In 1957 Town Hall Party performers Johnny Bond and Joe Maphis, both Columbia recording artists, played regularly in Bakersfield and saw Buck’s potential. They sent a demo of Buck’s recordings to their producer, legendary Columbia A&R man Don Law, who agreed that Buck belonged on Columbia. Law wired the two performers to "hold on to Buck Owens for me" until he could travel to California to sign him.

Terry Fell and Claude Caviness were trying to interest Ken Nelson in recording Buck, but despite his admiration for Buck’s guitar playing, Caviness felt Buck lacked a vocal style. Today, Buck says, "Ken seems to remember that I bugged him and bugged him and that finally he signed me out of self-defense. I guess in a way that could be true, if you reconcile the fact that I never spoke to him about recording, other people did." ---One day, however, would change everything.

Early in 1957 Buck was visited by the Farmer Boys, Bobby Adamson and Woody Wayne Murray, Capitol recording artists who worked in central and northern California. They were to record in L.A. on February 21, 1957 and asked Buck for some songs. He gave them four he’d written or co-written. He also was scheduled to play on the session. Buck found out – too late – that Ken Nelson had previously sent the duo four songs for the session. When Nelson found they had chosen Buck’s songs over his, he was furious – with Buck.

"Ken came out of the studio in the hallway and he was very angry," Buck says. "His exact words were, ‘I don’t appreciate people sluggin’ my artists with songs!’ I didn’t want to lose that gig with Ken Nelson, so I said, ‘Ken, they came to my house. I didn’t know I was doin’ anything wrong. They said they wanted these songs.’ And I don’t think he ever heard me, he was so angry."

The storm passed. After the session began, Nelson suddenly complimented Buck on the quality of the songs. With the session half over, he broached the subject of Buck recording for Capitol. When Buck told him of the pending Columbia contract, Nelson apparently realized that others saw potential in his guitarist that he’d overlooked. When the session ended, Nelson handed Buck a Capitol contract; he signed it on the spot.

Through the spring and summer, Buck continued at the Blackboard and in the studios. His first solo session for Capitol took place August 30, 1957, and though the songs were his, the results were another matter. "They were recorded with little doo-wahs…kinda pop-country with this big choral group, and I thought, ‘eeeee, God!’ But that’s what they were lookin’ for. They wanted to make the biggest hillbilly in Bakersfield something’ he wasn’t." He needn’t have worried. Both singles fizzled.

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