For the first time in 50 years, the original mono single edits and mixes
Although the Mamas & Papas’ hit songs are nearly elemental in their familiarity, the actual hit singles are still rare to the ear. That’s because the mono mixes collected here often differ from the more commonly circulated versions by virtue of edits, instrumental changes and vocal overdubs. Unless you have the original singles, you probably haven’t heard these versions since they were on the radio, and even then, you likely heard them only through the limited fidelity of AM broadcast. But heard in remastered form, your ears will be impressed with the coherence of the mono productions and vocal blends, and in their absence, the problems that have plagued the group’s stereo catalog. To make things even better, the group’s A’s and B’s are complemented by the ABC/Dunhill solo singles of Cass Elliot, John Phillips and Denny Doherty.
The set opens with the group’s incredibly rare first single, “Go Where You Wanna Go.†While the recording is well-known through its inclusion on the debut album and greatest hits anthologies (and the song is even more familiar in its later hit cover by the Fifth Dimension), the 7†single saw only very limited release, possibly even promotional only, and was quickly superseded in distribution, record company attention, public acclaim and chart success by “California Dreamin’.†The group would continue to ride high in the charts through 1967’s “Creeque Alley,†fading a bit before “Dream a Little Dream of Me†returned them to prominence and charted the way for Cass Elliot’s solo career. Elliot, Doherty and Phillips all recorded solo material for ABC/Dunhill, and their singles fill out disc two.
It’s tempting to see Them primarily as a launching pad for Van Morrison, and though anyone who saw them live or heard these early singles would quickly zero in on Morrison, the band’s tight, tough sound was as essential to framing Morrison’s vocals as Morrison’s vocals were to defining Them. Though not a huge commercial success in the U.S., cracking the Top 40 only twice with “Here Comes the Night†and “Mystic Eyes,†the band still had a lasting impact on American music. In addition to their iconic cover of “Baby Please Don’t Go†(a single that failed to crack the stateside Top 100 but remains as familiar as if it had), Morrison’s original “Gloria†proved to be one of the foundational pillars of garage and punk rock.
Sony’s three-CD set gathers together all of the material recorded for their first two albums, Angry Young Them and Them Again, non-LP singles and EPs, and adds a large helping of demo tracks, live recordings and alternate takes. In the process the set provides a huge helping of crisply remastered mono originals and introduces a few new stereo sides on disc three. Some will be disappointed that true stereo mixes weren’t used everywhere they were available, but mono is what just about everyone heard in the mid-60s, and the punch of these mixes makes the band sound all the more visceral. Neither Morrison nor the band ever seem to lose steam, even when the tempo slows they remain ferocious, and their mix of original and cover material is seamless.
Comprehensive collection of soft-rock singer’s hits
Mississippian Paul Davis is best remembered for his breakthrough 1977 hit “I Go Crazy,†but the light-soul soft-rock singer-songwriter broke into the industry seven years earlier, and continued to chart regularly until 1982. Varese’s seventeen-track collection reaches back to his first single, “Revolution in My Soul†b/w “Constantly†(issued as The Reivers), and rolls all the way through a pair of chart-topping duets in the mid-80s with Marie Osmond (“You’re Still New to Meâ€) and Tanya Tucker (the terrific “I Won’t Take Less Than Your Loveâ€). Along the way the disc collects all of Davis’ charting singles except the minor chart entries “Can’t You Find Another Way (Of Doing It),†“Keep Our Love Alive†and “Cry a Little.â€
The two earliest sides, issued on the Los Angeles-based White Whale label, are great period pop, with the Muscle Shoals-produced A-side evincing gospel soul and the B-side tuneful bubblegum. The single gained enough notice to get Davis signed with the Bang label, where his first release was a sweet soul cover of the Jarmels’ “A Little Bit of Soap.†The single’s success led to an album, A Little Bit of Paul Davis, and an opportunity for Davis to spread his songwriting wings with “I Just Wanna Keep it Together.†You can hear a touch of labelmate Neil Diamond in the single’s near-spoken passages, though the production is more in line with the pop hits of Tony Orlando and UK acts Edison Lighthouse and the Flying Machine.
