I’m sorry to read this morning of the death of Buck Owens. He was only 76, which is not very old these days.

I’ve never cared for country music. Except bluegrass, which I really like. But some of my family members like it, and we watched Hee Haw when I was a kid.

Owens was well liked in Bakersfield; so much so, they named a major street after him, years ago. I guess he did a lot for the town. Some of my relatives used to live there, and my aunt played tennis with him. I seem to remember her saying he was a nice, humble guy.

“I’d like to be remembered as a guy that came along and did his music, did his best and showed up on time, clean and ready to do the job, wrote a few songs and had a hell of a time.”