Buck Owens - Buck 'Em! vol2 - The Music Of Buck Owens (1967-1975) FLAC

50 Album Tracks & Rarities on 2CDs! 7 Tracks Previously Unissued on CD,
9 Tracks Previously Unissued in the U.S. The audio companion to the new book
Buck ‘Em! The Autobiography of Buck Owens. Buy your copy now!

Happy times are here again!
After the unprecedented success of Buck ’Em!, Omnivore Recordings is prepared
to take Buck’s story to the next stage with Buck ’Em! Volume 2: The Music Of
Buck Owens (1967-1975).
In the same way the Volume 1 started the story, Buck ’Em! Volume 2 continues it—
tracing the incredible music of Bakersfield’s hero and country icon via an impressive
50 tracks!
From #1 singles like “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass,” “Johnny B. Goode,” and
“Tall Dark Stranger,” to favorites including “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” and the original
version of “Streets Of Bakersfield,” Buck ’Em Volume 2 continues the journey of
Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. [Buck] throughout his run into the 1970s and into the homes
of America on Hee Haw.
Featuring notes culled from the best-selling book, Buck ’Em! The Autobiography Of
Buck Owens by Buck Owens with Randy Poe, and featuring photos and ephemera,
the legend of Buck reigns supreme with this capper to the iconic first volume of the
series. With mastering from Michael Graves, whose work on Hank Williams’ The
Garden Spot Programs, 1950 earned him a Grammy®, the listener is not only reliving
history, but hearing it better than it’s ever sounded.
Buck ’Em! Volume 2: The Music Of Buck Owens (1967-1975) is not just a sequel
to an impressive and successful release, it is the continuation of the appreciation of
a true, American legend.

Buck. Yes.

-- Omnivore

Two years after the first installment comes Buck 'Em!: The Music of Buck Owens,
Vol. 2, a double-disc set chronicling the eight years when Buck Owens was a crossover
superstar thanks to his prominent role as a co-host of Hee Haw. Buck started to slide
into a rut toward the end of this run -- a process accelerated by the tragic death of his
right-hand man Don Rich in 1974, a loss from which Owens never fully recovered -- but
producer Patrick Milligan slyly disguises this trend by nestling deep cuts, live tracks, and
outtakes among the best of his hits, thereby painting a portrait of Buck Owens as a
musician nearly as adventurous as he was during the purple patch of the '50s and early '60s.
Rarities per se aren't the focus of the collection -- most of the rare items were originally
dredged up on other archival releases, often the big Bear Family boxes of Buck & His
Buckaroos -- but by not diligently marching through nothing the singles, Buck 'Em! highlights
how much ground Buck covered during these nine years. Some of the wild sounds can be
heard on the singles -- with its fuzz guitars and harpsichords, the country-fried psychedelia
of "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" still startles. This collection, however, serves up the
long-unreleased duet with soul singer Bettye Swann on Merle Haggard's "Today I Started
Loving You Again," a performance that emphasizes Owens' often-underappreciated flair for
R&B. And the collection contains more than one driving live performance with the Buckaroos
that would be rock & roll by any other name, a few forays into both crossover MOR ("Bridge
Over Troubled Water") and bluegrass (the storming "Ruby [Are You Mad]"), a handful of
novelties, and a bunch of straight-up Bakersfield country that sounds as vital as the
groundbreaking sides from the first volume. Because that collection contains the pioneering
singles, this might seem to pale in comparison, but the opposite is true: by presenting the best
of an at-times-uneven era for Owens, Buck 'Em!: The Music of Buck Owens, Vol. 2 shines,
illustrating the full range of Buck's talents.
-- Stephen Thomas Erlewine