Donald Eugene Ulrich (August 15, 1941* – July 17, 1974), best known by the stage name Don Rich, was a country musician who helped develop the Bakersfield sound in the early 1960s. He was a noted guitarist and fiddler, and a member of The Buckaroos, the backing band of country singer Buck Owens.
Don Rich -- who
was born in Olympia, Washington on August 15, 1941 and was adopted by Bill and
Anne Ulrich -- began playing music at an early age, learning the fiddle when he
was only three, and appearing on local radio broadcasts two years later. Soon
he picked up guitar as well, and by the time he entered his teens, he was
gigging locally, eventually landing a residence at Steve's Restaurant in
Tacoma. It was at this venue that Buck Owens discovered Don Rich.
Faced with some
professional frustrations in Los Angeles, Owens had then-recently relocated to
Tacoma, where he co-owned the KAYE radio station and spent his time DJing and
playing shows. Taken with Rich's fiddle skills, Owens immediately hired him to
play with him in the Washington area. About two years later, Owens' "Under
Your Spell Again" took off on the national country charts so Buck headed
back to his hometown of Bakersfield, California, making a plea to Rich to
follow along, but Don declined.
Rich decided to
attend Centralia College in hopes of becoming a music teacher. He held onto
this dream until December of 1960, when he packed it in and headed down to
Bakersfield to play with Buck. Don first appeared on 1960's "Excuse Me (I
Think I've Got a Heartache)" and, from that point on, the two were
inseparable as friends and collaborators, developing the driving, electrified
honky tonk variant Owens called the "freight train sound" but which
everybody else knew as the sound of Bakersfield Country.
This sound
clicked into place when Rich moved from fiddle to lead electric guitar, a
transition that took place over the course of 1962 and started to flourish in
1963 with the smash single "Act Naturally" and its sequel
"Love's Gonna Live Here." Around this time, Owens decided to
officially form a backing band called the Buckaroos -- Merle Haggard, who
played bass in an early line-up for a couple of weeks, came up with the name --
enlisting Rich as the bandleader. Musicians cycled through the
group quite quickly in the early days but the classic line-up of Rich, bassist Doyle Holly, steel guitarist Tom Brumley, and drummer Willie Cantu consolidated by the end of 1964.
group quite quickly in the early days but the classic line-up of Rich, bassist Doyle Holly, steel guitarist Tom Brumley, and drummer Willie Cantu consolidated by the end of 1964.
In addition to
leading the Buckaroos, Don Rich co-wrote hits with Owens -- the biggest were
"Before You Go" and "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line;" he
co-wrote "Think of Me" with Estella Olson -- and after the
instrumental "Buckaroo" turned into a country number one in 1965, the
Buckaroos started releasing their own LPs, all featuring Don's guitar and
sometimes his voice.
The first of
these Buckaroos albums was 1966's The Buck Owens Songbook, where the group
revisited early Buck hits instrumentally. By most measures, 1966 was the peak
year for Buck Owens & the Buckaroos, as they were dominating the charts and
headlined Carnegie Hall, but the band remained one of the most popular acts in
country music until the early '70s, aided in part by Buck's television stardom
as one of the two co-hosts of the cornball variety show Hee Haw.
Launched on CBS
and later popularized in syndication, Hee Haw made Owens a household name and
featured the Buckaroos as the show's house band. As the show's popularity
rolled on, so did the Buckaroos LPs, and soon Rich was recording solo projects
of his own. In 1970, Don cut a vocal album of George Jones songs, but it was
shelved (it received a belated release on Omnivore Records in 2013), but the
fiddle-heavy instrumental album That Fiddlin' Man made it into the stores in
1971, as did We're Real Good Friends, a duet album made with Buck's son Buddy
Alan.
That Fiddlin'
Man didn't hit the charts, nor did the two Buckaroos LPs of 1971, and so Rich's
solo recording career slowly came to a close. He returned to his position as
Buck's trusted lieutenant, playing on records, in concerts, and on Hee Haw
until his tragic death.
On July 17, 1974
Don Rich finished a few recording chores at the Bakersfield studio. He then set off, by motorcycle to meet his
family up the coast in Morro Bay where they had been vacationing. Somewhere between his night ride from
Bakersfield to Morro Bay Don’s motorcycle crashed into a lane divider and he
was thrown from his bike.
Don Rich suffered extensive damage and was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced Dead On Arrival. He was only 32 years old. The cause of his accident is still a bit of a mystery, since there were no witnesses, but police at the time noted there were no skid marks before the crash.
