This week, Omnivore Recordings announced the release of The Exciting Sounds of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, Virgina, 1964 on March 28th, pressed on strawberry jam-colored vinyl.
This serves as the earliest known full concert recording of Buck and his Buckaroos, mastered from the original tape by Grammy®-winning engineer Michael Graves and including extensive liner notes from co-producer Scott B. Bomar.
Buck Owens and his Buckaroos were a phenomenon when they burst onto the scene in the early 1960s. In 1963–1964, they had five #1 Country hits including “Act Naturally,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me),” and “My Heart Skips A Beat.” Their live Carnegie Hall Concert release hit #1 in 1966, but how exciting they were onstage before that was largely unheard of.
Buck Owens, born Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. in 1929 in Sherman, Texas, was an American country music singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a pioneer of the Bakersfield sound, a subgenre of country music that emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, characterized by its twangy guitars, driving rhythms, and honky-tonk influences.
Owens began his career in music in the early 1950s, playing in various honky-tonks and clubs in California. He formed his band, the Buckaroos, in 1958, and together they released their debut album, “Buck Owens and His Buckaroos,” in 1961. The album was a critical and commercial success, and it helped to establish Owens as a major force in country music.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Owens continued to release successful albums and singles. He had a string of 21 number-one hits on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, including “Act Naturally,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” and “I Don’t Care (Just As Long As You Love Me).” Owens was also a popular television star, hosting the variety show “Hee Haw” from 1969 to 1986. He continued to perform and record until his death in 2006.
The Exciting Sounds Of Buck Owens And His Buckaroos Live From Richmond, Virginia, 1964 is the recently discovered, earliest full-concert recording of The Buckaroos onstage. The band, performing the aforementioned #1 hits and more, shows how their presence and performance in front of a live audience cemented their status as one of the greatest acts of all time—in person and on record.
