Search - Don Rich & Buckaroos :: Country Pickin': Don Rich Anthology

The real Buckaroo

Walter Stettner | Vienna Austria | 06/25/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don Rich was the driving force behind Buck Owens, he did more than his share to make Buck the first and most successful Bakersfield singer. His guitar and fiddle playing and especially his harmony vocals with Buck actually made the Buckaroo sound. Tragic proof for this is the fact that Buck's career began to fade after Don's tragic death in 1974.This beautiful compilation features the instrumentalist as well as the vocalist Don Rich and shows the incredible talent this man had. It is interesting to see the impact that Buck and Don had on modern Country Music, singers like Marty Stuart, Vince Gill, Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen, Mark Chesnutt and countless others freely admit that the Buckaroo sound heavily influenced their musical lives!Great to have lots of the Don Rich solo recordings on one CD!"

Not Quite Complete

Jimmy Purifoy | Benton, Arkansas USA | 05/08/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What a great musician! This album showcases the talent of the man I have idolized since the mid-1960's. I do have one problem with the album, however. Whoever selected the songs for inclusion on the CD overlooked some of Don's best material. I can think of four songs in particular: "Meanwhile Back at the Ranch," "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," "Cowboy Convention" (duet with Buddy Alan), and Don's fiddle arrangment of "Greensleeves." The CD would have been much better with these songs. I've given it a four-star rather than a five-star rating for this reason."

A wonderful discovery from someone who loves '60's music

John Cannon | Chesterfield, MO United States | 04/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The recent death of Buck Owens prompted me to investigate some of his early work. I was familiar with 'Act Naturally' and '...Tiger By The Tail' - but that was it. Having not grown up around country music, my only image of Buck was his 'Hee-Haw' persona which, although fun, didn't lead me to believe that he had a career prior to the television show. Clearly, I needed an education (!)



One of the marvelous things about Amazon is the opportunity to quickly hear music snippets and 'discover' music you've never heard before. As a result of hearing some of Buck's great work from the '60's, I learned about the guitar and fiddle artistry of Don Rich. This CD is enjoyable for those who appreciate the great 'twangy' electric guitar, so evident in pop music of the late-50's to middle-60's. Rich's musicianship is pure fun and, as one devotee writes in the liner notes, 'he made country music cool.' Indeed, both Buck Owens and Don Rich seem to be the bridge between country music and rock n' roll from this time period.



This is a wonderful set of music; 'Buckaroo' and 'Orange Blossom Special' are worth the price of admission. It's a shame Don Rich left this earth so soon."