Davis continued to write imaginative hits for himself throughout the ‘70s, often producing or co-producing his own records. He added country rock flavor to “Boogie Woogie Man,†folk country to “Ride ‘Em Cowboy,†and turning more towards the pop mainstream with electronic keyboards on 1976’s “Thinking of You†and double-tracked vocals on the name-checking “Superstar.†The updated sound set the stage for Davis’ breakthrough with the following year’s “I Go Crazy,†a single that stayed on the Hot 100 for a then record-setting forty weeks. A follow-up duet (with Susan Collins) covering the Beach Boys’ “Darlin’†charted outside the Top 40, but the smooth “Sweet Life†brought him back to the Top 20 and crossed to the country chart.
Excellent, but surprisingly unannotated collection of Carter Family songs
As the soundtrack to Beth Harrington’s like-titled documentary, these songs sing the story of the Carter Family’s seminal invention and their on-going influence. But as a standalone volume, this virtually unannotated set provides little in the way of context or connections. The sources, circumstances and even years of these recordings are not provided, and the three-page liner notes history of the Carter Family does little to explain where these songs came from, what they meant to the Carters, or how these particular performances (including five from the Original Carter Family, one from Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, and one from Maybelle and Sara Carter) thread into the story.
Cilla Black, who passed away in August at the age of 72, was a lifelong star in her native Britain. In the US she scored a Top 40 hit with 1964’s “You’re My World†(a chart topper in the UK), and landed two more in the bottom half of the Top 100. Back at home she was a major recording star into the early 1970s, and a favorite television personality for decades afterwards. Black’s career began with an introduction to Brian Epstein by her fellow Liverpool musician, John Lennon. In turn Black was introduced to George Martin and signed to Parlophone, home of the Beatles, as well as another Epstein act, Billy J. Kramer with the Dakotas.
Like Kramer, Black was seeded with Lennon & McCartney material, and her first single, “Love of the Loved†cracked the Top 40. Additional L&M material was threaded into her run of hits, including “It’s For You†(which includes a verbal introduction from John Lennon on this set) and “Step Inside Love.†But unlike Billy J. Kramer, Black’s biggest hits came from other songwriters. Her second single, a cover of Bacharach & David’s “Anyone Who Had a Heart,†shot to #1, and was followed the same year by a chart-topping cover of Umberto Bindi’s 1963 single “Il Mio Mondo,†translated into English as “You’re My World.†She continued to land singles in the Top 10 through 1971’s “Something Tells Me (Something’s Gonna Happen Tonight),†which closes this collection.
Those looking for a history of native-made Hawaiian music may be disappointed by this set. But they’re about the only ones. Most will enjoy the four discs’ and 102-page hardbound book’s exposition of Hawaiian music and its multiple eruptions in mainstream entertainment. While the set does include a helping of native-made Hawaiian sounds, particularly on disc three, its reach is wider and its statement broader. In both sights and sounds, this set essays both the roots of Hawaiian music, and its many manifestations in pop culture. As the book’s photographs and sheet music art demonstrate, Hawaii has long been both a destination and a mythology, and there are few places the two elements have fused more fully than in music.
Tempted by brilliant poster imagery and stoked by the speed of plane travel, South Seas tourism flourished in the ‘40s and ‘50s. Upon arriving in the Hawaiian islands, visitors found both authentic and ersatz culture awaiting them. And upon their return to the states, tourists brought back memories and souvenirs that served to deepen Hawaii’s allure as both a vacation getaway and a dramatic visual setting. Hawaii has provided a picturesque backdrop for films, television shows, commercials and even cartoons, and its songs and instruments (particularly the ukulele and steel guitar) provided material for a surprisingly wide range of non-Hawaiian artists. Hulaland pays homage to the stateside displays of Hawaiiana that grew from island roots, blossoming in Hollywood, Chicago, New York and elsewhere.
The set opens with Louis Armstrong singing “On a Little Bamboo Bridge,†backed by the Waimea-born Andy Iona and his group, the Islanders. Iona’s mix of traditional melodies and American swing provided a welcome spot for the New Orleans-born Armstrong, and together they lay out a template of the set’s riches. Disc one includes Hawaiiana from several unlikely artists, including Jo Stafford, Ethel Merman, Burns & Allen, Dorothy Lamour and the yodeling country star, Slim Whitman. The disc explores everything from kitschy ‘30s cartoon themes to ‘50s steel-guitar swing, and shows how Hawaiian music was popularized by native-born artists, collaborators and appropriators.
