Buck Owens, Roy Clark

and

Hee Haw made its debut last night - and shouldn't have." - Boston Globe Hee Haw is ghastly." - The New York Times

Buck Owens and Roy Clark Pickin' and Grinnin'

No, the critics didn't like Hee Haw. When it debuted in 1969 it was clearly nothing more than a "hillbilly" imitation of the popular hippie-inspired comedy show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In.

Why, the writers on Hee Haw just took Laugh-In skits and tailored them to suit the hicks. Instead of the "Joke Wall" where the cast on Laugh-In traded lightning-fast zingers and one-liners, Hee Haw had "The Cornfield" where the cast stood up among the stalks and delivered their drawled out attempts at cornball humor.

So it was with a great deal of satisfaction for sophisticated reviewers that Hee Haw was canceled in 1971. Huh! There must not have been enough "closet rubes" - as one critic put it - to keep the show going.

Weeeheeeeellllll, hold on there, pardners. If the ratings were dismal, how was it possible for the show to rise like a phoenix in 1972 and continued for two decades? And it 's still on to this day in re-runs.

The truth is the show was NOT canceled because of the ratings. They were even better than Laugh-In. Instead, Hee-Haw was one of the shows that fell to the

Great Rural Purge
    of 1971

It seems that the network bigwigs had decided to cancel anything with a rural theme. Long time favorites toppled: Green Acres, The Andy Griffith Show (by then called Mayberry, RFD), Petticoat Junction, Lassie, Mr. Ed, and the Beverly Hillbillies¹.

But the question is why?

The rationale for dumping such popular shows was simplistic as are many management decisions based on hypothetical and theory driven business models. It was no longer just the ratings that counted to keep a show on the air. Instead it was a particular kind of ratings that mattered.

The ratings that mattered had to come from the slice of the population that the executives thought had both the dough to shuck corn and were also gullible enough to be susceptible to the commercial advertisements that even then were beginning to take more and more of the broadcast time². Future programming was to focus on kids with deep pockets and parents who had even deeper pockets³.

The networks' definition of "rural" was somewhat broader than colloquial use. Not only were long time westerns - Gunsmoke and Bonanza - gone in a couple of years but even outdoor animal shows like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom were scotched. The purge quickly expanded to other shows whose audiences didn't spend their money in the extravagant manner desired by the networks. These included The Original Amateur Hour, The Lawrence Welk Show, My Three Sons, Family Affair, The Jackie Gleason Show, Hogan's Heroes, The Red Skelton Show, and even the program that defined Culture, The Ed Sullivan Show.

Now it may be true that the typical Hee-Haw fan didn't spend $2,625 for an Amani jacket. But they did buy lots of consumer products like automobiles, kitchen appliances, television sets, power tools, coffee, and packaged foods. Nor was it only "rubes" - closet or otherwise - who tuned in. One of the biggest fans of Hee Haw was a college professor of international reputation who had just immigrated to the United States - from Sweden. So canceled or not, the show was going to go on.

But ... but .... but ... if the networks weren't broadcasting the show, how could it continue? You can't tape and broadcast a show from some farmer's barn.

There was one word. Just one word.

Syndication.

The rural purge of 1971 coincided with the major networks getting out of the syndication business. That is, the networks quit licensing shows which could be aired at the discretion of individual stations. So suddenly there were independent companies floating around whose business was to create programs and sell them to the television stations. And there were lots of cancelled programs that people still wanted to watch⁴.

Perhaps what happened was simple poetic justice. The massive purge based on perceived advertisement revenues or simply the personal tastes of the executives was the beginning of the end of the monopoly of the Big Three Networks. Since so many shows went into syndication, it became clear that specialized independent production companies could compete and even thrive against The Big Three, who after the rise of cable television found themselves sitting in the back seat. In this manner Hee-Haw kept going for another 25 seasons. Roy later said that syndication was the best thing that ever happened to Hee-Haw⁵.

Many of the guest stars sang what you can call "pure C&W" or what Glen Campbell called the "You-broke-my-heart-so-I'm-gonna-break-your-neck" songs. As hard as it is to believe with Country and Western music practically controlling the national economy, at the time Country Music was not popular with most of the public. So for real success the producers knew that you had to bring in a wider audience. That was where Roy Clark came in.

For Roy, Hee Haw was almost an afterthought. On December 19, 1968, he had appeared on "The Jonathan Winters Show". After his performance, two television producers John Aylesworth and Frank Peppiatt approached him. They suggested doing a country version of Laugh-In.

