Great Old Buck Owens & Buckroo's

About Steel Guitarists and their Music

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Tommy VanLandingham
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Great Old Buck Owens & Buckroo's

Post by Tommy VanLandingham »

Buck Owens & Buckroo's, Old Jimmy Dean Show RFD Network, Grat Stuff Black & White
Ray Minich
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Post by Ray Minich »

Yup, I was listening to Mr. Mooney's artwork on "Under your spell again", last evening... Still awesome after all these years...
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Walter Stettner
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Post by Walter Stettner »

Some clips are already on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws8ri-CNk0A


Kind Regards, Walter
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Archie Nicol
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Post by Archie Nicol »

Ol' `Sleepycreek` does it again.

Arch.
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Walter Stettner
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Post by Walter Stettner »

...and again....I still wonder who that guy is! :)

Kind Regards, Walter
Kevin Hatton
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Post by Kevin Hatton »

Thats very early Buckaroos. 64/65. Tom Brumley is still playing a Fender 1000. Post Jay MacDonald.
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Alvin Blaine
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Post by Alvin Blaine »

Kevin Hatton wrote:Thats very early Buckaroos. 64/65. Tom Brumley is still playing a Fender 1000. Post Jay MacDonald.
And playing it through a Tweed Twin. What a sound!!
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Post by Kevin Hatton »

I agree Alvin. Classic Fender country tone.
Al Udeen
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Post by Al Udeen »

What awesome memories hearing Tom playing "Fooling Around" In 59 Buck Owens came on our TV show on KGUN Tucson, AZ. & said, I have a new song thats not released yet, Its called "Fooling Around" little did he know I had recorded that song a few weeks earlier, when he was interviewed on a Bakersfield Radio Station & I recorded it on a reel to reel recorder & was able to play it behind him after woodshedding it for a couple weeks! Sorry about my little brag from the Golden days! au
Chris Forbes
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Post by Chris Forbes »

Al, that is too cool!!!!! I'm mega jealous!! By the way, I have your old green Fessenden, me likey mucho!!
Paul King
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buck

Post by Paul King »

It was nice to see those videos. I remember the Buck Owens show around 1970 but I just so not remember Don Rich, Tom Brumley and the band. That just bothers me not being able to remember those guys playing. I was around 7 to 13 years old when we had a television to see any country music shows. At any rate, I sure enjoy seeing any older country music shows and wish they would bring back more of them.
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Alvin Blaine
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Re: buck

Post by Alvin Blaine »

Paul King wrote:It was nice to see those videos. I remember the Buck Owens show around 1970 but I just so not remember Don Rich, Tom Brumley and the band. That just bothers me not being able to remember those guys playing. I was around 7 to 13 years old when we had a television to see any country music shows. At any rate, I sure enjoy seeing any older country music shows and wish they would bring back more of them.
I think Tom Brumley was only in the band from '64 till '69. So if you saw the Buckaroos in '70 and don't remember seeing Mr. Brumley, it's not your memory.
Was J.D. was with them in'70 or had he already left by then?
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Dennis Schell
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Re: buck

Post by Dennis Schell »

Alvin Blaine wrote:
I think Tom Brumley was only in the band from '64 till '69. So if you saw the Buckaroos in '70 and don't remember seeing Mr. Brumley, it's not your memory.
Was J.D. was with them in'70 or had he already left by then?
From what I can gather, JD played in '69 after Tom left and from '70 to 72' there was no PSG in the Buckaroos. (boo hiss! :evil: )
Buck Owens without steel guitar just wasn't "right" IMO... :cry:
Jerry Brightman "brightened" things up after that.... :lol:

Dennis
"Bucks Owin"
B. Greg Jones
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Post by B. Greg Jones »

I am gonna guess late 64'. Tom got his 1st ZB in Feb. 1965. The Fender 1000 he is playing is the 2nd he owned. It's not the "Together Again" guitar. This one has the skinny Jaguar type pick-ups in it. Some other things I noticed. Don is playing Buck's old Telecaster, must have been before Fender built them the Silver Sparkle Tele's. In another video you will see what looks to be a tweed Bassman covered in black tolex that Don is playing through. If so, this is Tom's original Bassman that he still has to this day. Tom had sent it back to Fender to get reverb installed. When he got it back, they had recovered it in black tolex. The amp he is playing through in the video I think is a tweed Bandmaster that he used for a short while. Both Fender 1000's and both the Bassman and Bandmaster were used on the "My Heart Skips A Beat/Together Again" album. If you listen to the tone on "A-11" on the record, its different. Tom told me that was the newer 1000 through the Bandmaster.

