Home
Tall Dark Stranger
Barnes and Noble
Tall Dark Stranger
Current price: $252.99
Barnes and Noble
Tall Dark Stranger
Current price: $252.99
Size: OS
Loading Inventory...
*Product information may vary - to confirm product availability, pricing, shipping and return information please contact Barnes and Noble
Bear Family
's final
Buck Owens
box set
Tall Dark Stranger
covers his last stint at
Capitol Records
-- the years 1969 through 1975, an era where his star shone brighter than ever thanks to his role as the co-host of the cornpone country variety show Hee Haw.
Buck
signed to Hee Haw in 1969 and the ramifications of television stardom were soon apparent: shelves needed to be filled with product and
Buck & His Buckaroos
were expected to be predictable, to give the people what they wanted...and to give a lot of it, to boot.
Owens
never was good at playing to people's expectations but he always was keen to make a buck, so the music on this generous box -- covering all of his solo recordings, sessions he had with
Susan Raye
, a vaguely embarrassing vaudevillian country comedy set with his son
Buddy
, and all the albums
the Buckaroos
recorded on their own -- is wildly inconsistent, finding
ready to push the boundaries of
music while being eager to satisfy the demand of the marketplace. Listening to these eight discs, the arc of his career is immediately apparent. At the outset,
is ready to experiment, to add all manners of sonic colors -- strings, sweetened backing vocals, anything that would have distracted from his driving freight train sound of the '60s -- and ready to tackle new songwriters like
Paul Simon
and
Bob Dylan
, eager to steer the
Buckaroos
toward a roaring bluegrass album called
Ruby
. He still was taking risks -- some of which never saw the light of day, like a revelatory duet with soul singer
Bettye Swann
-- and it was paying off, commercially and artistically, with
taking over the pandering through their albums which were either admirable genre exercises (a good collection of
Merle Haggard
covers) or bordering on easy listening. Then, Hee Haw happened. Soon,
was dialing back the adventure and adhering to his Bakersfield blueprint, cutting covers and novelties, shucking and jiving with
, singing with
, staying toward the middle of the road for the first time in his career. And then, his guitarist and lieutenant
Don Rich
died in a motorcycle accident and everything hit the skids.
kept up with Hee Haw -- he stayed there until the '80s, way past the point his songs actually hit the charts -- but he effectively checked out in the studio, never seeking out new sounds or songs, just riding out his contract. And all of this is evident on
, a box that starts out strong and then gets bumpy, alternating between inspiration and pure product. Years have made the latter enjoyable if not necessarily compelling, particularly where the
are concerned; their LPs are nothing more than professional shelf-filler, delivered by what arguably was the best band in the business. And the business that his music leaves the greatest impression on is this, the final act of
' glorious peak: he made his name as a maverick but even he was ground down by the demands of the machine, who did not care for creativity or tragedy. It is a testament to his talent that even in the face of considerable commercial demands and personal tragedy,
continued to give the people what they wanted: perhaps it wasn't as brilliant as his best, but it was certainly enjoyable, as each of these eight discs prove to some extent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
's final
Buck Owens
box set
Tall Dark Stranger
covers his last stint at
Capitol Records
-- the years 1969 through 1975, an era where his star shone brighter than ever thanks to his role as the co-host of the cornpone country variety show Hee Haw.
Buck
signed to Hee Haw in 1969 and the ramifications of television stardom were soon apparent: shelves needed to be filled with product and
Buck & His Buckaroos
were expected to be predictable, to give the people what they wanted...and to give a lot of it, to boot.
Owens
never was good at playing to people's expectations but he always was keen to make a buck, so the music on this generous box -- covering all of his solo recordings, sessions he had with
Susan Raye
, a vaguely embarrassing vaudevillian country comedy set with his son
Buddy
, and all the albums
the Buckaroos
recorded on their own -- is wildly inconsistent, finding
ready to push the boundaries of
music while being eager to satisfy the demand of the marketplace. Listening to these eight discs, the arc of his career is immediately apparent. At the outset,
is ready to experiment, to add all manners of sonic colors -- strings, sweetened backing vocals, anything that would have distracted from his driving freight train sound of the '60s -- and ready to tackle new songwriters like
Paul Simon
and
Bob Dylan
, eager to steer the
Buckaroos
toward a roaring bluegrass album called
Ruby
. He still was taking risks -- some of which never saw the light of day, like a revelatory duet with soul singer
Bettye Swann
-- and it was paying off, commercially and artistically, with
taking over the pandering through their albums which were either admirable genre exercises (a good collection of
Merle Haggard
covers) or bordering on easy listening. Then, Hee Haw happened. Soon,
was dialing back the adventure and adhering to his Bakersfield blueprint, cutting covers and novelties, shucking and jiving with
, singing with
, staying toward the middle of the road for the first time in his career. And then, his guitarist and lieutenant
Don Rich
died in a motorcycle accident and everything hit the skids.
kept up with Hee Haw -- he stayed there until the '80s, way past the point his songs actually hit the charts -- but he effectively checked out in the studio, never seeking out new sounds or songs, just riding out his contract. And all of this is evident on
, a box that starts out strong and then gets bumpy, alternating between inspiration and pure product. Years have made the latter enjoyable if not necessarily compelling, particularly where the
are concerned; their LPs are nothing more than professional shelf-filler, delivered by what arguably was the best band in the business. And the business that his music leaves the greatest impression on is this, the final act of
' glorious peak: he made his name as a maverick but even he was ground down by the demands of the machine, who did not care for creativity or tragedy. It is a testament to his talent that even in the face of considerable commercial demands and personal tragedy,
continued to give the people what they wanted: perhaps it wasn't as brilliant as his best, but it was certainly enjoyable, as each of these eight discs prove to some extent. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
You May Also Like
More About Barnes and Noble at The Summit
With an excellent depth of book selection, competitive discounting of bestsellers, and comfortable settings, Barnes & Noble is an excellent place to browse for your next book.
Store Info
