Philadelphia Weekly
- Login/Register
- |
- Archives
- |
- Print Edition
- |
- Ebooks
- |
- Contests
- |
- |
RSS
Good God, Buck Owens Was An Asshole!
If you read his new biography, you'll think so too.
*The writer of “Act Naturally,” Johnny Russell, received a call from Buck saying he’d record the song if Buck got all the publishing rights, hoping Russell would give anything to have the song get recorded. Buck had in fact already recorded the song, and simply screwed the writers out of the profits.
*Though Buck never took illicit drugs, he routinely medicated with Valium, and later OxyContin. Some claim he took Benzedrine, including band mate Doyle Holly, who insists Buck once took a “bennie” at 3 a.m. and spoke nonstop in Pig Latin for the rest of the night.
*Buck’s backing band, the Buckaroos, never rehearsed.
*In an effort to mend some bad blood, Buck allowed a radio station to grant a cancer-stricken woman her dying wish—to have lunch with the country star. Buck stood her up.
*Buck’s older sister, Mary Ethel, was institutionalized for bipolar disorder type I, an affliction many believe Buck shared.
*1963’s “My Heart Skips a Beat” and its b-side “Together Again” switched No. 1 positions on the Billboard charts two times.
*The band once left brief drummer Mel King’s equipment out in the rain and drove off to the next tour stop to punish King for stalling in the bar while the other members schlepped gear.
*Buck had, according to the author, “no problem with nepotism.” Besides Dorothy, both his mother and father served as his well-salaried employees.
*According to Doyle, Buck had promised 10 percent of royalties from the Buck Owens' Songbook LP, but Buck kept all the money from royalties for himself, never dividing anything amongst the band.
*Though he once yelled in anger that “Hitler was right,” to a Jewish PR exec, Buck in fact admired Jewish people, and employed a mostly-Jewish lawyer, even having a daughter by a wife of one, a fact allegedly kept secret by payoffs.
*Over the course of his career, Buck purchased many expensive gifts in order to get tax deductions. He usually ended up keeping them for himself.
*Buck’s third (or second, depending on who you ask) ex-wife Phyllis remarried him several years after their divorce, despite the fact that he was physically abusive, and once hit her in the face with a golf club.
*When opening act Kay Adams cut her hair short. Buck freaked out because he wanted her to maintain a down-home persona. He also dictated her stage wardrobe, which included long, plain country skirts.
*Buck had sex with groupies everywhere he toured, sometimes sleeping with up to eight women in one night.
*Once, Don and Doyle came into Buck’s hotel room to try and have a go at Buck’s piece of tail. Buck opened the door to them, and they all took turns with her.
*Many women, knowing they were too old for Buck’s taste, would bring their teen daughters and leave them as offerings to the country “god.”
*Doyle apparently got paid for only six of the 102 hours he spent in the studio for the Bridge Over Troubled Water EP.
*Buck may have been a a member of the prestigious Bohemian Club, to which such political giants as Ronald Reagan and Dick Cheney belonged.
*Buck’s longtime girlfriend Kris Black initially mistook him for a bus driver.
*As Miss KTUF, the promotional model for one of Buck’s radio stations, Black toured various local spots, including a McDonalds where a man dressed as Ronald McDonald continually made loud suggestive remarks to her as they entertained a group of children.
COMMENTS
ADD COMMENT
MORE
Article:
Marc Silver’s anti-fracking "A Miners' Town" LP makes some noise
Article:
Party hearty: Five dance records to blast this summer
Article:
Hey, concert lovers: Ready for a new Mann?
Article:
Grills, Girls & Gold: The Roots Picnic reimagined at the Plat
Article:
Diva Cage Match: Kelly Rowland vs. Charli XCX
Article:
Tombs' Mike Hill is happy to be heavy
Article:
For OCD: Moosh and Twist, There's No Future in Their Frontin’
1. Jerry said... on Mar 22, 2011 at 04:15PM
“Jerry:
Looks like Buck was something else.
Bill”
2. Alex said... on Apr 25, 2011 at 01:34AM
“The book was a true wall thrower, attempts at cornpone down home-isms which rang really hollow. But it is pretty clear Owens was a tool.”
3. fiddler said... on Dec 11, 2011 at 02:50PM
“I guess you should never find out about your heroes. Very disappointing. One correction on page 223...it's "Kaw-Liga" not "Elijah."”
