In Memory of Buck: Two Albums Remind Us Yet Again That Not All Country Sucks

In the past six month two good albums have come out with established “country” (I hate that term because it encapsulates the crap that Nashville releases and is played on the radio but it also covers some great acts, so I will use it instead of “alt-country”, which I prefer) acts covering some Buck Owens classics. This is in honor of his death last year. For those who don’t know, Owens is responsible for the Bakersfield Sound, a style of country and western featuring a Fender Telecaster (the greatest guitar ever made (my opinion)) with a picking style (as opposed to strumming), a big drum beat, and fiddle with loud pedal steel solos. It is everything that is good about country music.

Two of the biggest beneficiaries of Buck Owens legacy are Austin alt-country faves The Derailers and commercially-successful-yet-nonetheless- quite-good-if-you-just- give-him-a-chance Dwight Yoakam. Each of them released tribute albums: Under the Influence of Buck is the former’s and Dwight Sings Buck is the latter’s. While I would advise folks seek out the originals, I will say that these are both good albums and Yoakam’s is excellent. If someone had never heard of Owens, they might think this album a bunch of Yoakam originals; he owes that much to Owens and that is a good thing. The Derailers too owe much to Owens but recent lineup changes have lead to a dilution of their hard driving Bakersfield Sound and this is reflected in this album.

As with the originals, these albums are successful in that they will inspire even those who really should not (myself definitely included) to want to get up and dance, an activity I will gladly engage in with my kids in our living room but nowhere else.