BAKERSFIELD RICH

Country music broadened in scope in the mid-1960’s with a new sound added which would grow and expand the fans and listening audience to a new scale. Not since the emergence of Hank Williams on the country scene had such a new and refreshing approach to the music shown up in the genre. The surprising aspect of it all was that the musical style did not originate in Nashville or even in Appalachia, the two major sources to date. No, it came from the other end of the world. It came from Bakersfield, California and it marked the entry of at least two mega-stars into country music history…Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Both stars hailed from the region of the country and styled their music around it.

The sound, at its heart, was all about clean, intricate licks on a Fender Telecaster model electric guitar. It as an instrument heavily associated with the rock ‘n roll genre and most frequently seen there. With the advent of the “Bakersfield Sound”, it would take the country music industry by storm and ride on the wave of hit songs by both Haggard and Owens for decades to come. In the end, it would become a familiar sound in the country industry and a standard one to be called upon at will.

That sound rang true in many of the hits of Buck Owens and quickly became his signature styling. Even when Buck was doing a cover of a song previously recorded by other artists, he was able to bring a unique flair to it by adding that Bakersfield Sound with either some intro licks or a strong bridge and in some cases one would get both. Buck Owens music was easy to recognize within just a few notes of the song launching to play. It was distinctive and the feel of the music quickly lifted one’s spirits.

Buck certainly brought his share of talent to the formula with his high tenor voice and clean delivery. He also had some physical traits that made his delivery quite unique. As Buck performs his songs, he enunciates the words with his eyes and his eye brows going through a series of rolling his eyes upward and stretching his eye brows up and down for emphasis. This is pure Buck Owens and was his totally natural way of delivering a song. In fact, one cannot be totally sure that Buck was really aware of these traits but everyone else tended to notice them sooner or later. It all came together as the Buck Owens signature.

Buck achieved his version with the “Bakersfield Sound” through the efforts of his band, “The Buckaroos”. This group was led by Buck’s long-time close friend and lead guitar player, Don Rich. It as Rich laying down those highly recognizable licks on that Fender Telecaster that placed the musical signature on Buck Owens music. Not since the days when Luther Perkins made his guitar impressions on that “boom-chicka-boom” sound which denoted the presence of Johnny Cash had there been a guitar player who did more to create a musical persona with his work. Rich not only announced Buck Owens presence with his guitar playing, but also added a vocal harmony with Buck that fully mirrored the harmony one might only see out of a pair of singing brothers. Watching Rich behind Buck is pure artistry. Don Rich, as fully acknowledged by Buck Owens, was very instrumental in creating that “Buck Owens” sound and image.

Don Rich acquired his “stage name” from a shortened version of his given name, Donald Eugene Ullrich. Ullrich was the name of his parents who had adopted him in infancy. The couple were very musically inclined and quickly found ways to include young Donald in their interest. Don was beginning to play a few strokes on the fiddle by the age of three. His adopted father, Bill, constructed a “child-size” fiddle for the young boy to use in honing his skills, and hone them he did. Soon Bill and Don’s adoptive mother, Anne, were attending as many music contests as they could to show off the younger Ullrich’s talents. It paid off nicely as Don continued his musical interest with the fiddle and then took up the guitar in high school. By age 16, he had earned the significant recognition by opening for Elvis Presley at a Tacoma, Washington show. Within a short time, he was performing regularly at a local south Tacoma eatery called, “Steve’s Restaurant. It was here that he first encounter Buck Owens.

Owens was working as a disk jockey at a Puyallup, Washington radio station while he honed his country skills. He had some success in the late 50’s and early 60’s in the local markets playing traditional country music and recording a few singles. Owens was interested in Ullrich’s fiddle-playing ability and enticed him to play with him at local gigs around the area. Owens achieved enough success with a single called “Under Your Spell” to land a recording contract with Capitol Records. He was headed back down to Bakersfield as his operating base for his future recordings and musical tours. Owens, impressed with Ullrich’s fiddle ability, tried in vain to entice him to come to Bakersfield as part of the project.

Don Ullrich had other ideas. Though he enjoyed music and performing, he was also interested in continuing his education in music. His sights were set on attending a small college nearby and earning a degree in music education. He wanted to teach. He hung on to that focus and turned down Owens offer to go to Bakersfield. Had that been the final parting of the two, surely the success which both came to know might have evaded both of them in the years to come.

Ullrich attended Centralia College for one year. In that time, he met a young lady by the name of Marlane Schindler. It was love and marriage was not far behind. With his new family situation, Don turned to the reality of making a living and gave more serious consideration to joining Owens in his Bakersfield efforts. Within the year, he and Marlane had moved to Bakersfield and Don was once again playing fiddle for Buck Owens. This was the critical step in a direction which would bring both men fame and success that neither would could have predicted at the time.

By this time, Ullrich had taken on the stage name, “Don Rich”. He continued to play the fiddle with traditional country styling as Buck Owens did most of the lead guitar work on his Fender Telecaster. Don made his first showing as a fiddle-player on the Owens’ recording of “Excuse Me, I Think I’ve Got A Heartache”. At this point and time, Owens was still a traditionalist with regard to style having not yet come across the sound that he first described as the “freight train sound” but later became known as the “Bakersfield Sound.”

Don Rich was a talented guitar player in his own right but Owens had hung on to the task wanting to keep his own guitar-styling in the mix. Over time, the work of playing lead guitar and acting as the front man vocalist was taking a toll on Buck. He needed more and more to concentrate on his singing efforts. It was at this point and time that he began to look toward Don Rich to pick up the guitar work. Buck began to take the time to teach Don his guitar styling but had not yet made the decision to give him the guitar playing role. It was late 1960, and Don Rich was now earning $75 a week playing country fiddle for Buck Owens.

Even though he played in a traditional country approach, Owens continued to have singles successes on the charts. By 1962, he had scored a number #2 slot on the charts with a song called “Foolin’ Around” which also featured Don Rich singing high tenor backup to Buck on the chorus. Buck was ready to give up the lead guitar and turn it over to Rich. Along with that shift in duties came something else as well. Buck had written a song entitled, “You’re For Me”. The song called for the group to step away from the traditional Texas Shuffle style of play and move to a more higher paced play using a high-hat drum cymbal and a dead-rim lick on the snare. Rich coupled this with Owens guitar styling with some magical licks on the Telecaster guitar and Buck was soon calling it “That Freight Train Sound”. The label would not stick as Buck had tagged it but it would go on to become known as “The Bakersfield Sound” and be embraced by other up and coming artists such as Merle Haggard. Buck, with the simple musical styling of one song, had hit upon his musical signature and Don Rich was holding the pen.

Buck Owens fame now afforded him the ability to have his own band for recording and touring. Don Rich would lead the band as fiddle-player and lead guitarist. Rich would also be instrumental in identifying a number of the members who made up that band through his musical connections. By this time, the band was totally amplified with Buck playing rhythm licks on an acoustic guitar, Rich was playing the Fender Telecaster, the bass was now electric rather than standup, and a pedal-steel guitar had also been added. Over the next few years, band members would come and go until finally Don Rich was the only surviving member of the original band. In this swinging door movement of band members, came a young guitar playing vocalist by the name of Merle Haggard. Haggard would spend a period as a band member but is most remember for his parting gesture of tagging the band with its name, “The Buckaroos”. This name stuck and it became one of the most recognized names of a country band in the history of country music. Buck Owens and his Buckaroos were iconic playing their trademark “Bakersfield Sound” driven by the talent guitarist, Don Rich.

By the mid-60’s, Buck and his Buckaroos were achieving national recognition and reaping the rewards along the way. Fender gave the group a deal on instruments and provided each band member with a custom made instrument. Rich and the bass player received matching champagne sparkle covered instruments for their stage play. Buck and the band now had their own half-hour television show, “The Buck Owens Ranch Show”. Buck and the band had also earned the distinction of appearing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The band was beginning to earn international appeal. Success was on every corner.

By 1968, Buck Owens had been signed to appear with Roy Clark on the long-running television series, “HeeHaw”. The Buckaroos became the house band for the show and Don Rich was appointed music director for the series. By this time, Don Rich had earned his own personae having written and recorded a few songs of his own along with writing and performing the only instrumental recording (“Buckaroo”) to ever hit #1 on the country charts. Don Rich was a very visible face and a key element in the super-stardom of Buck Owens in musical circles. Buck and Don continued their success logging #1 hits right up through 1972 when the last #1, “Made In Japan” hit the charts. That success was further bolstered as Buck and the band continued their appearances on the “HeeHaw” series through 72 and then into syndication.

During this period, Don Rich’s family with Marlane had grown. They had added two sons, Vance and Victor to the family. Marlane had also been a part of Don’s success working for years behind the scenes coordinating the schedules and appearances of the band. Don’s career was truly a family effort and it had paid off with success and an ever improving lifestyle for them to enjoy.

It was during this period that Don decided to begin riding a motorcycle. Buck Owens immediately expressed his opinion and dislike of this interest to Rich and begged him to give up the motorcycle. In Owens’ mind, motorcycles were very dangerous. Rich did not listen to Buck’s pleas and continued to ride the motorcycle often showing up at the Bakersfield studios riding it.

It was July 17, 1974 when Don appeared at the studio riding his motorcycle. Don’s family had already left for a vacation up along the California coast on Highway 1. Don was going to finish his recording work and join them at the vacation site. He planned to ride his motorcycle on the trip. Completing the recording work, Don set off on the motorcycle on his journey. Prior to leaving, Buck Owens had once again appealed to Rich not to ride the motorcycle on the trip but to no avail. As Rich departed the studio on the cycle, it was the last time that Buck Owens would see his friend and partner alive. Death was waiting along the highway for Don Rich.

Rich was northbound on California Highway 1 when the accident occurred. The sun had set and it was just after 10 PM in the evening. Rich had reached Morro Bay on his motorcycle and was approaching an intersection at Yerba Bueno Road. For no apparent reason, the motorcycle collided with the center highway divider at the intersection. Rich was thrown from the motorcycle at speed and suffered fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:17 PM. The California Highway Patrol report indicates that there were no visible skid marks at the scene to indicate that Rich had attempt to avoid the collision. The cause of the accident is still unknown.

Don Rich was 33 years old at the time of his death and still very much headed up on the ladder of success. A young man who had grown up in Tumwater, Washington and embraced the musical genre at an early age had attained musical success, fame and notoriety. He had been a key element in engineering a musical sound which would live on beyond his years and those of his benefactor, Buck Owens. He would go down in musical history as the “man behind the Buck Owens Signature”. His face would be forever emblazoned in video with Buck Owens almost always smiling as he performed demonstrating the sense of satisfaction he was enjoying from his work. There is a special feel about that “cat that ate the canary” little grin that Don Rich displayed that made one feel like they had known him for years.

The death of Don Rich was devastating for Buck Owens. Although Owens continued his musical efforts, his heart was no longer in it. That drive and dedication had died with Don Rich. Owens refused to speak about Don Rich publicly for years after his death. He did not give a reason although one can ascertain that his feelings for Rich ran so deep that he could not adequate express them in words and likely would end up in tears in the process. Later in his career, Owens finally gave in and spoke of Don Rich stating, “He was like a brother, a son, and a best friend. Something I never said before, maybe I couldn't, but I think my music life ended when he died. Oh yeah, I carried on and I existed, but the real joy and love, the real lightning and thunder is gone forever."

Donald Eugene (“Don Rich”) Ullrich was laid to his final rest in Hillcrest Memorial Park in Bakersfield, California. He was remembered as a talented multi-instrument musician, singer, songwriter and country music icon in this life. To Buck Owens, he was much, much more than that. When Don Rich died so did a big part of Buck Owens. The sadness and pain Rich’s death left behind were ever-present in Buck’s eyes for the rest of his own life and one only had to look at Buck to see that Don’s death was never far from his thoughts. After Don’s death, Buck seldom smiled again and found little to motivate his life until he met young Dwight Yoakam. Yoakam brought a joy back to Buck’s life that had died with Don and it gave Buck great solace in his last years both as an entertainer and as a person. Yoakam’s influence likely was a big factor in Owens eventually speaking publicly of Don Rich’s death.

Two men rarely have the opportunity in life to share something they both truly love with all their hearts. Such was the case with Buck Owens and Don Rich, they shared their love of music and performing it. Yes, both of them worked toward earning success and a decent living from their efforts but mostly they just worked at it because they truly enjoyed what they did. That is so apparent when we look back on the many video recordings of the two appearing together over time. Suffice to say that if there is a band playing in Heaven, one only has to show up to find them sitting in harmonizing with rifts of the “Bakersfield Sound” playing in the background from Rich‘s Telecaster.

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12/11/2011