4. Anonymous said... on Feb 10, 2012 at 08:50PM
“yea but he wrote and sang 40 years of great music so what about his personal life is yours pure white”
5. Anonymous said... on Feb 19, 2012 at 05:07PM
“for all the negatives that are out there about the man and I have some things that pissed me off as well, he di do a lot of good in the community, he gave everyone in the band jobs somewhere in his empire when he quite touring, he gave donations to many organizations under different names. The asshole part is also true. He spoke bad about a band I was in playing locally and we were really not his kind of music but his comments were pretty bad. Then he could be the complete opposite. He saw my grandmother outside his window with a flat tire, he came out and changed it for her when he could have had one of his minions do it.”
6. Anonymous said... on Jun 12, 2012 at 10:22PM
“Biographies can be written about people, but it doesn't mean that everything that is written is gospel. That's why some of the biographies are UNAUTHORIZED, because the subject of the book didn't authorize for the author to write it. I can write bad things about my husband, but it doesn't mean it's true. So before you start burning the man (Buck) at the stake, take what you read with a grain of salt. I myself will continue to think that Buck was a good man with good music that I really enjoyed.”
7. anonymous said... on Jun 19, 2012 at 07:37PM
“I don't know where the author got her information, but she either had a lot of bad resources or just wanted to fabricate much of the stories for $$$. I am not a country music fan, but I do know that this icon had been blessed with many musical gifts. Let's not always look for the bad in a person, for surely we will find it in all of us.
”
8. Katrina said... on Jun 30, 2012 at 03:40PM
“I don't believe any of that hogwash that was written about Buck Owens. I have admired him since I was a kid and a teen in the 90's and now as an adult I admire him even more. Buck wasn't anything like what you wrote! Buck was a good man!”
9. Carl said... on Jul 8, 2012 at 07:40PM
“You're right Katrina. Buck was a talented entertainer and a good man. Why anyone would write such trash is beyond me.”
10. strawman said... on Sep 30, 2012 at 11:16PM
“I worked as a carpenter on Jack McFadden's home in Modesto. He told me that Buck was a real hound dog and screwed everything in sight. He was especially fond of the 'mile high club' and would try to screw every 'stewardess' on every flight.... Just sayin”
11. Anonymous said... on Oct 29, 2012 at 03:42PM
“Do not believe everything you read in this book. I have known the Owens family for almost 40 years and most of this is a lie...not all, but most of it. Eileen S. never even tried to interview anyone other than Buck at his place of business nor any of the current Buckaroos and when she interviewed with Buck, he did not see her as the author of his biography. So I think it is sour grapes on her part as well as sour grapes of most of the people she interviewed since she only interviewed disgruntled people. I know that huge portions of this are flat out lies.”
12. Sandy said... on Dec 13, 2012 at 12:18AM
“This story is so not true!!!!!!! I met Buck in the 50s and was his friend until the end-He was the sweetest most caring person in the world-I would love to meet this person-Must been someone that wanted Buck and he said no!There were women who would cut his tires because they wanted a date with him-Soooooooooo many stories I could tell you-”
13. Anonymous said... on Apr 7, 2013 at 12:35PM
“The first rule of research writing - always use footnotes. While Sisk utilizes numerous primary sources throughout her tabloid flavored offering, she does not alway cite her sources. This is most evident as she makes speculations about group orgies and even hints at homosexual relationships among band members based on word-of-mouth, third-hand sources that bare no name. True, there is a bibliography, but it fails to connect actual sources with their direct contributions. It is apparent that Sisk has an axe to grind with Buck Owens, focusing only on the negative aspects of his relationships and career. Revisionist historians love to find threads and pull at them, putting their new-age spin on history without taking the time to properly cite references. It is a contradictory piece of pulp!”
14. jack mccall said... on Apr 24, 2013 at 06:02PM
“I first met "buck" when he made an appearance at a small club in Bloomfield, New Mexico. The name of the club was the "Somewhere Club". It was located between Bloomfield and Farmington N.M. I was a fan of "Bucks" for a number of years. My friend Kkn & I were
”
15. Anonymous said... on May 29, 2013 at 05:17PM
“Don't believe every thing you hear sometimes people say things that are not true to make them selves sound better then the person there talking about.”
16. Sandy said... on May 29, 2013 at 08:37PM
“Just got done reading the unauthorized book of Buck Owens the bio. because my sister had it and gave it to me, knowing I was a big fan of buck and the Buckaroos. When Don died I was devastated and he was always the favorite to me. I loved him and the close harmony, his smile and hism talent. This book completely destroyed my image of him and I don't care what Buck did....But I am totally devastated of Don's account o
in this book. Wish I hadn't read it.”
17. Anonymous said... on Jun 17, 2013 at 07:28AM
“Oh for God's sake. As if all of us are perfect. The ONLY thing that should matter is, when this guy stepped up to the microphone, you KNEW you were in for a C O U N T R Y song, sang and played the way it was meant to be.”