Buck Owens wrote what seemed like an endless streak of songs whose lyrics and melodies lodged in listener's memories. The Buckaroos, already a group whose interpersonal musical chemistry was unparalleled in the field, refined and expanded their Bakersfield sound, and the hot mixes on their records literally leaped out of AM radios. The remastering for Sudazed's CD reissues shows off just how well these records were produced and engineered in the first place.

At the core of the Buckaroos sound are Owens' voice and the telepathic harmony singing of Don Rich. It's no wonder that Owens felt his musical career was mortally wounded with Rich's death in 1974. Their singing is a textbook of how a duet singer simultaneously leads and reinforces his or her partner. Each singer is singly impressive, but the intertwining of their voices, the surge of energy when Rich kicks in with a harmony, is spine-tingling. Song after song, whether originals, honky-tonk classics, or pop covers, Owens and Rich take ownership of the lyrics and melodies.

Beyond the double A-side, the album is filled with stellar honky-tonk songs, including Red Simpson's two-stepper "Close up the Honky Tonk," and weepers from Hank Cochran ("A11," a hit for Johnny Paycheck) and Owens himself ("I Don't Hear You"). The romantic euphoria of Terry Fell's classic "Truck Drivin' Man" must have directed more than a few young fans to a life on the road, and the shuffle-beat remake of The Drifters "Save the Last Dance For Me" completely obscures the original rock 'n' roll hit.

One of the album's inventions, bringing drums to the fore on "My Heart Skips a Beat," was Owens' idea, but carried out by Ventures drummer Mel Taylor. With the Buckaroos between stick men, Owens had recruited Taylor for the track, and arranged the song with pauses for polite tom-tom rolls. It's hard to imagine now (especially given Nashville's current embrace of highly produced drum sounds) that such a gentle percussion accent could cause an uproar, but apparently many of Owens' fans didn't much cotton to it at the time.

The bonus tracks include two of Owens' biggest (and best) singles, "Love's Gonna Live Here," and "Act Naturally." The optimism of the former spreads throughout the lyrics, melody and accompanyment, sweeping the listener into its happy bubble. The latter (Owens' first #1) is more likely than any other song to have expanded Owens' fame beyond country music: the Beatles recorded a hit cover just a year after this LP was released.