Kirbys Covers For Country

Back in 1963 Buck Owens had a decision to make when he was presented with the Act Naturally lyrics and a demo tape. Was this song right for him and his at that time band, called The Buckaroos?

Buck Owens was no stranger to making decisions because he made one of his biggest at the age of 3. You see his real name was Alvis Edgar Owens, named after his father. They lived on a small farm in Sherman Texas.

One day Alvis Jr announced to his family that he wanted to be called Buck, just like the donkey on their farm. And so it was to be.

Buck Owens career in music began as a disc jockey in 1945. He played as a Hollywood studio musician for some big names in country including Tennessee Ernie Ford, Sonny James, Faron Young and others.

Buck’s own musical career took off in 1959-1960 when his song “Second Fiddle” peaked on the country charts at #24 and then followed by two top ten hits with “Under Your Spell Again” and “Above And Beyond”. This was pre-Buckaroos by the way.

In 1962-63 Buck began to put a group together, which included Merle Haggard. Merle suggested the name “Buckaroos” and it stuck. Guiratist Don Rich was also a member of the original band.

A songwriter by the name of Johnny Russell wrote Act Naturally in 1961 after he broke a date to go on a recording session. When asked why he was breaking the date, he replied “their gonna put me in the movies and make a big star outta me”. If was a joke of course.

But that joke turned into a song that Russell couldn’t get anyone to record. So in 1963 he was working with a female song writer named Voni Morrison who knew Buck Owens personally. She presented Buck with the song, but he was not impressed.

But thanks to guitarist Don Rich, who had been listening to Russells demo, he convinced Buck that the song would be a good fit for him and The Buckaroos.

So on 12th Feb 1963 Buck Owens and The Buckaroos recorded Act Naturally. Later that eve, Buck called Russell to ask permission to record the song (but he was really after the publishing rights). After a few laughs, Russell agreed.

A few months later, Act Naturally became the first #1 hit for Buck Owens, spending four weeks at the top of the country music charts.