Hawaiiana threaded into popular music throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s, with Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman developing their inventive strain of exotica in the mid-50s. Disc two explores these exotic sounds as their waves echoed in a stateside culture gripped by rock ‘n’ roll and surf music. Here you will find the full flower of American media’s fascination with Hawaii in the television themes from “Hawaii Five-O,†“Hawaiian Eye,†and a lap steel variation on “Peter Gunn.†Also included are selections from several of exotica’s pioneers, and others, like organist Earl Grant and guitarist Billy Mure, who were swept up by the wave. By the early ‘60s, Hawaiian music was often more of an ancestral headwater than a direct tributary to the mainstream, as classic island themes were rendered with twanging electric guitars, sung in doo-wop vocals and accompanied by jazz arrangements.
Disc three returns the listener to the 1930s for a disc of Hawaiian classics, waxed primarily in Los Angeles and New York, with a few Honolulu recordings thrown in for good measure. The song selections mirror some of the selections on the previous discs (e.g., “Hawaiian War Chant†and “Ukulele Ladyâ€), providing listeners an opportunity to compare. Disc four splits the difference by sampling contemporary acts that play a wide range of material (including the Ventures’ “Walk Don’t Runâ€) in vintage style. The time hopping between and within the discs adds to the image of Hawaii as a timeless, Xanadu-like paradise. The set’s old-timey acoustic music blends surprisingly well with the Hawaiian-themed jazz and rock, and the last disc’s contemporary performances are powered by the same breezes as the set’s earliest tracks.
Roy Orbison’s titanic career had four distinct phases. His late ‘50s work for Sun set him up for his most commercially successful period at Monument in the early 1960s. And his return to stardom in the 1980s came after a period of retrenchment. In between, from 1965 through 1973, Orbison recorded a dozen albums for MGM, but edged only a few titles into the lower regions of the U.S. Top 40, including 1965’s “Ride Away†and “Breakin’ Up is Breakin’ My Heart,†and 1966’s Johnny Rivers-styled “Twinkle Toes.†Orbison’s late ‘60s and early ‘70s releases fared better in Australia, Canada and the UK, but amid the rising tide of of the British Invasion, folk rock and psychedelia, competing releases from Monument, and a lack of consistent promotion from MGM, the stateside success of these recordings remained limited.
Orbison left Monument on a high note, with the chart-topping success of “Oh, Pretty Woman,†but in moving to MGM he left behind producer Fred Foster, engineer Bill Porter, and RCA’s Nashville studio. Orbison expected that MGM would expand his career into film and television, but other than the B-movie The Fastest Guitar Alive (whose soundtrack is included here) and a few song placements, his multimedia dreams failed to come true. What he did get was an extraordinary degree of artistic freedom that resulted in the production of eleven MGM album releases in nine years, all of which are included here. Also included in the box set is a twelfth album, The Big O, released in the UK by London in 1970, and a collection of non-LP singles and B-sides.
Though not the hit-making machine of his Monument days, Orbison courted commercial success by writing and recording an enormous number of tracks, touring in support of his releases, and staying true to his core strengths as an artist. His first album for MGM, There is Only One Roy Orbison, retained the string accompaniment of his biggest hits, but with songs that don’t reach the emotion-searing crescendos of his Monument material. There’s a country element to many of the productions, with tinkling, slip-note piano and Mexicali-flavored acoustic guitars providing melancholy sorrow in place of heart-breaking drama. Orbison’s vocal on a remake of “Claudette†is nicely engaged, though the backing arrangement has neither the simplicity of his Sun-era demo or the revved-up energy of the Everly Brothers’ B-side. The album doesn’t really hit full stride until the middle of side two, with “Afraid to Sleep,†one of the few non-original titles, but a classic Orbison-styled drama.
