Open Threadsky

Isn't every thread opened? Anywho since Nebraska has done takin care of their bidness on Thursday and thus making this another Saturday we can all breath a lil easier (at least I can) why not have an official open thread?

Anyway to get the ball rolling I just finished reading Buck Owens the biography by Eileen Sisk. The basic premise of the book is that Buck was both a good man and an evil son of a bitch whose dark side was triggered by his lust for wealth and Women In the end he died with plenty of money and had plenty of women so I guess on that end he was successful though it sound as like he died a less than whole man. The book suggests he was Bi-polar and we know he had at least one breakdown after the Death of Don Rich so I believe that claim. As to the rest was he as big a asshole as the book tries to claim? perhaps the Seattle Post Intelligencer said it best

But Owens, for all his fame and fortune, is remembered for his music, not his business acumen, his sexual conquests, or his often-abrasive nature. Many of his songs – whether he wrote ‘em or stole them – have become standards, and his influence stretches far and wide to this day. By blending traditional country with rock ‘n’ roll and making music on his own terms, he charted a course for many artists seeking an alternative to the Nashville establishment. Yet Sisk rushes through the final decades of Owens’ career, the years in which his star power had faded but his artistic legacy solidified, with a scant chapter each, and turns his funeral into a bit of a soap opera.

"Those not familiar with Owens’ life will learn much here, no doubt; Sisk has done her homework, and knows her subject well. It’s too bad he managed to piss her off, though. He was flawed, to be sure, but despite Sisk’s attempts at scandal, he really doesn’t seem too bad, at least in light of the excesses and foibles we’ve come to expect of celebrities these days. And in the end, it remains the music that matters most."

I would recommend the book to Owens fans, at least ones who know what to expect or Country Music historians but I would NOT certainly not accept everything said in it at face value and in the end what counts is the music.

One rule of Open thread no planet boob. If you want to trash him feel free on the thread below.