Don Rich & The Buckaroos – Country Pickin’: The Don Rich Anthology

Don Rich was one of country music’s great sidemen and a chief architect of the Bakersfield Sound. Born in Olympia, Washington, he was just a teenager when he began working for his mentor, Buck Owens, first as a fiddle player and later as a guitarist. A lot of people don’t realize that it was Owens himself who taught Rich how to play guitar. “It didn’t take long before he superseded me,” Owens once said. “He took what I knew and improved on it. Before long, he was playing all the guitar, and I was just holding mine.”

Rich’s twangy guitar work — naturally, he played a Fender Telecaster — inspired countless players, including George Harrison, who tried to sound just like Rich on the Beatles’ version of “Act Naturally”, and Jerry Garcia, whose debt to Rich is less obvious — but just listen to “Cumberland Blues” on Workingman’s Dead. Rich’s guitar licks and vocal harmonies were essential elements of Owens’ hard-driving sound, and when he died in a motorcycle accident in 1974 — he was just 32 years old — Owens was devastated. He never quite recovered from the loss of his good friend.

Country Pickin’ makes it clear just how talented Rich was. Most of the songs were culled from the Buckaroos’ solo albums on Capitol, and while you can’t really compare them to the best of Owens’ work — classics such as “Cryin’ Time” or “Act Naturally” or “Together Again” — that’s not really the point. These were recorded in a different spirit, probably at the end of Owens’ regular sessions. But they hardly sound tossed-off. Country Pickin’ may not be essential listening, but it sure is a lot of fun.

The disc kicks off with the great 1965 instrumental “Buckaroo”, the song most people think of when they think of Don Rich. Turns out he didn’t write it, though. Bass player Bob Morris did, and sure enough, it was committed to tape when one of Owens’ sessions ended 15 minutes early. It’s a gem, and sounds as fresh today as it did 35 years ago.

The other songs on Country Pickin’ are lesser-known but just as appealing. Some show off Rich’s smooth, soulful fiddle work. (According to Buckaroos drummer Jerry Wiggins, Rich was a great guitarist but an even better fiddler.) Others are snappy guitar instrumentals, nearly all of them written by Rich himself.

Rich could also sing, of course, and on Country Pickin’ we get to hear him handling lead vocals — and sounding a lot like Owens — on “I’m Layin’ It On The Line”, “Out Of My Mind” and others. Sure, Rich’s somewhat thin voice was better suited for harmonies than lead. But he knew that, and besides, he probably never intended these songs to be held up against Owens’. They’re pretty good, though, and several made the charts. “I’m Coming Back Home To Stay” even reached #38 in 1968.

It comes as no surprise to learn that Rich loved the Beatles and The Band, and that his favorite guitarist was Howard Roberts. He was hip, and his music shows it. If he were still alive, he’d be only 59. What a sad loss.