Buck Owens: the musician who inspired The Beatles to go country
‘Act Naturally’ is something of a hand-me-down hit. Having been popularised by The Beatles, it was written in the early 1960s by Johnny Russell, with Loretta Lynn, Buck Owens, Mrs. Miller, Debbie Lytton, and Dwight Yoakam all producing their own versions of the country track.
As written by Russell, Voni Morrison also had a writing credit on the hit, and its publishing rights were transferred to Buck Owens, having originally been recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Although Owens wasn’t exactly enamoured with the song, in 1963, the single became his first chart hit, soaring up to the number one spot on the Billboard Country Singles chart.
It was the beginning of a series of hits for the country star, who, after releasing ‘Act Naturally’, had over 20 more number-one hits. A few years after the single came out to much acclaim in country circles, The Beatles were halfway across the world, recording the Help! album at Abbey Road Studios.
The album was shaping up well, but ‘If You’ve Got Trouble’ was not a strong contender. As George Harrison recalled in Anthology, it was a “weird” track the band barely remembered recording. “I’ve no recollection of ever recording it,” he said. “It’s got stupid words and is the naffest song. No wonder it didn’t make it onto anything.”
It was promptly rejected from the album, but Ringo Starr still needed a song to perform lead vocals on. While the band and producer George Martin were all wondering what could fill the gap, Starr, a huge country and western fan, suggested ‘Act Naturally’.
“I found it on a Buck Owens record, and I said, ‘This is the one I am going to be doing,’ and they said, ‘OK,’” remembered Starr. “We were listening to all kinds of things.”
It was recorded in 13 takes, with Harrison on acoustic guitar and Paul McCartney on backing vocals. The first 12 were little more than a warm-up, and Starr didn’t actually lay down a vocal until the 13th crucial take.
The song wound up opening Side B to Help!, and The Beatles went on to perform it on The Ed Sullivan Show that August, in what was likely a lot of people’s first introduction to a country record. It became a concert hit, too, with Starr often performing it with his All-Starr Band.
Starr and Owens eventually recorded a duet version for Owens’ album in 1989, a full circle moment for the song itself and the artist – who was making his return to Capitol Records, where he first released the single. Much like its first incarnation, the track did well on the Billboard country chart, reaching number 27. Unbelievably, it was Owens’ 89th appearance on there and also marked Starr’s first and only.
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