Reverend Conehead
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 9,953
- Reaction score
- 11,860
When I was a kid in the 70s, I used to watch Hee Haw. Some of you may be too young to remember, but Hee Haw was a show with funny skits and country music. It's the show that introduced me to country music. We had no VCRs or DVRs back then, but I had an audio cassette recorder. I used to put it up to the TV and record songs. My favorite singer from that show was Buck Owens. Roy Clark was also on the show, and I liked him a lot too. Before I was old enough to be able to buy records in stores, I used to listen to my Buck Owens and Roy Clark cassettes that I had recorded from the TV.
Life went on after I had been a regular Hee Haw watcher and I got to wondering whatever happened to Buck Owens, so I looked him up on Youtube. I was sad to learn that he died in 2006. The video about him blew my mind, however. He had always seemed like a good-natured guy on Hee Haw, but who knows if the performer's TV persona actually matches who they are in real life. Turns out, Buck Owens was an amazing human being, surpassing his TV persona. I learned that Owens had continued performing after Hee Haw and had taken to performing at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. Unfortunately, he got oral cancer and struggled with his health for a while. Then, if that weren't bad enough, he suffered a stroke and pneumonia, but carried on, performing when he was able to. One night in 2006, he wasn't feeling well and told his band to carry on without him. However, when he went out to the parking lot to drive home, he met some fans who were thrilled to meet him. They said they were excited to be there and had traveled 700 miles to see him perform. Not wanting to deny them the chance to see him play, he went back inside and performed that night, despite not feeling well. It turned out to be his last show of his life. He died later on that night.
That story got me all choked up. That was a man who cared so much about his fans that he performed for them when he clearly was not well. He gave the last hours of his life for his fans. What an amazing human being. It makes me wish I had gone to see him perform when he was still with us. I'm glad I enjoyed his music on Hee Haw and laughed at the goofy skits he and others did. It's great to know that someone who seemed like a good guy really was one.
In tribute to Owens, here's a video of one of his Hee Haw performances. This is one of the ones that I recorded onto cassette tape and enjoyed as a kid.
Life went on after I had been a regular Hee Haw watcher and I got to wondering whatever happened to Buck Owens, so I looked him up on Youtube. I was sad to learn that he died in 2006. The video about him blew my mind, however. He had always seemed like a good-natured guy on Hee Haw, but who knows if the performer's TV persona actually matches who they are in real life. Turns out, Buck Owens was an amazing human being, surpassing his TV persona. I learned that Owens had continued performing after Hee Haw and had taken to performing at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. Unfortunately, he got oral cancer and struggled with his health for a while. Then, if that weren't bad enough, he suffered a stroke and pneumonia, but carried on, performing when he was able to. One night in 2006, he wasn't feeling well and told his band to carry on without him. However, when he went out to the parking lot to drive home, he met some fans who were thrilled to meet him. They said they were excited to be there and had traveled 700 miles to see him perform. Not wanting to deny them the chance to see him play, he went back inside and performed that night, despite not feeling well. It turned out to be his last show of his life. He died later on that night.
That story got me all choked up. That was a man who cared so much about his fans that he performed for them when he clearly was not well. He gave the last hours of his life for his fans. What an amazing human being. It makes me wish I had gone to see him perform when he was still with us. I'm glad I enjoyed his music on Hee Haw and laughed at the goofy skits he and others did. It's great to know that someone who seemed like a good guy really was one.
In tribute to Owens, here's a video of one of his Hee Haw performances. This is one of the ones that I recorded onto cassette tape and enjoyed as a kid.
