If all you know about Buck comes from his time on “Hee Haw” in the 1970s, you should probably take another listen.

“Buck” was an appropriate nickname for Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. He bucked almost all of the prevailing trends of country music in the 1960s. He recorded in Bakersfield, California instead of Nashville. He used his own band instead of studio musicians. He wrote his own songs. Buck was a great songwriter and singer, and backed up by his great band, The Buckeroos (featuring the great Don Rich on lead guitar and harmony vocals), he made tight, stripped down, radio-friendly records that combined the country with the energy of early rock and roll.

Buck and the Buckeroos recorded for Capital Records, which was the same label The Beatles records were released on in America (it was owned by their British label, EMI). They used to request Buck’s records from Capital. They were big fans.

The video is the opening scene from Buster Keaton’s (someone I also think is great) 1920 short comedy, “Neighbors.” The original was in black and white, of course. But for this I went with a colorized version.