The Buckaroos Play Buck & Merle

by The Buckaroos

Overview

Omnivore's 2013 compilation The Buckaroos Play Buck & Merle is a two-fer by any other name, combining the group's 1965 album The Buck Owens Song Book with 1971's The Songs of Merle Haggard. Both LPs pay tribute to the titans of Bakersfield country, Buck being the Buckaroos' bread and butter while Merle is the man who gave the group its name and often rivaled Owens' popularity. That's where the similarities between these two albums end. The Buck Owens Song Book adheres pretty closely to the Bakersfield blueprint, an entirely instrumental selection where either Don Rich picks out a melody on his twanging Telecaster or Tom Brumley plays it on a steel guitar as the band cheerfully rolls on. These sound pretty close to Buck's originals, which inevitably suggests how he's nowhere to be heard, but it's nice to hear the band just play. The Songs of Merle Haggard is another matter entirely. Here, the band is considerably softer in its approach, a shift emphasized by organs or pianos tinkling out the melodies and by the warm, cooing vocals on the choruses. Nominally, this is country, but in practice this is straight-up easy listening, something that's much, much closer to Floyd Cramer or the Sandpipers than Merle Haggard & the Strangers. That means this LP isn't a great place to hear the Buckaroos just play, as it contains very little of their lean hard-driving strengths, and yet that's also the charm of the album: it's a shag-carpeted, wide-collared curio of its time and that tackiness means it's actually a more entertaining listen than its companion LP on this CD. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/23/2013
Label:	Omnivore
UPC:	0816651014279
Rank:	247233

Tracks

1. I've Got a Tiger by the Tail
2. Together Again
3. Before You Go
4. Second Fiddle
5. Don't Let Her Know
6. My Heart Skips a Beat
7. Act Naturally
8. Only You (Can Break My Heart)
9. Love's Gonna Live Here
10. Under Your Spell Again
11. Foolin' Around
12. I Don't Care (Just as Long as You Love Me)
13. Daddy Frank (The Guitar Man)
14. Today I Started Loving You Again
15. The Fightin' Side of Me
16. Silver Wings
17. Okie from Muskogee
18. The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde
19. Hungry Eyes
20. Swinging Doors
21. I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am
22. Mama Tried

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Buckaroos   Primary Artist
Doyle Holly   Guitar
Don Rich   Fiddle,Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Electric),Gut String Guitar
Red Simpson   Guitar,Guest Artist
Doyle Curtsinger   Bass,Mandolin
Willie Cantu   Drums
Bob Morris   Bass
Jerry Wiggins   Drums,Percussion
Jim Shaw   Organ,Piano,Harmonica,Jew's-Harp
Tom Brumley   Guitar (Steel)
Jelly Sanders   Guitar,Guest Artist
Ronnie Jackson   Banjo,Guitar (Rhythm)

Technical Credits

Bonnie Owens   Lyricist,Composer
Cheryl Pawelski   Project Assistant
Dusty Rhodes   Composer,Lyricist
Greg Allen   Design,Art Direction
Gavin Lurssen   Mastering
Don Rich   Composer,Lyricist
Voni Morrison   Composer,Lyricist
Merle Haggard   Composer,Lyricist
The Buckaroos   Producer
Doyle Curtsinger   Project Assistant
Harlan Howard   Composer,Lyricist
Willie Cantu   Project Assistant
Jim Shaw   Project Assistant
Buck Owens   Composer,Lyricist
Reuben Cohen   Mastering
Lee Furr   Engineer,Consultant
Lee Ledyga   Project Assistant
Eileen Lucero   Editorial
Frank Mull   Project Assistant
Audrey Bilger   Project Assistant
LeeAnn Ennis   Project Assistant
Dutch Cramblitt   Project Assistant
Brad Rosenberger   Project Assistant
Patrick Milligan   Reissue Producer
Ken Nelson   Producer
Roy Burris   Composer,Lyricist