Buck Owens

Dig the young Buck! Way back in the day (before he signed to Capitol in 1957), Buck Owens played unapologetic beer joint honky-tonk. These recordings are so hissy, they sound like they were recorded on masking tape. But what's interesting is that you can hear Owens emulating his honky-tonk heroes while his own California-steeped drawl began to take shape in the periphery of his inflections. This is the drawl that (with ample help from Don Rich's Telecaster) would give Bakersfield its own sound, resonating in the music of Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, the Flying Burrito Bros and beyond.