Its really neat to see this old footage and see the progression of the band, equiptment, and sound.

Greg
Paul King
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band

Post by Paul King »

I am saying I just do not remember any of the guys in the band including Don Rich. I just remember Buck Owens singing. Yeah, my memory is not the best but I do not remember any steel player. My parents were really the ones who were interested in watching the shows since I was a young lad. At any rate, I do enjoy seeing those old shows.
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Post by Kevin Hatton »

I find it interesting that after Tom Brumley left the band went downhill pretty fast and never regained. Some of the Ranch Show clips are so corny and God aweful after Tom Brumley left. Almost cartoonish. Pretty bad. Even when they eventually stuck another steeler back in it just weasn't the same without Brumley. That says alot to me. One key player in the band.
Last edited by Kevin Hatton on 25 May 2007 10:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Alvin Blaine
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Post by Alvin Blaine »

Kevin Hatton wrote:I find it interesting that after Tom Brumley left the band went downhill pretty fast and never regained. Some of the Ranch Show clips are so corny and God aweful after Tom Brumley left. Almost cartoonish. Pretty bad. Even when they evntually stuck another steeler back in it just weasn't the same without Brumley. That says alot to me. One key player in the band.

I think that the whole string of 17 #1 hits in a row by Buck & The Buckaroos were all in the 5 years that Brumley was in the band.
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Post by B. Greg Jones »

Not knocking ANY of the Buckaroos from any line-up that Buck had, BUT, Tom told me that the band with himself, Don Rich, Doyle Holly and Willie Cantu was magical. It was a combination that worked together like a finely tuned machine. It wasn't 4 musicians..it was 1 band. Each had a distinct style and personality and when one member left, part of that magic left too. I think the Buckaroos were at there best playing live. Most of the time in the studio, Buck would say here is a new song and here is the key, lets cut it. Tom even told me he remembered them cutting 6 MASTERS in one day!!! Thats unheard of in these days and times I think. They stayed pretty simple in the studio but as the band got more familiar with the songs, they added more to them like, dynamics, fills, steel and guitar twins, and another example, the key modulation on "Tiger By the Tail" that wasn't done on the record. I think they sounded great on record but as a live band they were at the top of their game. I don't recall how many "Band of the Year" awards they won from the ACM, Cashbox, Billboard, etc. during Brumley's time with them. An absolute must in anybody's Buck Owens collection is the live recordings at Carnegie Hall and Tokyo, Japan. Thats what a live band and entertainment is all about right there.

Greg
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Post by Kevin Hatton »

This is why for me Brumley is my top player. Pulled him out of the team, and the team folded. That was a magic team. There are some others with distinctly recognizable styles, but I look at Brumley as genius in simplicity. Staccatto phrasing. Two knee levers for most of that sixties work. Lloyd Green the same way. When Brumley plays I see cactusus in the western desert. He always painted a picture with his playing, and ohhh that ZB sound.
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changes...

