rich were magical to me. I didn't know his singular sound was called "Bakersfield", but I did know that I loved hearing him.

Hours in the car on long car trips -- no tape player but always willing parents who tried their best to teach me Buck's harmonies. My dad showing me chords to "Act Naturally" on his old Kay acoustic (still my most prized possession...) Who wouldn't want to sing lyrics like: "You've got me, dreamin' those dreams again, thinkin' those things again..." or "I'll give you love, that's above, and beyond the call of luh-huh-huv."

I am always happy to hear Buck's covers, especially when sung by some of my other favorite singers. Yay to youtube for preserving audio/video recordings of the following Buck covers:

Gram Parsons, the original country/rock king, often sang with The Flying Burrito Brothers. Their cover of Buck's Close Up the Honky Tonks is faster than the original, but doesn't lessen the heartbreak.

Emmylou Harris, the queen of Americana Music, does a breathy, dreamy version of "Together Again". Requited love never sounded so good.

And Dwight Yoakam can practically channel Buck, even from beyond the grave.

As great as these covers are, nothin' beats the real thing. So many favorites, it was hard to choose which one to link: "Love's Gonna Live Here" or "Tiger by the Tail" or "Under Your Spell Again"? How about this one...