His second MGM album, The Orbison Way, mixed orchestral ballads with pop numbers backed by the Candy Men. The orchestral numbers reached greater emotional heights than his previous album, but the singles (“Crawling Back†and “Breakin’ Up is Breakin’ My Heartâ€) found a lot of new competition on the charts of late 1965, and the album, released early in 1966, failed to make a commercial impression. Whether the style was out of step with the sounds of the time, or MGM failed to provide adequate promotion, the songs are excellent, the arrangements solid, and Orbison deeply invested in his performances. There are several memorable album tracks, including the stalwart “Maybe,†and a soulful electric piano solo by future Atlanta Rhythm Section founder Dean Daughtry on “Go Away.â€
His next album, The Classic Roy Orbison, fared even worse commercially, with only the go-go “Twinkle Toes†denting the charts. The arrangements again include orchestration and band numbers, and though not as strong as the previous album, there are some true highlights, including the falsetto-laced “Pantomime,†the double-tracked vocal of “Going Back to Gloria†and the groovy beat of “Just Another Name for Rock and Roll.†The mid-tempo numbers don’t have the gravitas of Orbison’s best material, and the vocals don’t always sound deeply engaged. With his own writing failing to create hits, Orbison turned to an album of Don Gibson covers for 1967’s Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson. It’s a comfortable, countrypolitan album, and Gibson’s songs fit Orbison well. Particularly worth hearing are Orbison’s reshaping of the classics “Sweet Dreams†and “Give Myself a Party.â€
A similar songwriting detour for 1970’s Hank Williams the Roy Orbison Way, met with a similar lack of commercial success. The album’s rock-inflected sound was neither fish nor fowl; not rootsy enough to catch the attention of rock audiences, and too pop to find favor with country radio. One could imagine these arrangements being used on a mainstream television variety show. The tracks that work best, like “You Win Again,†find Orbison’s croon meeting Hank Williams’ sorrow half way, though even here, a background wah-wah guitar provides a distractingly dated touch. Orbison’s 1967 foray into film, The Fastest Guitar Alive, didn’t fare much better commercially. The soundtrack’s western-themed, folk-styled arrangements are unusual within the MGM catalog, and remain terrifically listenable. The closing “There Won’t Be Many Coming Home†was written to the film’s Civil War theme, but had a resonance with the Vietnam war that made it problematic for a U.S. single release.
Cover songs again dominate 1970’s Big O, including an eclectic selection of material from John D. Loudermilk (“Break My Mindâ€), the Beach Boys (“Help Me, Rhondaâ€), Motown (“Moneyâ€), the Platters (“Only Youâ€), the Louvin Brothers (“When I Stop Dreamingâ€), Wilson Pickett (“Land of 1000 Dancesâ€) and Orbison’s Sun-era B-side, “Go, Go, Go (Down the Line).†Recorded in the UK with backing by the Art Movement, Orbison’s enthusiasm pulls together this seemingly disparate material with performances that are spirited and charming. MGM passed on a stateside release at the time, making this album particularly unfamiliar to U.S. ears.
1972’s Roy Orbison Sings includes material co-written with Bill Dees, as well as Monument-era foil, Joe Melson. By this point, Orbison’s commercial success had fully evaporated, including his UK and Australian chart action, markets in which London had found success with singles that MGM couldn’t move in the US. Despite the lack of commercial response, Orbison kept investing himself in both his songwriting and recording, and nearing the end of his contract, he was still coming up with a few great tracks on each album. His cover of “Rings of Gold†is heavier than Don Gibson and Dottie West’s hit, and the vocal on Eddy Raven’s “Plain Jane Country (Come to Town)†reaches back to the sound of his Sun singles. 1972’s Memphis has a few nice moments, including a soulful cover of Don Gibson’s “I Can’t Stop Loving You,†the original “It Ain’t No Big Thing (But It’s Growing),†and a thoughtful expansion of the classic “Danny Boy.â€
Closing out his contract with MGM, 1974’s Milestones feels like the end of a long haul. Ever the professional, Orbison gave the songs his best, highlighted by the original “Blue Rain (Coming Down)†and a cover of the Bee Gees’ “Words.†Capping the box set is a disc of sixteen non-LP singles and B-sides whose quality lends weight to Orbison’s complaint about MGM’s lack of promotional. Most of these A-sides could have been international hits, and even B-sides like “Shy Away†and “Flowers†should be better-known among Orbison’s recorded legacy. Though the albums were sprinkled with treasures, MGM B-Sides & Singles is a solid collection of memorable songs, clever productions and top-notch vocals. And even more so than the albums, the lack of commercial exposure and digital availability will make these single sides fresh to all but the most educated fans’ ears. The seven-minute, five-part “Southbound Jericho Parkway†is worth the price of admission on its own. The masters for this disc are stereo, except “So Good†and “So Young,†which are mono.
