While hailing from Texas, Buck Owens fell in love at first sight with the town of Bakersfield, California, when his job as a truck driver first took him through the San Joaquin Valley in the late 1940s. He moved his family there and—along with his backing Buckaroos—helped cultivate the “Bakersfield sound”. It was a livelier antidote to the slickly produced sounds coming out of Nashville at the time. And it helped lay the groundwork for the country-rock movement that exploded in the 1970s.
By 1966, Owens was no stranger to the top of the Hot Country Singles chart. And on this day (July 18) in 1966, he was in the midst of yet another outstanding chart-topping run with “Think of Me”.
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Written by Don Rich—Owens’ backing guitarist and best friend—and Estrella Olson, the song’s message is simple. Think of me when you’re lonely / Think of me when you’re blue / Think of me when you’re far away / Oh, I’ll be thinking of you.
1966: The Year of Buck Owens
“Think of Me” stayed on the country charts for a staggering 20 weeks. Six of those were at number one. Kicking off July 2, “Think of Me” held steady until David Houston’s “Almost Persuaded” dethroned it the week of August 13.
The song also reached number 74 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100.
“Think of Me” was hardly Buck Owens’ first multi-week run at number one of 1966. In fact, he rang in the new year with “Buckaroos”. The instrumental track spent the first six weeks of the year in the peak position until Red Sovine’s “Giddyup Go” replaced it and went on a six-week run of its own.
However, they couldn’t keep Owens away from the top for long. In February, he returned to number one with “Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line”.
One of three chart-topping singles from Owens’ 1966 album Open Up Your Heart, “Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line” held firm in the peak position for seven week before being replaced by Eddy Arnold’s “I Want to Go With You”.
After “Think of Me” exited the charts, Owens would return to number one for a fourth and final time of 1966. “Open Up Your Heart” made its way to the zenith in October. It stayed for four weeks before being overtaken by Bill Anderson’s “I Get the Fever”.
No country artist spent more time at number one in 1966 than Buck Owens. Indeed, only two other artists managed to send more than one single to the top of the country charts that year.
Featured image by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images