As the ‘70s ended Buck realized that the unbearable emotional pain had to stop. It was time to let go and get on with living. "I was in a zombie -like mode and I went through the motions up until January 1, 1980. And I knew I couldn’t go through that anymore, so I called the guys together. I told ‘em , "I’m gonna still play some dates, but I’m not gonna do anything near like I did it before. I can’t do that and I don’t want to do it." Several members of the band continued with him in other roles. He and Warners mutually agreed to end his contract. For the first time in 23 years, Buck Owens was no longer recording.

He reordered his priorities over the next few years. "I spent a lot of that time from age 50 to 60 doin’ things that I wanted to do. I’m in an absolute frenzy towards doing as many things as I can that I want to do today. The rest can wait till tomorrow, next week, if I’m around we’ll take a look. That’s my attitude: to remove any and all stress off myself."

Buck also had time to reflect on his career. Don’s loss had been devastating, yet in the end, he realized what truly diminished his appeal as a recording artist was the very thing that made him a household word: Hee Haw.

Anybody that’s been on television - Perry Como, Jimmy Dean, Andy Williams, Johnny Cash, Buck Owens- when you become a household name, when they can see you once a week, it reduces and diminishes your value. You’re no longer special. I think quintessentially, television is the bare bones of the removal of all mystique. Don’t forget, in 1969 I was still havin’ #1 records. As I went along it degenerated into more comedy and a lot less singin’, or doin’ those silly little cast songs.

"I enjoyed the Hee Haw people, but from 1980 on I didn’t enjoy it and thought about leavin’, and thought, hell, it’s an easy job and pays wonderful. I kinda just prostituted myself for their money. My music, which I loved, had suffered badly and I knew what it was from: too much ‘Phifft! You Were Gone.’ I thought: ‘One more year, I’ll do one more year..."

Buck left Hee Haw in 1986. It continued, with Roy Clark hosting. "I was always very grateful to ‘em and am grateful to 'em now. I went back a couple of years ago and did their 20th anniversary show. But the longer I stayed on Hee Haw, the worse things got for me musically."

There was no reason to expect any more music from Buck Owens. The same year he cut back his activities, 1980, saw the hit film Urban Cowboy making country music trendy. In Nashville, producers hustled to create easy-listening records smothered in strings to attract pop-record buyers. It seemed that the simpler days of Nudie suits and freight train songs were gone forever.