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.
Above and Beyond
Buck Owens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
A yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
Well a poor boy's chances
Are sometimes very few
Though I've got no money
If you'll be my honey
Here's what I'll offer you
A well I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
A yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
We met by chance and I knew at a glance
That I'd found my destiny
Now I want to carry you off and marry you
If you will agree
And I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
Yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
In Buck Owens's song "Above and Beyond," the singer is expressing his willingness to go to great lengths to show his love to the woman he desires. He sings that he will offer her a kind of love that is beyond what is normally expected, and that he will never do anything to hurt her. The chorus repeats these sentiments and emphasizes that true love cannot be bought with money.
The verses further elaborate on the singer's desire for the woman, even though he recognizes that he may not have all the material things that other men might offer her. He suggests that his love is worth more than any of those things, and that if she chooses to be with him, he will make sure she is the happiest she can be.
The song is a classic example of Buck Owens's signature sound, pioneered in the Bakersfield country music scene of California, which incorporates rock and roll and honky-tonk influences. It was released in 1960 and became a hit on the country charts, reaching #3.
Line by Line Meaning
A well I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
I will give you an exceptional kind of love that surpasses any standards of what love should be, and I vow to never bring tears to your eyes.
A yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
I assure you that my love will be unparalleled and that money cannot buy the extent of love that I am willing to offer.
Well a poor boy's chances
For a pretty girl's glances
Are sometimes very few
Though I've got no money
If you'll be my honey
Here's what I'll offer you
A man who lacks financial resources has lower chances of winning a lady's affection, but even though I am not wealthy, I still hope you will be with me, and in return, I will give you what I can offer.
We met by chance and I knew at a glance
That I'd found my destiny
Now I want to carry you off and marry you
If you will agree
The moment we encountered each other, I knew it was meant to be. I now desire to wed you and make you mine forever, but I wish to know if you feel the same way.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Harlan Howard
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tara Martin
A well I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
A yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
Well a poor boy's chances
For a pretty girl's glances
Are sometimes very few
Though I've got no money
If you'll be my honey
Here's what I'll offer you
A well I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
A yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
We met by chance and I knew at a glance
That I'd found my destiny
Now I want to carry you off and marry you
If you will agree
And I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And I'll never ever make you cry
Yes I'll give you love
That's above and beyond the call of love
And love's something that money can't buy
Melody Villarreal
I love Buck Owens, everything about him; style, voice and playing. He's awesome!💜
fish doctor
Thanks again to the great Harlan Howard for writing so many classic songs.
Patricia Smethatsit
That's for sure.
Philip Mendisco
I absolutely cried when I heard this! I was only familiar with the version by Rodney Crowell. And he does it well. But had NO IDEA this was a Buck Owen's song. It made my heart "skip a beat"❤️❤️❤️
Patricia Smethatsit
There you go.
Greg Piazza
Buck Owens and Don Rich were a perfect fit for each other. After Don Rich was killed Buck was never the same again , part of his heart died with Don .
Patricia Smethatsit
So very true.
T4TEXASTOM JOHNNYCAT
From Buck's very first album.
R.I.P. Buck Owens
R.I.P. Ralph Mooney
R.I.P. Don Rich🎸🎻
Ronald Farrington
RIP Real Country Music
Patricia Smethatsit
@Ronald FarringtonFor sure.