The Buckaroos

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The Buckaroos were an American band led by

Don Rich, Doyle Holly, Tom Brumley and Willie Cantu were the original members of the Buckaroos during the 1960s. The 1970s version included Don Rich, Jerry Wiggins, Jerry Brightman, Doyle Curtsinger, and Jim Shaw. Various sidemen throughout the years included JayDee Maness, Wayne "Moose" Stone, Jay McDonald, Ken Presley, and very early on, Merle Haggard. Haggard, who worked a short time with Owens in 1962, suggested the group's name.^[2] Fiddle player Jana Jae became the group's first female member after being invited onstage with Buck Owens to play "Orange Blossom Special". Vocalist Victoria Hallman (a.k.a. Jesse Rose McQueen) toured with the Buckaroos, sang with them on Hee Haw and recorded one Buck Owens record "Let Jesse Rob the Train" with the group.^{[citation needed]} Drummer/singer Rick Taylor replaced Jerry Wiggins in 1978, when he left the band to manage his wife, Susan Raye. Rick performed his first appearance at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas "winging it" as there was no time for rehearsals before the sold-out performances. Rick had seen Buck and the original Buckaroos live in Omaha when he was 13 years old and dreamed of performing with Buck on Hee Haw. At age 19 he made his way to Nashville and 5 years later, he was performing in a rock cover group at a Nashville night club when Buck himself came to watch him at the urging of Hee Haw music director, Charlie McCoy, and Hee Haw staff band players, Leon Rhodes, and Tommy Williams. Buck hired Rick on the spot and invited him to the Hee Haw set the next day where his dream became a reality. Rick's first taping was the Hee Haw 10th Anniversary Show taped at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tn in October 1978. He was with the Buckaroos until leaving in 1981, following the band's nomination and win as "Touring Band of the Year" at the ACM Awards, to join the Epic Records vocal group Nightstreets, voted Billboard Magazine's Vocal Group of the Year 1981 for the single, "Love In The Meantime". Nightstreets featured female vocalist, Joyce Hawthorne, met Rick while recording as a background singer with the Buckaroos in the 1970s. Nightstreets toured with George Jones and Tammy Wynette from 1981 through 1982. Rick retired from the music industry in 1986.

Known for their signature red, white and blue colored guitars and fiddles, the Buckaroos in 1966 became only the second country music band to appear at

Tom Brumley left the Buckaroos in 1969 to join Ricky Nelson's band, where he was a member for over a decade. His performance on "Together Again" has been considered "one of the finest steel guitar solos in the history of country music."^[6] His unique steel guitar sound was known as "The Brumley Touch", and he was recognized by the Academy of Country Music as the top steel guitarist. He was inducted into both the Texas Steel Guitar Hall of Fame and the International Steel Guitar Hall of Fame. Brumley died in 2009.^[7]

Don Rich died in a motorcycle accident in 1974. At the time Rich was the only original member still with the Buckaroos and the band was struggling to find their way back at the top of the Country Music Charts. His death marked the end of the Buckaroos reign as the top Country Music band.^[8]