Song of the Day 8/17: Buck Owens and Dwight Yoakam, “Streets of Bakersfield”

Guest post by Nathan Arizona

Ask a random person who Buck Owens was, and chances are you’ll hear something about “Hee Haw,” the cornpone comedy and country music TV show he co-hosted (with Roy Clark) 1969 to 1985.

Ask somebody who knows country music, and they’ll tell you Buck Owens was one of the most talented and successful country singers of the 1960s.

The “Bakersfield Sound” of Owens and a bit later Merle Haggard made that sunbaked California town the center of country music at a time when Nashville was turning out smooth and subdued “countrypolitan” songs. Bakersfield music was fast and furious, influenced by the 1950s rock ’n’ roll Buck had heard in Bakersfield bars, as well as honky tonk by Hank Williams and others,

One critic described the Bakersfield Sound as “Telecasters turned up and tuned high.” Buck was an early adopter of drums in country music. It’s no surprise he was a big influence on later rockers. The Beatles’ “Act Naturally” had been a Buck Owens hit.

Another fan was Dwight Yoakam, who led country music’s “New Traditionalist” movement in the ‘80s and ‘90s. In 1988, Yoakam brought Owens out of retirement to join him on a video for the song “Streets of Bakersfield,” recorded by Owens in 1972. It became the first No. 1 for Yoakam, who appealed to rock fans as well as the country audience.

The song was written by the obscure Homer Joy. The story goes that he at first wanted to record some of his earlier songs with Owens’ backup band. Buck’s management kept rejecting the idea, and one day Gay went downtown to walk the “streets of Bakersfield” and nurse his disappointment. He returned with a new and better song and got it recorded with the Buckaroos. The 1972 Owens recording followed.

Here’s “Streets of Bakersfield” with Owens and Yoakam. Note the Mexican flavor, another Bakersfield ingredient. That’s the great Flaco Jimenez on accordion.

“I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail” reached No. 1 in 1965, one of Owens’ biggest hits. The guitar player, Don Rich, was a key factor in the band’s success. Rich was also a good friend, and his death in a motorcycle accident in 1974 was a factor in Owens’ decline as a hitmaker. But he was better known than ever thanks to “Hee Haw.”