Customer Reviews

Freight Train Runing: A Biography of Buck Owens

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Buyer beware!!! This is not a biography as the title suggests. This is a child's book created by and for the Bakersfield City School District in Buck's home city. I was greatly offended and outraged when it arrived in the mail. There was no warning given in the product description at Amazon that this was not a book for adults. I had greatly looked forward to spending an evening reading it. But at 61 pages, only half of them with text on them, it took me less than five minutes to read it! What a shameful ripoff!

The book was not written by a professional authoress. She is a schoolteacher in the Bakersfield School District. Even though these folks had access to Buck Owens and his staff, they chose not to use real photographs. Instead, a local artist provided pencil sketches taken from real photos. They do not exactly resemble the subjects and it greatly cheapened the book.

Insultingly, the text is in huge letters used normally in children's storybooks and written at a third grade reading level. Why weren't we told that this was a kiddie book from the outset? It is a $20 ripoff insulting to any loyal fan of the late Buck. It appears someone found a clever way to exploit his fans and make some money while keeping the format of the book a secret.

The text is hokey and full of errors. Don Rich was only mentioned once and in a very insignificant way. Among Buck's hits listed, the text mentions "Streets of Laredo." Buck himself never recorded the song and it was certainly not a hit. It was an album track recorded by his bass player Doyle Holly in 1964. And Dwight Yoakam's last name was misspelled as "Yoakum." How could anyone from Buck's home city make such blundering gaffes? Especially when Buck and his keyboardist/publicity man Jim Shaw were involved? Didn't anyone proofread the scant manuscript? There is no excuse for what was produced here.

I normally do not write negative reviews. I am a bonafide Buck Owens fan who followed his career my entire life. But my anger and outrage were so strong that I just had to warn others who might be taken advantage of the way I was. This is no biography. Thank God for Eileen Sisk and her REAL biography of Buck Owens due out August 1. Over 300 pages, it will surely satisfy with detailed information.

This is a KIDDIE book. It is a BABY book. I'll say it again--it's a BABY book!! What a shameful ripoff and a disgrace to Buck's memory!

I'll give you three guesses what I did with my copy.

This book simply carries on a mythical story about a singer that is not entirely based in fact. I bought it for research purposes only, but didn't find it to be of any help.