Roy - following the rule that in show business you always say yes to any offer since a lot of them never happen - agreed. He then forgot about it.

So he was surprised when his manager later called him up and told him that they were about to do the show. "What show?" Roy asked. He soon learned.

Although you may have read on the Fount of All Knowledge that Roy was a native of the Sooner State, actually he was born in Meherrin, Virginia, on April 15, 1933. He was raised in a musical family and his dad, Hester, supplemented his regular jobs as a professional musician. Hester was a skilled multi-instrumentalist who played guitar, fiddle, and banjo. Roy's mom played piano.

It was clear Roy had inherited the Clark family talent. He first learned the banjo but also became proficient at guitar (which he could play with various techniques), fiddle, and mandolin as well. His first professional job was at age 15 when he played guitar in his dad's band. He earned $2.

In a couple of years, Roy had won two national banjo championships. Soon he was touring with Louis Marshall Jones, who although only in his early forties was billed as "Grandpa". Roy didn't remain with Grandpa Jones very long although later they would rejoin forces.

Still in his early twenties, Roy centered his activities around Washington, D. C., which had become a focus of country music east of the Appalachians. In 1955, he began appearing regularly on Town and Country Time, a local program hosted by a then relatively unknown Jimmy Dean. However, that job didn't last long as Jimmy found Roy's tendency to show up late irksome.

Despite Roy's talent it wasn't until 1957 that he actually attained national attention when he appeared on Arthur Godfrey's television show, Talent Scouts. His performance brought in offers from other nationally broadcast shows, and in 1960 he appeared on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar.

Roy's television appearances attracted the notice of recording executives and he was soon signed by Capitol. Although Roy sang well, it was as an instrumentalist that he shone. In 1962, his first album, The Lightning Fingers of Roy Clark, highlighted his prowess. We do have to admit, though, that some the songs - like "Twelfth Street Rag" - can be a little overpowering. Later Roy switched to Dot Records.

On the other hand none of his records were really big sellers. Only one, "Yesterday When I was Young", ever cracked the Country Billboard Top Ten. And except for two or three occasions he never played to massive stadium-filled concerts now de rigueur for touring professionals. Instead - and as Roy readily admitted - almost all of his success was due to his appearances on television.

One characteristic of Roy's performances which fit well with what was still a new medium was his humor. On one of his early routines he played "Folsom Prison Blues" where he uses the guitar to make chugging train sounds and when he gets to the line "I shot a man in Reno", he has the instrument imitate a machine gun. He also liked to switch the lyrics around and sing how people were probably "smoking whiskey and drinking big cigars". Another favorite trick was to fret the guitar with various objects like a drinking glass and even with his feet - and Roy still played better than most other guitarists.

As the 1960's rolled on, Roy showed up regularly on prime time variety shows including Shindig!, The Jimmy Dean Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Steve Allen Show, and even - get this - American Bandstand. The problems was these shows had trouble attracting viewers from the South, and with his humor and virtuosity, Roy could be enjoyed by urban Northerners and rural Southerners alike. But he was not yet a household name.

That's where Hee Haw came in.

In fact it was because Roy had been a regular on television that Hee Haw's creators picked him as one of the hosts. On the other hand they did want someone who had hit records. That's why they went to Buck Owens.

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. was born on August 12, 1929, in Sherman, Texas. The story is he adopted the name "Buck" from the name of a donkey on his folks' farm. In the 1930's the Dust Bowl drove the family out of Texas to Arizona where his dad continued to farm. Like Roy, Buck soon displayed his musical talent, and in his early twenties he moved to Bakersville, California, which was even then known for the honky tonks where local musicians could perform.

Soon Buck's musicianship was landing him jobs as a session musician. But his true forte was a strong, clear singing voice which was a classic Country tenor. He was soon a guest on Country radio and television shows including the Ozark Jubilee. In the 1950's and broadcast from Springfield, Missouri, Ozark Jubilee was the most popular country music show in the country.

Buck first recorded for a small label, Pep Records, but he soon landed a contract with Capitol. His first big hit - and it was a big hit - was in 1963 when he released "Act Naturally". The song quickly went to #1 and in two years it was "covered" by none other than The Beatles (with Ringo providing the vocals). Buck and his "Buckaroos" were stars.

Like many dynamic duos of entertainment, Buck and Roy were not close friends. In later years Roy said, "[Buck] wasn't a laid back country boy I felt comfortable being around. He was very opinionated, very set in his ways, very dollar conscious. Buck is just a strange guy." According to Buck's biographer, he would have a friend stand by with a stopwatch to make sure Roy didn't get more screen time than he did. Ironically, Buck thought there weren't enough banjo players on Hee Haw and Roy - a true virtuoso on the instrument - thought there were too many.

Buck didn't really like Hee Haw but the money was just too good. "I couldn't justify turning down that big paycheck for just a few weeks work twice a year," he said. "So I kept [hiring]⁶ myself out to that cartoon donkey."

Nevertheless, when on screen Roy and Buck Owens were the genial hosts. One of the most popular parts of the show was "Pickin' and Grinnin'" where Roy and Buck would swap jokes between a few bars of "Cripple Creek".

Roy:	Hey, Buck.
Buck:	Yeah?
Roy:	I hear old Archie got hisself a job over at the candle factory.
Buck:	Yep. He works there every Saturday and every Sunday.
Roy:	Just Saturdays and Sundays?
Buck:	Yeah.
Roy:	That's a weird schedule.
Buck:	Well, Roy, at a candle factory you only work on WICK ENDS.

And then there was the "Gloom-Despair" routine where four of the men - often Roy, Archie Campbell, Grandpa Jones, and Gordie Tapp - were sitting in a row with a jug of corn-squeezin's on their knees. Then they'd begin to sing:

Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

Deep, dark depression, excessive misery.

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

Gloom, despair, and agony on me.

Then each one would detail their trials and tribulations.

Archie:	When it comes to raisin' crops, old Gordie ain't petty.
Grandpa Jones:	But this farm he bought, he might as well forget it.
Roy:	It runs for fourteen miles, but it's only one inch wide.
Gordie:	And the only thing I can grow on it is spaghetti.

Then they'd repeat the chorus.

Another favorite of the regular skits was Archie Campbell singing "Pfft! You were gone!" The camera would move in to Archie wearing overalls, straw hat, and holding a scythe while one of the cast or a guest would be similarly attired and holding a pitchfork but with his or her back to the viewers.

Archie would sing a song about a love that went wrong and then when he began the chorus the guest star would turn to face the camera and both would sing:

Where, oh, where are you tonight?

Why did you leave me here all alone?

I searched the world over and thought I'd found true love.

You met another and Pffft! you were gone!

The Pffft! was a raspberry which sometimes would end up spraying Archie, the guest, or both.

One irony that was not appreciated - and for the most part not even known - was the Canadian presence on a show which was about the rural music and humor of the United States. Not only were the creators and producers, John Aylesworth and Frank Peppiatt, from Canada, but some of the regulars - such as Gordie Tapp and the Station KORN radio announcer played by Don Harron - were from north of the border.

For the music Roy represented southern and bluegrass styles and Buck playing the "outlaw" country sound from Bakersville. There was also some Appalachian Old Timey Music in the repertoire played by Grandpa Jones and Stringbean Akeman. Both men were highly skilled Old Timey or "clahammer" banjoists who should have been featured more. Stringbean had even played banjo for Bill Monroe (an exacting taskmaster) and recordings and videos testify to his virtuosity. So it's a shame that Stringbean was mostly relegated to playing the scarecrow in the cornfield or reading the weekly "letter from home"⁷.

The music on Hee Haw may have been heavily weighed toward the Bakersville sound, but the humor was centered almost exclusively on the Appalachian and Ozark "hillbilly" stereotypes. You had the slow drawling men clad in overalls and shapeless bag hats accompanied by women in short shorts and blouses knotted up above the midriff - the "Hee-Haw Honeys". The men congregated in Archie Campbell's barber shop, and the Culhanes of Kornfield Kounty - Grandpa Jones, Junior Samples, Lulu Roman, and Gordie Tapp - would would sit on their sofa and converse in monotones about the troubles of the day.

We see that the cast could be chosen with care - as for Roy and Buck - but the selections could also be spur of the moment. Cathy Baker, the bob-haired country girl who would introduce singers and gave the sign off "That's All!", was originally a set painter. But when Frank Peppiatt saw her working in her overalls he decided to hire her for the show.

For all it's popularity, criticisms of Hee Haw have not abated. One recent reviewer wrote:

Hee Haw was one of the most godless and evil television shows ever produced. Yet many Christians watched it regularly because Roy Clark, Buck Owens, and others, sang a Gospel song towards the end of each show.

Although others do not take quite so a stern judgement, there are certainly some who have viewed the show after decades long hiatus and found it less amusing than remembered. Much of this is because of changing social norms and what's considered acceptable public humor. In particular and as was common for the time and era, jokes about women were standard fare.

Buck:	Hey, Roy.
Roy:	Yeah, Buck?
Buck:	What's the safest way to tell a woman's age?
Roy:	The only safe way to do it, Buck, is when she ain't around.

There was also a recurring skit "The Naggers" about a country husband (played by Gordie Tapp) and his wife (played by bluegrass banjoist Roni Stoneman) who constantly nagged at each other (hence the family name). Gordie was usually sitting at the kitchen table while Roni in hair curlers was doing the ironing.

Roni:	What a life! What a life! If a stranger ever wandered in here he'd think I'se just a cook in this house.
Gordie:	Huh! Not after one of them meals, he wouldn't.

Not only are the "nagging wife" and "the wife can't cook" jokes seen as an archaic relic of a by-gone era, but that the skit usually ended with Roni smacking Gordie on the head with a skillet seems less amusing in these days when domestic violence is taken more seriously⁸.

And yes, there were even the occasional "dumb blonde" jokes such as Buck delivered in one of the one-liners:

Buck:

A blonde is usually expensive - in spite of the light overhead.

One long lasting criticism of the show is that the humor is "cornball" with nothing but bad jokes. Some were even ancient chestnuts like the exchange between Buck and his son, Buddy Alan:

Buck:	Buddy, I don't ever want to hear you using them bad word again.
Buck:	But, Dad, Shakespeare uses those words.
Buck:	Well, then, I don't want you hanging around with him anymore.

But that was the whole point. The jokes were supposed to be cornball and if humor is bad enough it ends up being funny. Usually a particularly horrible joke would be punctuated with exaggerated laughter by the teller.

One of the recurring jokes wasn't really scripted. That was when Junior Samples - the quintessential overweight slow-drawling bumpkin - would stumble through his lines. This wasn't an act and sometimes no matter how many takes, Junior just couldn't get the lines out. But that didn't matter since his struggles were funnier than the intended joke. Junior himself would crack up about it.

Then there was the music, either performed by the cast members - Roy, Buck, Grandpa Jones, Stringbean, the Hager Twins - or by the guest stars. Most of the guests sang songs much like those of Buck and his Buckaroos. These included Charlie Pride, Diana Trask, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Mel Tillis, Merle Haggard, Kitty Wells, the Dillards, Merle Travis, and a surprisingly clean shaven Waylon Jennings.

Music of other guests was less standard C&W but still had a country/folk slant. So the audience saw John Hartford, Hoyt Axton, Jerry Jeff Walker, Linda Ronstadt, and Burl Ives. The others were really big names that crossed into popular entertainment: Tennessee Ernie Ford, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the Sons of the Pioneers, Brenda Lee, Dennis Weaver ("Chester" on Gunsmoke and "Sam McCloud" on McCloud), Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Dolly Parton, Ricky Skaggs, Alison Krauss, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roger Miller, Kenny Rogers, Naomi Judd, Glen Campbell, Dale Robertson, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and even Roy's old employer, Jimmy Dean.

But some guests were decidedly not Country: Ray Charles, B. J. Thomas, Jonathan Winters, Cincinnati catcher Johnny Bench, Marie Osmand, Donnie Osmand, Dizzy Dean (who sang "Wabash Cannonball"), Bobby Goldsboro, Ernest Borgnine, Ed McMahon, Robert Preston (Harold Hill in The Music Man), Sammy Davis, Jr., Tony Orlando, Caroll Spinney ("Big Bird" of Sesame Street), Yankee slugger Mickey Mantle, Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw (who sang "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"), Hugh Hefner (!), King of the One Liners Henny Youngman, trumpet virtuoso Doc Severinsen, Rudolf Wanderone, Jr. (professional pool player who assumed the name Minnesota Fats), Regis Philbin, Kathy Lee Gifford, and popcorn manufacturer Orville Redenbacher.

By the early 1970's Roy and Buck were among the best known entertainers in the country. In 1973, Roy was voted the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year. He regrabbed the award in 1977, 1978, and 1980. In 1976 along with the Oak Ridge Boys, he became the first Country and Western musician to tour the (then) Soviet Union.

Roy has been credited for starting what was a true revolution in entertainment. In 1982 he founded The Roy Clark Celebrity Theater which is often cited as the first major Country and Western nightclub in the up til then sleepy town of Branson, Missouri. The next year he won a Grammy Award, but for some reason Roy wasn't made a full member of the Grand Old Opry until 1987.

Roy sold his interest in the theater in 1991 and began cutting back on his touring. In 2009 he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

In 1974 Roy and his one and only wife, Barbara, had settled in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His home was near the Philbrook Museum of Art. It was (and is) one of the swankier neighborhoods.

Roy kept performing on Hee Haw until the show finally shut down production in 1993. It kept being broadcast in re-runs until 1997.

Buck was never really happy with the show and left in 1986. Certainly he didn't need the money. He ended up recording over 50 albums and had over 20 #1 hits on the Country Charts. Three of those had been in 1966 alone.

Buck kept his headquarters in Bakersville where he built a nightclub and restaurant where he would perform regularly. He also invested in the broadcast industry and was amused when he heard how some people were calling up some radio stations complaining that they were playing too much old fashioned stuff like Dwight Yoakam, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson - and Buck Owens. Of course, Buck owned the radio stations⁹.

Although from what Roy had said, we might think of Buck as a rather terse individual, to his fans he was friendly and kind, quite literally to the end. On March 25, 2006, he was slated to perform at his nightclub. He wasn't feeling well and after a while decided he couldn't continue. But as he was walking to the parking lot, he met some fans. When he learned they had driven over 700 miles just to see him, he went back in and finished the show. Then he went back home and died in his sleep.

Rural Purge or not, to this day Hee Haw has the potential to be a money maker. Not only can you catch it in re-runs, but in 2015 a Hee Haw musical opened in Dallas. The reviews were pretty good and although the show has yet to run on Broadway, that's still the plan.

References

The Corn Was Green: The Inside Story of Hee Haw, John Aylesworth, McFarland and Company, United States, 2010.

Buck Owens, Eileen Sisk, Chicago Review Press, 2010.

"Almost Everyone Was Wrong About 'Hee Haw'", Roy Clark, Huffington Post, December 3, 2016.

"'Hee Haw' Was Ahead of Its Time: CBS’s 'Rural Purge' of 1971 Didn't Prevent a 'Surge' 45 Years Later", Michael Taube, November 28, 2018.

"The Weird History of 'Hillbilly TV'", Story by Gabe Bullard, Bitter Southerner.

Distilling 'Hee Haw' Into 'Moonshine' At The DTC", Jerome Weeks, Art&Seek, September 3, 2015.

"Roy Clark", Encyclopedia of Country Music, Oxford University Press, 1998.

"They Were Pickin’, We Were Grinnin’ — for 50 Years", Ken Beck, The Wilson Post, June 10, 2019.

"Hee Haw: The Inside Story on the Show That Won't Go Away", Jimmie Tramel, Tulsa World, August 16, 2015.

"Hee-Haw 50 Years Later", David Hofstede, Cowboys and Indians, August 28, 2019.

Roy Clark, Internet Movie Data Base.

The Jonathan Winter Show, Jørn Winther (Director), Writers: Art Baer (Writer), Ted Bergman (Writer), Stars: Jonathan Winters (host), Roy Clark (guest star), Minnie Pearl (guest star), Roosevelt Grier (guest star), Godfrey Cambridge, (guest star), Sugar Ray Robinson, December 19, 1968, Meadowlane Productions, Internet Movie Data Base.

"Roy Clark’s Lasting Legacy in Branson", Joshua Clark, Branson News, November 16, 2018.

"Roy Clark", Tulsa Historical Society and Museum.

"Roy Clark", Johnny Baier, American Banjo Museum.

"TV networks Vowed to Cut Back on Commercials. Instead, They Stuffed in More", Gerry Smith, The Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2019.

"That Time 'Hee Haw' Came to Suffolk", Frank Roberts, Suffolk News Herald, April 5, 2016.

"No More Pickin’ and Grinnin’ on 'Hee Haw;: Production Ends", Joe Edwards, Associated Press, April 2, 1993.

"The Basics and Buck Owens", Richard Harrington, The Washington Post, August 13, 1989.

"Roy Clark Interview", Karen Herman, Archive of American Television, September 20, 2005.

"Buck Owens Slams 'Hee Haw' in New Book", The Boot, Gayle Thompson, January 21, 2014.

"Singer Found Gold and Inspiration in California", Randy Lewis, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2006.

"Buck Owens Made History in 1966 Scoring 3 No. 1 Country Hits", Arden Lambert, CountryThanDaily, July 18, 2018.

"The Second Coming", Jude Rogers, The New Statesman, October 23, 2008.

"Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical at Dallas Theater Centre", Kyle Christopher West, Broadway World, September 22, 2015".

"Rialto Chatter: Is Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical On Track For Broadway?", January 9, 2020.

"1973 murder of David 'Stringbean' Akeman Brought Fear to Nashville", Peter Cooper Nashville Tennessean, October 15, 2014.

"Review of 'Hee Haw'", XXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXX, XXXXXXXX.