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Sadly, a generation of people only know Buck Owens as the guy who told bad jokes in a fake cornfield with his overalls on backwards on TV's "Hee Haw."
There were plenty of reasons why Buck Owens got the co-host job on the popular show. A honky-tonk legend, he brought electric guitars to country music with his Fender Telecaster, and dubbed his own "freight train" sound. In his heyday, Owens and his band the Buckaroos churned out vinyl like it was butter, coming up with 15 consecutive No. 1 records between 1963 and 1967. His songs have been recorded by Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, the Beatles and Dean Martin, among many others.
In 1974 when Owens' long-time friend and band leader, Don Rich, died, he stopped singing, and his career slowed to a crawl. "Hee Haw" was his only gig until he retired from the show in 1986.
Not everybody forgot about Buck Owens during those years, especially not Hollywood hillbilly Dwight Yoakam. The duo re-recorded Owens' song "Streets of Bakersfield," and took it to No. 1 on the country charts in 1987.
Since then Buck has started touring again, was inducted to the Country Music Hall of Fame and built a country music memorabilia museum, The Crystal Palace, in his home town of Bakersfield, Calif.
