In Japan [Live]

Buck Owens | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 11, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
• ASIN: B000003GZR
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,390 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #25 in Music > Indie Music > Country > Honky-Tonk

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Until the classic Live at Carnegie Hall resurfaces, this 1967 record will have to satisfy collectors who want to hear Buck Owens in a live setting. While the material on Carnegie Hall may be better known than these songs, the performances on this Tokyo date are equally as strong--after all, it was recorded less than a year after the Carnegie Hall concert. In typical Buckaroo fashion, the playing is edgy and dead-on, except for an uncharacteristically slow start from lead guitarist Don Rich ("Take your gloves off, Don," Owens playfully chides him). Owens sings in his uniquely evocative manner (backed by Rich's perfect harmonies) and doesn't allow the language barrier to stand in the way of playful between-song chatter ("In America, we have a state called Louisiana," he explains). He even offers some impressive lead guitar on "Tokyo Polka," written to commemorate the occasion, much to the delight of the boisterous crowd. --Marc Greilsamer

Product Description

1997 Sundazed reissue & the CD debut of this rare 1967 live album, originally released for Capitol. Contains rare photos, complete sessionographies and original artwork. Contains 17 tracks, including 'I Was Born To Be In Love WithYou' and 'Open Up Your Heart'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buckaroos live sound at its peak, April 24, 2003

By 

hyperbolium (Earth, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Japan (Audio CD)

This 1967 live recording is the perfect complement to the band's better-known Carnegie Hall release of 1966. Not only is the band in top musical form, their presentation to a Japanese audience leans more towards songs than shtick. Not that the shtick is missing entirely (it was - and is to this day - an essential ingredient of the band's stage show), but the skits presented at the Carnegie Hall disc are replaced here with straight-ahead tunes.

What's especially remarkable about this concert is a song selection that introduces many new songs, including a few that appear nowhere else (or, at best, very obscurely) in the Buckaroos record catalog. Among the new tunes are "Adios, Farewell, Goodbye, Good Luck, So Long," "Open Up Your Heart," and a trio of instrumentals: "Fiddle Polka," "Steel Guitar Polka," and "Tokyo Polka." The Buckaroos also take on Cajun music with Bob Morris' "Fishin' on the Mississippi," with Owens' partner, Don Rich, taking the lead vocal.

As on the Carnegie disc, Owens and Rich sing harmonies with a magnetism that is supernatural. As polished as their duets are on disc, sung live makes daring is all the more evident. Accompanied by ringing telecasters (both Owens and Rich show off their ability to play stinging leads), Tom Brumley's twanging steel, and the solid bottom end of Wayne Wilson and Willie Cantu, these tracks are at once letter-perfect, yet swinging and free. The Buckaroos had a musical chemistry that few bands could ever match, and "In Japan!" captures the band's essence in all its glory.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest communication over the Pacific, August 7, 2008

By 

detakoizu "dekuzu" (Naha, Japan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Japan (Audio CD)

Since the Beatles came to Japan, there is only a frantic craze in most of rock concerts. Meanwhile, classic music is still welcomed in a formal manner. I feel the fresh air when I hear this album. The Japanese MC introduced Buck and the Buckaroos in both of languages. Buck talked to the audience friendly and honestly and said "I love you" in Japanese. The Buckaroos played so well that the audience sent back a natural feeling. Today's lives in Japan are well prepared and formed, however, this kind of communication is rarely found in them. The ambassador of country music did great works in several countries. Obscure as country music is in Japan, this good feeling should be shared with more and more folks.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Domo Arigato!, February 1, 2008

By 

Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In Japan (Audio CD)

This was the second live album by Buck Owens, released just two albums after his first live album. It was recorded in Tokyo on February 6, 1967. The first live album featured several medleys of his songs; this album features no medleys, just complete songs. About half of the tunes here are new ones that Buck hadn't recorded before. Buck is the star here, of course, but each of the Buckaroos gets a solo spotlight, either singing a song or playing an instrumental. The instrumentals go over big with the Japanese crowd, by the way. This is a really entertaining concert that will appeal to Buck Owens fans.