Together Again

One of his self-penned tunes that seemed to reveal a much deeper Buck Owens was “Together Again.” Shortly after composing this song, Buck immediately dismissed it as a “throwaway” piece. He had written the number in just a few minutes and perhaps because it had taken so little effort, Owens couldn’t see the song’s real merits. “Together Again” spoke of the joy of reclaimed love in an almost prayerful manner. Its simple message was wrapped in a melody that seemed almost better-suited for a song about heartbreak, not love rekindled. With its mournful music set against a happy message, it reminded the listener of just how much it hurts to lose someone you love. Yet it also spelled out that this deep anguish is what makes getting back together again so wonderful.  Buck threw “Together Again” on the “B” side of the high-energy number “My Heart Skips A Beat.” Nothing was expected of the ballad. Yet, just a week after the “A” side landed on Billboard’s country singles chart on March 28, 1964, “Together Again” followed. It spotlighted Tom Brumley on one of the industry’s most highly-acclaimed steel guitar solos. “My Heart Skips A Beat” reached #1 in May and logged a three-week stay at the summit. Then, in an unprecedented event, “Together Again” knocked “My Heart Skips A Beat” out of the top spot on June 6th, marking the only time in country music history that the “B” side of a record replaced the “A” side at number one. After two weeks at the top, “Together Again” fell and “My Heart Skips A Beat” returned to #1 for four more weeks, marking a non-consecutive total of seven.   “Together Again,” the ballad that Buck Owens had tossed aside as a loser, was now one of his biggest hits. Yet, the man with the happy face and sly grin never seemed comfortable singing “Together Again” on stage. It always looked as though he was a bit uneasy having to stand still and sing so seriously about love. He “retired” the song from his concert performances shortly after the frenzy about it had diminished following its initial chart run, although Ray Charles recorded “Together Again” on the pop side a couple of years later and went into the Top Twenty with it.  In 1976, a one-time opening act for rocker Gram Parsons was looking for a song that would propel her to the top of the country charts. Emmylou Harris had based her operations out of California and recorded for a West Coast label, but she really felt more at home in Music City. She possessed one of the purest voices in music, but because of her rock background and West Coast ties, Harris was considered an outsider in Nashville. She understood the industry’s fear, but it was actually her rock mentor’s advice that led her to pursue a change in her musical direction to country. Before he died in 1973, Gram Parsons pointed out to Emmylou that in rock, the music’s message was often secondary, while in country it was almost always the primary ingredient of a song.  From her study of country music, Harris had come to treasure the way that “Together Again” told a love story without coming off as corny or superficial. She felt that her strong voice would be able to take a song like this and add a layer of rich fabric to the message. While Buck Owens had made the song a hit, Emmylou sensed that there was still a lot left to exploit and expose in the number. In the recording studio, Harris took the song and painted a magnificent picture from those wonderful words and that soaring tune with her rich country phrasing. The Reprise label (established by Frank Sinatra) released Emmylou’s version of “Together Again” in early 1976 and it traveled up the chart throughout late winter and early spring, landing at #1 in April. It was Harris’s first chart-topper and would lay the foundation for a career that produced twenty-six Top Ten hits including seven number ones.

Emmylou felt as if “Together Again” had been written especially for her, and Buck Owens came to believe it himself after hearing Harris’s version. He absolutely loved her record, and it was at this point that Buck finally realized the real power of his composition. The writer was so moved by Emmylou’s rendition that he re-activated “Together Again” in his concert performances. Three years later, Owens and Harris released a lyrically-updated duet of a tribute to the song called “Play Together Again, Again” which reached #11. In 1979, a duet version of “Together Again” by Kenny Rogers & Dottie West was originally recorded for their “Classics” album, but ended up coming out on Kenny’s “Duets” album five years later. The Rogers/West single of “Together Again” peaked at #19 in the spring of ’84. Recently,  Buck Owens’ impact on the country music world has often been overlooked through the years. Although notching twenty-one chart-topping hits and holding the #1 position for eighty-two weeks, ranking him as one of country’s ten most-successful recording artists, his influence is sometimes dismissed without much thought or consideration. This might be contributed to his “happy-go-lucky” demeanor on the “Hee Haw” television series, but as an artist and songwriter Owens stands tall. He not only forged a new, wildly successful sound, but was also responsible for bringing country music to a legion of new converts. Buck’s honest approach and easy  Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos. They pioneered what came to be called the Bakersfield sound—a reference to Bakersfield, California, the city Owens called home and from which he drew inspiration for what he preferred to call American music.  While Owens originally used fiddle and retained pedal steel guitar into the 1970s, his sound on records and onstage was always more stripped-down and elemental, incorporating elements of rock and roll. His signature style was based on simple storylines, infectious choruses, a twangy electric guitar, an insistent rhythm supplied by a drum track placed forward in the mix, and high two-part harmonies featuring Owens and his guitarist Don Rich.  Beginning in 1969, Owens co-hosted the TV series Hee Haw with Roy Clark. He left the cast in 1986. In 1974, the accidental death of Rich, his best friend, devastated him for years and abruptly halted his career until he performed with Dwight Yoakam in 1988. Owens died on March 25, 2006 shortly after performing at his Crystal Palace restaurant, club and museum in Bakersfield.  Owens is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

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