Super collection of King Curtis’ Atco singles – A’s and B’s
King Curtis’ saxophone may have been better known to record buyers than King Curtis himself. In an extensive career as a session musician, his horn provided iconic hooks and solos on singles by the Coasters (“Yakety Yak†“Charlie Brownâ€), Buddy Holly (“Reminiscingâ€) and LaVern Baker (“I Cried a Tearâ€). Curtis’ “Hot Potato,†originally released by the Rinkydinks in 1963, reissued as “Soul Train†by the Ramrods in 1972, and re-recorded by the Rimshots, was used as the original opening theme of Soul Train. But Curtis was also a songwriter and bandleader who produced dozens of singles under his own name, most notably “Soul Twist,†which he waxed for Enjoy, “Soul Serenade†for Capitol, and a number of hits for Atco, including “Memphis Soul Stew†and covers of “Ode to Billy Joe†and “Spanish Harlem.â€
While at Atco from 1958 to 1959, and again from 1966 to 1971, Curtis released a broad range of singles that crossed the pop, R&B and adult contemporary charts. His sax could be tough, tender, muscular, smooth, lyrical and humorous, and his material included originals, covers of R&B and soul tunes, contemporaneous pop and country hits, film themes and even Tin Pan Alley classics. He recorded with various lineup of his own Kingpins (though perhaps never a better one than with Jerry Jemmott, Bernard Purdie and Cornell Dupree), but also with the players of the Fame and American Sound studio. He teamed with Duane Allman for the Instant Groove album, kicking out a Grammy-winning cover of Joe South’s “Games People Play,†and recorded “Teasin’†with Eric Clapton.
King Curtis’ singles catalog was filled with interesting selections, including superb covers of Big Jay McNeely’s “Something on Your Mind,†Rufus Thomas’ “Jump Back,†Buddy Miles’ “Them Changes†and a warm take on Mel Torme’s “The Christmas Song†that was lifted from Atco’s Soul Christmas. Curtis’ originals were just as good, including the twangy “Restless Guitar,†the go-go “Pots and Pans,†the manifesto “This is Soul,†the funky “Makin Hey,†and the frantic “Pop Corn Willy.†Of particular interest to collectors are the many singles that didn’t appear on original King Curtis albums, including eight of the first ten tracks on this set. Other non-LP singles include the guitar-centered “Blue Nocturne,†an early rendition of Donny Hathaway’s “Valdez in the Country†titled “Patty Cake,†and the yakety-sax oldies medley “Rocky Roll.†Of paramount interest is Curtis’ previously unreleased final Atco single, “Ridin’ Thumb,†which closes disc three and includes a rare King Curtis vocal.
A sad, brilliant gem of early ‘70s singer-songwriter country
Talent and hard work aren’t always enough. They can pave the path, but fame is at the end of a road pockmarked with “timing†and “connections†and “luck.†And though hard luck provides grist for the artistic mill, it can also keep a career from catching fire. Such was the case for Louisville singer-songwriter Denny Lile, whose talent, ambition and artistic brilliance weren’t fully rewarded by the popular recognition they deserved. Other than a song turned into a 1987 Top 10 Waylon Jennings hit (“Fallin’ Outâ€), Lile’s music, including this long-lost 1973 solo album, were consigned to virtual obscurity. His hometown renown brought feelers from New York and Nashville labels, but the sensitivity that made his songwriting so touching also fueled the alcoholism and self-doubt that sabotaged his career.
