While the Buckaroos originally featured a fiddle and retained pedal steel guitar into the 1970s, their sound on records and onstage was always more stripped-down and elemental. The band's signature style was based on simple story lines, infectious choruses, a twangy electric guitar, an insistent rhythm supplied by a prominent drum track, and high, two-part vocal harmonies featuring Owens and his guitarist Don Rich.
From 1969 to 1986, Owens co-hosted the popular CBS television variety show Hee Haw with Roy Clark (syndicated beginning in 1971). According to his son Buddy Alan (Owens), the accidental 1974 death of Rich, his best friend, devastated him for years and impacted his creative efforts until he performed with Dwight Yoakam in 1988.
Owens is a member of both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Owens was born on a farm in Sherman, Texas, United States, to Alvis Edgar Owens Sr. and Maicie Azel (née Ellington) Owens.
In the biography About Buck., Rich Kienzle writes: "'Buck' was a donkey on the Owens farm." "When Alvis Jr. was three or four years old, he walked into the house and announced that his name also was "Buck." That was fine with the family, and the boy's name became "Buck" from then on."He attended public school for grades 1–3 in Garland, Texas.
Owens' family moved to Mesa, Arizona, in 1937 during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. While attending school in Arizona, Owens found that while he disliked formal schoolwork, he could often satisfy class requirements by singing or performing in school plays. A self-taught musician and singer, Owens became proficient on guitar, mandolin, horns, and drums. When he obtained his first electric steel guitar, he taught himself to play it after his father adapted an old radio into an amplifier. Owens quit school in the ninth grade in order to help work on his father's farm and pursue a music career.
Owens had three sons: Buddy Alan (who charted several hits as a Capitol recording artist in the early 1970s and appeared with his father numerous times on Hee Haw), Johnny, and Michael Owens.
Owens successfully recovered from oral cancer in the early 1990s, but had additional health problems near the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s, including pneumonia and a minor stroke in 2004. These health problems had forced him to curtail his regular weekly performances with the Buckaroos at his Crystal Palace. Owens died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack at his ranch just north of Bakersfield on March 25, 2006, only hours after performing at his club. He was 76 years old.
Owens was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1996. He was ranked No. 12 in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music in 2003. In addition, CMT also ranked the Buckaroos No. 2 in the network's 20 Greatest Bands in 2005. He was also inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The stretch of US Highway 82 in Sherman, Texas, is named the Buck Owens Freeway in his honor.
Act Naturally
Buck Owens Lyrics
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They're gonna make a big star out of me
We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
And all I gotta do is act naturally
Well, I'll bet you I'ma gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar you can't never tell
The movie's gonna make me a big star
'Cause I can play the part so well
Well, I hope you come to see me in the movie
Then I know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that's ever hit the big time
And all I gotta do is act naturally
We'll make a scene about a man that's sad and lonely
And begging down upon his bended knee
I'll play the part but I won't need rehearsin'
All I'll have to do is act naturally
Well, I'll bet you I'ma gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar you can't never tell
The movie's gonna make me a big star
'Cause I can play the part so well
Well, I hope you come to see me in the movie
Then I'll know that you will plainly see
The biggest fool that's ever hit the big time
And all I gotta do is act naturally
The lyrics of Buck Owens’s song “Act Naturally” talk about a person who is about to become a movie star, but only by putting on an act or by acting naturally. The singer is happy about the prospect of fame but laments about the fact that he will portray a sad, lonely man in the movie. The lyrics are optimistic in tone as the singer believes he could potentially win an Oscar for his performance, and he's good at playing the part naturally.
The chorus, “All I gotta do is act naturally,” is an interesting line as it appears paradoxical. The natural thing to do for most people is to be themselves, but the singer wants to be someone else entirely- a sad, lonely man. Moreover, the singer acknowledges that he will be a fool or an imposter, and that his success in the movie industry will be based on his ability to portray someone else.
The lyrics also make us question whether the movie industry is real or fake. While the singer is happy about his imminent stardom, he is painfully aware of the fact that it’s all a big act. The song highlights the idea that what we see in movies may not always be true, and that actors are putting on a façade to portray a particular character, despite their actual lives being different.
Line by Line Meaning
They're gonna put me in the movies
I'm going to be in a movie
They're gonna make a big star out of me
I'll become famous because of the movie
We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
The movie is about a sad and lonely man
And all I gotta do is act naturally
All I have to do is pretend to be someone else
Well, I'll bet you I'm a-gonna be a big star
I'm going to be a big movie star
Might win an Oscar you can't never tell
Maybe I'll even win an Academy Award
The movie's gonna make me a big star,
This movie will bring me fame
'Cause I can play the part so well
I'm confident in my acting abilities
Well, I hope you come and see me in the movie
I hope you watch the movie and see me in it
Then I'll know that you will plainly see
You'll see me for who I truly am
The biggest fool that's ever hit the big time
You'll realize I'm not really a big shot
And all I gotta do is act naturally
But all it took was me pretending to be someone else
We'll make a scene about a man that's sad and lonely
Another scene in the movie will feature a sad and lonely man
Begging down upon his bended knee
He'll be begging for something while on his knees
I'll play the part but I won't need rehearsing
I can easily act out this scene without practice
All I'll have to do is act naturally
I'll just pretend to be him
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Vonie Morrison, Johnny Russell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind