Buck 'Em!: The Music of Buck Owens, 1967-1975: Vol. 2

Two years after the first installment comes Buck 'Em!: The Music of Buck Owens, Vol. 2, a double-disc set chronicling the eight years when Buck Owens was a crossover superstar thanks to his prominent role as a co-host of Hee Haw. Buck started to slide into a rut toward the end of this run -- a process accelerated by the tragic death of his right-hand man Don Rich in 1974, a loss from which Owens never fully recovered -- but producer Patrick Milligan slyly disguises this trend by nestling deep cuts, live tracks, and outtakes among the best of his hits, thereby painting a portrait of Buck Owens as a musician nearly as adventurous as he was during the purple patch of the '50s and early '60s. Rarities per se aren't the focus of the collection -- most of the rare items were originally dredged up on other archival releases, often the big Bear Family boxes of Buck & His Buckaroos -- but by not diligently marching through nothing the singles, Buck 'Em! highlights how much ground Buck cover