Post by Joe Shelby »

I believe Willie Cantu was the first to leave that great combination of players. Jerry Wiggens replaced him. Willie had (and probably still has) a very distinct style of playing, quite a bit different
from the standards of the time for country drummers,
and even since for any style I guess.
Tom was next to depart, so that magic combination further lost another of its important contributors.
By the time JayDee came into the fold, Buck, Don, and Doyle Holly were still together. Buck gave JayDee all of the Tom Brumley-era albums and requested JayDee to play Tom's parts, and JayDee couldn't do that, as we all know. By this time he had developed his own (great) approach and in the two or three albums ("Big in Vegas," "Live In London," and one Buckaroos album) it seemed that there was a lot less steel work going on, especially
unfortunate because JayDee could have left as important a mark with his playing as any of his predecessors...
With the Tony Booth (and others in Buck's stable) albums JayDee was finally allowed to shine and that's exactly what he did.
When Jerry Brightman came on board around 1971, he
brought yet another fresh and original style, and energized the Buckaroos' sound once again, more great
playing.
The Buckaroos' (arguably) had one of the finest strings of unusually talented steel players as any other band in country music. All of them created timeles playing and (perhaps excepting Jay McDonald?) all went on to be important stylists, each one equally distinctive.


Joe.
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Post by B. Greg Jones »

All of the Buck Owens Ranch shows with Brumley were recorded live. Check out "We Were Made For Each Other" on You Tube. Don makes some pretty good boo boos on that tune and they are cracking up. On the later stuff after Tom, I noticed they started lip syncing to tracks.

I think J.D. did a great job with Buck but kinda got the short end of the stick so to speak. At that time the music was changing and I think the steel kinda got put in the back ground. The Tony Booth stuff with J.D. and Jerry Brightman is killer. When Buck hired Jerry it added a whole new sound to the Buckaroos again, I think re-juvenated them. Then the death of Don Rich kinda took the wind out of everyones sails. As a steel player, how could you NOT enjoy playing with a guy like Don?? Then try playing with the same enthusiasm after he has passed and Buck was devastated and his heart wasn't in it anymore. I wouldn't have wanted to be in Jerry's shoes during that time. Would have been a really tough gig.

Greg
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Post by Tom Kaufman »

It has been quite a while since I've been on the forum; I used to come every day..but somehow, I just got out of the routine of coming! nAnyhow..I stumbled upon this thread about the Buck Owens "Buckaroo" band; I'm glad to see that there are several of you who feel as I do about Tom Brumley being an intricle part of that band! Much has been said and written about the effect Don Rich had when he was killed (and I'll agree with all of it)..but I must say that it seems to me that people kind of tend to overlook Tom Brumley's contribution to that great band! Can anyone imagine "Together Again" without that great break that Tom played on that tune? Okay..now I have a question: I'm thinking that it's Tom who played steel on that "Christmas Shopping" album; thing is, I'm not sure when that album was cut! I know that Tom left Buck in early 69; was that album cut before Christmas Shopping" came out?
Tom Kaufman
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Alvin Blaine
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Post by Alvin Blaine »

Tom Kaufman wrote: Okay..now I have a question: I'm thinking that it's Tom who played steel on that "Christmas Shopping" album; thing is, I'm not sure when that album was cut! I know that Tom left Buck in early 69; was that album cut before Christmas Shopping" came out?
Tom Kaufman
The album "Christmas With Buck" was released in 1965, and "Christmas Shopping" was 1968. Both while Tom was in the band.
Paul King
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videos

Post by Paul King »

I sat down this morning and watched several of these videos. They are just enjoyable to watch. One thing that caught my attention was the magazine advertisement which was in 1966. Buck said send $1 to Edison,California and there was not even a zip code on the envelope they showed. My how time and prices have changed. I sure would hope to see more videos of those old shows. Seeing Don Rich sing and play is just awesome and Tom Brumleys playing was top notch. The Buckaroo band was a very good band and I wish that I had been old enough to see them in concert but I will have to settle for these videos.
Tom Kaufman
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Post by Tom Kaufman »

Thanks for letting me know the year that "Christmas Shopping" was released; I wasn't sure if it was 68 or 69; so Tom Brumley would have probably been on that album as well as the "Christmas With Buck" collection..which..for me..is required listening for me at Christmas time! I was fortunate enough to actually see the Buck Owens Ranch shows as they were carried on channel 9 in Washington, D.C. on Saturday nights for a time; I agree with the poster who said that the later shows were nothing like the ones in 66..and a short while after! Tom Kaufman
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