Lile wended his way through a number of Louisville bands, including Soul Inc. and Elysian Field, before striking a deal for this solo album. At only twenty-two years of age, his voice was decades older, with the weary, wary confidence of someone who’d logged more miles on his soul than his feet. His singing offered elements of Jim Croce’s melancholy, Gram Parsons’ grief, and, unusually in this company, Neil Diamond’s power; but even among those monumental touchstones, it was the candid voice of his lyrics that really stood out. Backed by guitar, fiddle, steel, dobro and a tight rhythm section of bass, drums and piano, Turley Richards’ productions of “Hear the Bang†and “If You Stay on Solid Ground†garnered a well-deserved offer from Hilltop Records; but while Turley was selling the single in New York, Lile signed with the local Bridges label, in a deal that would haunt him to his 1995 death.
Bridges’ distribution agreement with Nashville’s Starday-King did little to help the single or subsequent album gain traction, and both disappeared without much more than local notice. It’s hard to imagine in this hyperconnected, digital age that an album this good could vanish so completely, but Lile’s deal had surrendered both the recordings and his song publishing, and as the accompanying DVD documentary explains, it took more than four decades to untangle the rights and find the tapes. Once revived, the tapes revealed productions that are crisp and spacious – the sort of record that made your mid-70s stereo system shine – and performances that hold listeners in thrall with their confused and wounded heart. And that heart, Lile’s heart, was worn quite visibly on his sleeve as he sings of loving, leaving and being left.
Lile found that fading love doesn’t always fade evenly, and that its slow decay may not even be noticed until realizations are past due and apologies are rejected. Resignation to sad truths permeated Lile’s life, and in turn, his best songs. It led him to recoil from opportunity and sabotage possibilities for success. By the time his solo album was ready he said “Every time I’ve tried to get out of town – with Field, with Soul – something’s gone wrong. Every time I turn around an older musician is telling me his plan for making it. But nothing so far has worked. I think it’s better not to plan.†That feeling of futility suffused his songwriting, even as he spent years honing his lyrics and melodies to perfection.
The productions include many terrific touches, including congas on “If You Stay on Solid Ground†and phased fiddles on “Rag Muffin,†and there are several optimistic songs of love on the horizon (“She’s More to Me Than a Friend†and “After Allâ€) and in full bloom (“Oh Darling†and “Rag Muffinâ€). But it’s the sad songs that will haunt you, especially after you’ve viewed the accompanying biographical documentary. “Will You Hate Me When I’m Gone†offers a prophetic echo as Lile’s daughter speaks of his passing, and “After All†could be a memo from Lile to himself as he sings “so tell me how you’re feeling today, tell me if I got in your way.†As the documentary shows, Lile’s alcoholism often got in his way as the industry tried to help him capitalize on his talent.
Lile had a knack for sabotaging himself, starting with his momentum-killing solo contract, and extending through numerous fumbled opportunities. Worries about his marriage and his duty as a father – a hangover from his parents divorce – kept him from touring, and a chance to play FanFest in 1973 fell prey to one-too-many nerve-calming drinks. Follow-up meetings with Waylon Jennings’ staff also suffered from the rough shape in which his alcoholism often left him. Even an accident that landed him in the hospital with broken bones and a lacerated liver didn’t deter his drinking. His world narrowed to a home studio purchased with the royalties from Jennings’ single, and then to a custom van in which he lived the last few years of his life. He died alone in the van, estranged from his family, at the age of 44.
A stellar second chapter of the Buck Owens catalog
With the wealth of terrific material included on the first volume of Buck ‘Em!, a second volume had a high mark to reach. But by splitting the sets by era – 1955-67 for the first set, 1967-75 for this set – this second collection is no second helping. Volume one established Owens’ Bakersfield legacy, while this second chapter shows how he extended his reach, responded artistically to changing times, and used his commercial success to free himself of commercial restrictions. As on the first set, these two discs include hit singles, well-selected album cuts, and a sprinkling of tracks previously unreleased in the US. And also as with the first set, the liner notes are cannily drawn and craftily assembled from Owens’ like-titled autobiography, giving the artist an opportunity to expound on his own work.
