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.
abilene
Buck Owens Lyrics
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Abilene Abilene prettiest town I've ever seen
Women there don't treat you mean in Abilene sweet Abilene
I sat alone most every night watched the trains pull out of sight
Don't I wish they were carryin' me back to Abilene my Abilene
Abilene oh Abilene...
[ steel ]
Crowded city there ain't nothing free nothin' in this town for me
Abilene oh Abilene...
Women there don't treat you mean in Abilene my Abilene
The song Abilene by Buck Owens is a tribute to a town that leaves its mark on the singer, and he desperately wishes to return there. The song is written in a very humble, honest manner that conveys a sense of sincerity and longing. The singer describes Abilene as the “prettiest town he’s ever seen,” and contrasts it with a “crowded city” where “there ain’t nothing free.” The women in Abilene are described as kind and sweet, in contrast to the women in the city who “don’t treat you mean.”
The singer is reminiscing on his time spent watching trains pull out of sight, wishing that they were carrying him back to Abilene. He longs to be free from the city and back in a place where he feels comfortable and at home. Overall, the song Abilene has a nostalgic and sentimental tone, evoking a sense of wistful longing for a simpler time and place.
Line by Line Meaning
Abilene Abilene prettiest town I've ever seen
Abilene is a beautiful town in my eyes.
Women there don't treat you mean in Abilene sweet Abilene
Women in Abilene treat men kindly.
I sat alone most every night watched the trains pull out of sight
I spent lonely nights watching trains leave Abilene.
Don't I wish they were carryin' me back to Abilene my Abilene
I wish I was on one of those trains going back to Abilene.
Crowded city there ain't nothing free nothin' in this town for me
The city is crowded and I don't feel free here.
Wish to the Lord that I could be back in Abilene sweet Abilene
I really want to be back in Abilene.
Women there don't treat you mean in Abilene my Abilene
Once again, women in Abilene are very kind.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bob Gibson, John Loudermilk, Lester Brown
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind