1963 was the watershed year for Buck Owens. He had notched the first of his 21 number one hits in late spring with “Act Naturally,” then followed it up in early fall with what would turn out to be his biggest record (and the 13th biggest country single of all-time) “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” which spent 16 weeks at the summit of Billboard’s country chart. The leader of the Bakersfield music scene was a 34 year old sensation whose California honky-tonk sound had seemingly come out of nowhere to control a good portion of Nashville’s chart action.
In spite of being hung with a West Coast label, Owens was a Texas-born product who had migrated with his family to Arizona during the Depression. A high school dropout, Buck held a number of menial jobs in his late teens before taking his musical talent west. By the time he reached 21, he had not only become a solid guitar player, but had a steady job with a nightclub band.
