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.
Johnny B. Goode
Buck Owens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Back up in the woods among the evergreens
There stood an old cabin made of earth and wood
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B.Goode
Who'd never ever learned to read or write so well
But he could play a guitar just like a ringin' a bell
Go go go Johnny go go go Johnny go go go Johnny be Goode
He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
The engineer would see him sittin' in the shade
Listen to the rhythm that the drivers made
The people comin' by they would stop and say
Oh my but that little country boy could play
Go go go Johnny go go go Johnny go go go Johnny be Goode
[ guitar ]
His mama told him someday you will be a man
And you will be the leader of a big old band
Many people come from miles around
To hear you play your music till the sun goes down
Maybe someday your name will be in lights a sayin' Johnny be Goode tonight
Go go go go Johnny go go go Johnny go go go Johnny be Goode
The lyrics of Buck Owens’s song “Johnny B. Goode” tells the story of a country boy named Johnny who lived in an old cabin in the woods close to New Orleans. Johnny was illiterate, but he was a gifted guitar player who could play like he was ringing a bell. He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack and sit beside the tree by the railroad track. Whenever he played, the people who passed by would stop and marvel at his talent.
The song is a tribute to the rock and roll icon Chuck Berry who wrote and performed the original “Johnny B. Goode” in 1958. Berry’s song became an instant classic and has since been covered by numerous artists, including Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles. Buck Owens’s version for his album “Johnny B. Goode” was released in 1969 and stayed on the charts for 10 weeks.
The lyrics of the song speak to the universal appeal of rock and roll music. Even someone like Johnny, who lacked formal education, could rise up and become a star through his talent and hard work. The song also celebrates the power of music to bring people together, as evidenced by the crowds who came from miles around to hear Johnny play.
Line by Line Meaning
Deep down in Lousiana close to New Orleans
In Southern Louisiana, near New Orleans
Back up in the woods among the evergreens
In a forested area filled with evergreen trees
There stood an old cabin made of earth and wood
A cabin built of natural materials
Where lived a country boy named Johnny B.Goode
A young man named Johnny B. Goode resided there
Who'd never ever learned to read or write so well
Johnny B. Goode was not highly literate
But he could play a guitar just like a ringin' a bell
He was highly skilled at playing the guitar
Go go go Johnny go go go Johnny go go go Johnny be Goode
A call to Johnny B. Goode to showcase his guitar skills
He used to carry his guitar in a gunny sack
Johnny B. Goode transported his guitar in a sack
Sit beside the tree by the railroad track
He often played near a tree by the train tracks
The engineer would see him sittin' in the shade
The train operator noticed Johnny sitting in the shade
Listen to the rhythm that the drivers made
Johnny was inspired by the beat of the train
The people comin' by they would stop and say
Passersby paused to hear Johnny play
Oh my but that little country boy could play
People marveled at Johnny's musical talent
Go go go Johnny go go go Johnny go go go Johnny be Goode
A call to Johnny to play his guitar
[ guitar ]
An instrumental break
His mama told him someday you will be a man
Johnny's mother predicted his future success
And you will be the leader of a big old band
She foresaw Johnny leading a musical group
Many people come from miles around
People would travel a long way to hear him play
To hear you play your music till the sun goes down
They would listen to Johnny's music until nightfall
Maybe someday your name will be in lights a sayin' Johnny be Goode tonight
There is hope for Johnny to become a famous musician
Go go go go Johnny go go go Johnny go go go Johnny be Goode
Another exhortation for Johnny to play
Lyrics © ENTERTAINMENT ONE U.S. LP
Written by: Chuck Berry
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind