With classics like “Crying Time,” and “Together Again,” Buck Owens helped write the roadmap for modern country music. He also pioneered the famous “Bakersfield sound”, which traded the highly stylized Nashville sound of the late 1950s for a sound more dependent on electric and steel guitars, with vocals inspired by rock-and-roll. Despite his natural talent and business acumen, however, Owens’ career would have looked very different without his backing band, the Buckaroos. Perhaps most essential to the Buckaroos’ sound was renowned guitarist and fiddler Don Rich, Owens’ musical right-hand man and longtime best friend.
After spending more than a decade at Owens’ side, a motorcycle accident in San Luis Obispo, California tragically claimed Rich’s life on this day (July 17) in 1974. He was just 32 years old.
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Buck Owens Begged His Friend To Ditch This Dangerous Habit
Many of the specifics surrounding Don Rich’s final moments remain shrouded in mystery even a half century later.
However, we do know that, on July 17, 1974, he wrapped up a session at Buck Owens’ studio in Bakersfield and headed north on his motorcycle to join his family for a fishing trip on California’s central coast.
We also know that Rich ignored Owens’ pleas not to drive his motorcycle that day. In fact, the “Act Naturally” crooner had been begging his friend for years to give up riding entirely.
Sadly, Rich’s motorcycle struck a center divider on northbound Highway 1 at Yerba Buena Street in Morro Bay, California.
First responders rushed the guitarist to Sierra Vista Hospital in San Luis Obispo, where medical professionals pronounced him dead on arrival at 10:55 p.m.
California Highway Patrol officials found no skid marks at the crash scene, and no obvious mechanical problems with the motorcycle.
The Long-Lasting Legacy of Don Rich
Born Donald Eugene Ulrich on August 15, 1941, in Olympia, Washington, Rich grew up with his adopted parents in nearby Tumwater.
A childhood musical prodigy, Rich had mastered the fiddle by age three. He was performing publicly not long after, eventually mastering the guitar as well.
At age 16, Don Rich opened for Elvis Presley at the Tacoma Bowl. Soon, he had landed a regular gig at Steve’s Restaurant in Tacoma. It was at this venue that his path crossed with Buck Owens, who co-owned the KAYE radio statio in town. Owens attended one show and immediately hired Rich to play with him in the Washington area.
After Owens reached number four on the country charts with 1959’s “Under Your Spell Again”, he returned to Bakersfield and begged Rich to accompany him. Initially, Rich refused, deciding instead to attend Centralia College in furtherance of his plans to become a music teacher.
By December 1960, Rich had changed his mind, packing it all up to join the country singer in Bakersfield. After featuring on 1960’s “Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache)”, one of country music’s greatest pairings of all time was officially established.
Together, they cultivated what Owens referred to as “the freight train” sound. Marked by cacophonous electric and steel guitars, it is now better known as the “Bakersfield sound.”
“My Music Life Ended When He Died”
Don Rich’s death shattered the country music world. And perhaps none more than Buck Owens, who refused to discuss his friend in interviews for years afterwards.
Years later, Owens said of Rich, “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. Oh yeah, I carried on and I existed, but the real joy and love, the real lightning and thunder is gone forever.”
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