Buck Feelin' Groovy!
Todd and In Charge | Miami, FL | 04/11/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"By 1971 Buck was a major star, already past the starmaking and career-defining "Bakersfield sound" that brought him so much fame and attention, and was deep into consolidating that fame with Hee-Haw and with shrewd California real estate and other business investments.
Buck's heart was in the right place -- updating his sound, bridging across the deep divide in America at that time between "law and order" and the hippies and counter-culture. He laid out his plea to his fans to accept these sounds and the young people who wrote them in the original liner notes, which are faithfully reproduced along with a lavish new set of notes and pictures.
That said, those familiar with Buck's music or with the originals covered here will likely not recognize the way either comes off. Dylan's "Love Minus Zero" is earnestly sung, yet sounds like nothing you have ever heard. I am a fan of the energetic bass that drives "I am a Rock," despite the bizarre juxtaposition of Buck's vocal delivering the lines. And nothing compares to the odd version of Donovan's "Catch the Wind" presented here, with a underlying Moog-like drone, though I have to say it is strangely appealing. Add to this a few originals, which do sound like late-period Buck, and you have a well-rounded time capsule of Buck stretching, looking for something contemporary, and turning in something that somehow manages to work.
Not unlike your great-Uncle crashing your pot party, you pretty much have to be a fan to truly enjoy."
Thoughtful collection of then-contemporary folk-pop
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 12/26/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Owens was no late-comer to pop music. Even as he was redefining country music, he was open about his love of '50s rock pioneers and then-contemporary rock bands like The Beatles. So it's no surprise that by the early '70s, with the Bakersfield Sound well-established across numerous albums and tours that Owens would stretch out in new directions. The result is an album of covers and originals that highlight the deep soul of Owens' singing (and the telepathic harmonizing of The Buckaroos) while disconcerting listeners with its straight-ahead pop sound.
With "Hee Haw" expanding Owens' audience outside the country mainstream, an album of contemporary pop by a country superstar must have struck several disparate chords: outside the mainstream (and to Owens' own regular producer, Ken Nelson) it looked like a square attempting to be trendy, while blue collar country fans may have wondered where the steel and telecasters ran off to. But Owens was a canny musician who knew that some of the day's best songwriters were writing outside the country idiom, and he clearly wanted a chance to sing their words. His liner notes suggest that the folk-rock songs of Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and Donovan were really "country songs in disguise."
The album opens with its highlight, a top-ten cover of "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The Buckaroos pick acoustic guitars and provide angelic harmonies to frame Owens' deeply soulful vocal. Additional Simon & Garfunkel covers, "Homeward Bound" and "I Am a Rock," don't fit as snugly, with the bright, snap beat of the latter at odds with the angry lyrics. Similarly, Donovan's "Catch the Wind" is too busy for its own good.
Owens' folk-country originals stand tall, including the acoustic-and-dobro "San Francisco Town" that spells a bum's love for a hospitable town. It may have been every bit as starry-eyed as The Animals "San Franciscan Nights" and John Phillips' "San Francisco," but there's a bittersweet edge to the melody that makes it a wonderful companion to Owens earlier "Streets of Bakersfield." Also fine is the invitation to love "Within My Loving Arms" and the lost love of "Everything Reminds Me You're Gone."
This is not the place to start one's Buck Owens collection, but for those who've followed his arc from country and rockabilly neophyte in the '50s to Bakersfield superstar in the '60s, this is a worthy spin. Owens voice is never less than compelling, and though the emotions of Dylan and others don't always fit tight, Owens' heart is evidenced in every song pick and the four originals that are worth the price of the disc."
