• Artist: Buck Owens
• Album: The Best of Buck Owens (1964)
• Purchased at: Treasure Island Thrift Store (Maryville, MO) for $1

I’ll admit it; I really didn’t understand what country music was for a long time. I thought Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw were what the genre was for years growing up. As I have explored music backwards in my life I’ve found these golden oldies country artists like Buck Owens that simply blow me away.

The whine of steel guitars is one of the most pleasant sounds to my ears and these country and western songs are coated with it. The straightforward country delivery with the standard country vocals is still a recipe that is difficult to beat. While this album is nowhere near a retrospective of Owens’ career, this album has many of his favorites you’ve likely heard on the radio over the years or heard people cover. “Love’s Gonna Live Here” and “Foolin’ Around” are standards with their acoustic strums and electric leads. “Above and Beyond” is one of the best tracks here with the doubled vocals and perfected delivery and “Act Naturally” may sound familiar even if you aren’t a country fan as several artists recorded it, most notably The Beatles.

The classic simple album cover and no frills artwork match the songs perfectly. Owens doesn’t have a hair out of place on the cover photo and the back is 90% devoted to promoting other country albums by the likes of Wanda Jackson and Hank Thompson. If you’d like to find the record for yourself it isn’t difficult. These albums litter used record bins everywhere and usually can be acquired for little to nothing. It may not become your favorite record in your collection but having a spot in a album crate for some real country music can’t be a bad thing.

Rating: B-