Together Again

As bass player and backup singer for Buck Owens and His Buckaroos — considered by some to be the finest country band of all time — Doyle Holly helped to define and perfect the Bakersfield sound that continues to exert a powerful influence on country music well into the 21st century. A reunion album with Owens and the surviving Buckaroos was an exciting idea, but the realization of it is something of a disappointment. Not because the music is less than fine; on the contrary, none of these guys has lost a lick, instrumentally speaking, and while Holly's and Owens' voices have both roughened with age, they are both still singers well-worth hearing. The problem is that the program is nothing but a rehash of old Buck Owens hits and favorites. Every one of the usual suspects is here: "Tiger by the Tail," "Above and Beyond," "Act Naturally," "Love's Gonna Live Here," and "My Heart Skips a Beat," to name a predictable few. And every one of the performances is almost as good as the original ones were, which begs the obvious question: why buy a re-recording of this material when the original recordings are readily available? What would have been really great would have been a new album of new material, with the Buckaroos bringing their patented sound to bear on a new generation's country compositions. It's not too late, guys.