Don Rich suffered extensive damage and was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced Dead On Arrival. He was only 32 years old. The cause of his accident is still a bit of a mystery, since there were no witnesses, but police at the time noted there were no skid marks before the crash.
Buck Owens was
devastated by the loss of his friend, his collaborator and one of the most
renowned guitarists in country music history.
Buck later said: “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. I carried on and existed, but the real joy and love, the
real lightning and thunder is gone forever.”
(Edited from
Wikipedia & AllMusic) (* other sources give 5th as birthday)
3 comments:
For “Don Rich & The Buckaroos – That Fiddlin' Man” (2013) go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/10318710/Don_Rich_-_Fiddlin__Man.rar.html
CD / DIGITAL TRACK LIST:
1. ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
2. PRETTY GIRL HOE DOWN
3. LOUISIANA WALTZ
4. DOWN ON THE BAYOU
5. SATURDAY NIGHT
6. GEORGIA PEACH
7. CAJUN FIDDLE
8. DUBLIN WALTZ
9. CATFISH CAPERS
10. TUMWATER BREAKDOWN c `BONUS TRACKS:
11. A MAIDEN’S PRAYER
12. GOING HOME TO THE BAYOU
13. BUCKERSFIELD BREAKDOWN
14. THE WAY THAT I LOVE YOU
15. BILE ’EM CABBAGE DOWN
16. FADED LOVE
17. FISHIN’ REEL
18. KERN COUNTY BREAKDOWN
19. GRENSLEEVES
20. FIDDLE POLKA (Live)
Best known as Buck Owens' guitarist, Don Rich was also an incredible fiddle player. And, while Orange Blossom Special was a live staple at a Buckaroos show, Don's fiddle carried through to many Buck Owens studio releases, too. In 1971, 10 tracks were compiled from a number of Buck Owens & The Buckaroos albums and released as That Fiddlin' Man. The album was an instant hit with fans.
Out of print for decades, Omnivore Recordings is proud to reissue That Fiddlin' Man for the first time ever on compact disc. To make the release even more special, we've added ten additional instrumental tracks from the Buck Owens catalogue that showcase The Buckaroos, Don Rich and his fiddle. That's 20 tracks of prime Buckaroos taken from 13 different albums recorded from 1963 to 1970.
Hopefully within the next few days I’ll get links for The Don Rich Anthology. So watch this space!
Thank you.
For “Country Pickin': The Don Rich Anthology” go here:
https://www.upload.ee/files/10331567/Don_Rich_-_Anthology.rar.html
1. "Buckaroo" (Bob Morris) – 2:01
2. "Orange Blossom Special" (Evrin T. Rouse) – 2:09
3. "I'm Layin' It on the Line" (Don Rich) – 2:27
4. "The Happy Go Lucky Guitar" (Buck Owens, Rich) – 1:57
5. "Cajun Fiddle" (Owens, Rich) – 1:45
6. "Out of My Mind" (Rich, Red Simpson) – 3:23
7. "Round Hole Guitar" (Owens, Rich) – 2:22
8. "Tumwater Breakdown" (Rich) – 1:54
9. "Chicken Pickin'" (Owens, Rich) – 2:08
10. "Love's Gonna Come a Knockin'" (Owens, Rich) – 1:56
11. "Buckersfield Breakdown" (Morris, Rich) – 2:00
12. "I'll Be Swingin' Too" (Owens, Rich) – 2:03
13. "Sad Is the Lonely" (Bobby Warren, Harlow Wilcox) – 2:47
14. "Pretty Girl" (Rich) – 1:45
15. "Chaparral" (Morris, Rich) – 1:58
16. "I'm Coming Back Home to Stay" (Rich) – 2:14
17. "Spanish Moonlight" (Rich) – 2:10
18. "Saturday Night" (Rich) – 1:50
19. "I'm Goin' Back Home Where I Belong" (Rich) – 2:19
20. "Aw Heck" (Rich) – 1:51
21. "Georgia Peach" (Rich) – 1:19
22. "Tim-Buck-Too" (Rich) – 2:22
23. "Pickin-Nickin'" (Rich) – 2:35
24. "Country Pickin'" (Owens, Rich) – 1:42
Personnel
Don Rich – guitar, fiddle, vocals
Buck Owens – guitar
Doyle Holly – bass, guitar, background vocals
Jay McDonald – steel guitar
Tom Brumley - pedal steel guitar
Jelly Sanders – guitar
Red Simpson – guitar
Wayne Wilson – guitar
Bob Morris – bass
Kenny Pierce – bass
Ken Presley – drums
Willie Cantu – drums
Jerry Wiggins – drums
A very big thank you to Maria @ El Rancho for the loan of her album.
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