By 1967 Buck Owens was one of country music’s biggest stars, having landed eight albums and twelve singles at the top of the charts in only four years. He kicked off 1967 by expanding his fame internationally with a concert in Japan and its subsequent chart-topping album. This set picks up later in the year with sessions that produced “Sweet Rosie Jones,†the like-named album, and the title track of what would become 1970’s You Mother’s Prayer. For the first time since Owens began his streak of hitmaking, the drummer’s throne was occupied by Jerry Wiggins, in place of the departed Willie Cantu. “Rosie,†“Let the World Keep On a Turnin’†(sung with Owens son, Buddy) and “Iâ€ve Got You on My Mind Again†all charted Top 10, but it took “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass†to get Owens back to the top spot.
Throughout 1968, Owens expanded his reach, recording the Latin and polka-styled instrumental album The Guitar Player (represented here by “Things I Saw Happening at the Fountain on the Plaza When I Was Visiting Rome or Amoreâ€), adding Don Rich’s fuzztone guitar to “Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass,†and teaming up with Susan Raye for “We’re Gonna Get Together.†The latter, recorded in 1968 wasn’t released for two years, which hints at Owens’ incredible productivity. 1968 found Owens playing a command performance for President Johnson at the White House, represented here by “Tiger By the Tail,†and also marked the departure of steel player Tom Brumley, who was replaced early the next year by JayDee Maness. Maness would leave by year end, leaving Owens without a steel player in the band.
1969 started similarly to 1967, with an international tour that yielded the live album Buck Owens in London and the chart-topping single “Johnny B. Goode.†Live recording continued to be a regular feature of Owens’ catalog, with “Big in Vegas†(a rewrite of Terry Stafford’s “Big in Dallasâ€) and “Las Vegas Lament†recorded live in Las Vegas, and “Tall Dark Stranger†recorded in Scandinavia. 1969-70 saw many more changes for Owens, including a move from Capitol’s famed Los Angeles studio to his own place in Bakersfield, the arrival of keyboard player Jim Shaw (who’s terrific live piano playing can be heard on “I’ll Still Be Waiting for Youâ€), and perhaps most importantly, Hee Haw. The latter, initially a CBS network show, provided the sort of financial compensation that records rarely did, and it freed Owens to chase his musical muse without lashing it to commercial considerations.
1970-71 saw Owens in the Top 10 with “I Wouldn’t Live in New York City (If They Gave Me the Whole Dang Town),†a cover of Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,†and the title track from the bluegrass album Ruby, but it wasn’t until 1972 that he returned to the top of the charts with “Made in Japan.†Musically, Owens had moved well beyond his Bakersfield Sound, but his writing and voice, particularly the latter, provide a surprisingly straight line through his entire catalog. The twang of steel guitar rejoined the band in 1972 with the arrival of Jerry Brightman, but before he came on board, Ralph Mooney added his stellar playing to “Arms Full of Empty†and “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie.â€
Owens’ records through the mid-70s never regained the chart performance of his earlier releases, but there were still plenty of excellent albums and singles, including Gene Price’s “Something’s Wrong†and Owens’ “In the Palm of Your Hand,†the latter highlighted by Don Rich’s fiddle. Even more important was an album track that would be remade into a huge hit fifteen-years later, Homer Joy’s “Streets of Bakersfield.†The original is more sedate than the chart-topping remake Owens recorded with Dwight Yoakam, but it provided the template for the hit. Owens returned to the Top 10 in 1973-74 with a string of upbeat novelty songs, “Big Game Hunter,†“On the Cover of the Music City News†and “Monster’s Holiday,†but his mirthful side was about to go into hibernation.
In July, 1974, Don Rich, was killed in a motorcycle accident, and Owens fell into a deep depression. He’d continue to record and release records, but the latter-half of the ‘70s found his singles failing to make much of an impact on the charts. His last Top 10 single for Capitol, “Great Expectations,†was also the last to feature Don Rich. By 1981, Owens had turned his attention to his many successful business ventures, and he began a hiatus from the charts that lasted until “Streets of Bakersfield†and Dwight Yoakam reinvigorated his interest in recording and performing. In the mid-90s he built the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, where he’d regularly perform to enthusiastic crowds and broadcast live over his own KUZZ radio.
For the first time in 50 years, the original mono single edits and mixes
