CMT Blog: Bonnie Owens

I love Buck Owens. I love Bonnie Owens. I love Merle Haggard. I love Dwight Yoakam. Most of all, I love the sound that is the Bakersfield country song, and GOD BLESS Dwight for putting out this record called Dwight Sings Buck. It’s gonna allow a lot of his fans who don’t know Buck Owens’ music to learn and appreciate what influenced the sound that Dwight’s fans have grown to love.

I listened to an interview on XM the other day with Dwight talking about how he met Buck and how he became like a father figure to him. He talked about Bonnie Owens’ harmonies on that old Bakersfield sound and how it instituted some of the sounds we are all familiar with today. Bonnie was an artist in her own right in addition to singing with the likes of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens (she married both). She was named Female Vocalist of the Year in 1965 by the Academy Of Country Music, the same year Bonnie ended up marrying The Hag. From that year on, Bonnie dedicated her time to Merle’s children and his career, touring with Merle’s band The Strangers as a backup vocalist. After 13 years of marriage, they divorced, but she continued singing with his band. With her passing last April, the country music industry lost a real one of the greats.

Dwight’s sound is so innovative and country chic, that hipsters and rockers and country fans alike dig his sound. To me, he is his generation’s answer to George Jones‘ song, “Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes.” He is a modern-day living legend and will be around for a long time. He never took a second glance at changing his sound. He just did what he did and is still doing that. He’s updated it a little, but it’s still “Dwight” no matter which way you cut it. Please take a second to go download this brilliant CD. You will see that real country still lives!