Search - Buck Owens :: Young Buck: The Complete Pre Capitol Recordings

The Early Recordings of Buck Owens

Ron Frankl | Hendersonville, NC | 03/12/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Buck Owens kicked around the music business for over a decade before he became a star and one of the fathers of the so-called "Bakersfield Sound" that survives in country music to this day. Owens worked steadily as a studio musician before turning to songwriting. By the mid 1950's he was recording demos of his songs for other artists to hear, then began to record singles for a few tiny California labels, without much notice or success.This CD compiles those early singles and demos. Its interesting how much of the style he rode to the top of the country charts was already in place in the mid to late Fifties. Owens was country to the core, yet he was one of the first artists to incorporate rock & roll elements such as the driving beat and jangly electric guitar into country music. The fact that none of these sides became hits probably means that Owens was just ahead of his time. Several of these songs were re-recorded by Owens when he joined Capitol Records in 1959, with "Down On the Corner Of Love" becoming a major hit.There is a lot of fine music here, and fans of Owens, the Bakersfield Sound and classic country will want to own this. Some of these tracks have been available before, but with greatly inferior sound and without the excellent booklet assembled by the Country Music Foundation. Let's hope that the CMF continues this promising reissue series (check out their recent Jimmy Martin title), because this is the way reissues should be done."

Cool and Unique!

squeeze | 11/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This Buck Owens recording is a must have for collectors. It features Buck in a way that is seldom heard. Check out the blues influence on "I`m Gonna Blow" The sound quality is great! Add it to your collection, you wont regret this purchase!"

Several different sides of Buck

Robert Harlow | New York, NY and Madrid, Spain | 11/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The songs on this album sound quite a bit different from the more stylized sound Buck had with the Buckaroos. But it's still great -- usually I don't like Buck without the Buckaroos (it's like Bruce without the E Street Band -- the electricity just isn't there), but here it's different. That's because there is a wide variety, from rockabilly (Hot Dog) to some downright sweet songs (Right After the Dance) and the contagious melodies that are pure Buck Owens (Down on the Corner of Love, to name just one). What helps is the great sound quality. Don't think that because it's early recordings, it's not going to sound good. Someone in some remastering studio treated this with the TLC it deserves. If you like Buck, you will be very happy with this collection."