Bonnie Owens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bonnie Owens (October 1, 1929 – April 24, 2006) was an American Country music singer.
Contents |
[edit] Road to Stardom
Born Bonnie Campbell in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Bonnie Owens was a country music singer who was married to Buck Owens and later Merle Haggard. Mainly most people know Owens for these two previous reasons but in the 50s and the 60s Bonnie Owens was a singer/songwriter in her own right. She met Buck Owens when she was only fifteen. They played in a band in Mesa, Arizona and then later were married in 1951 and moved to Bakersfield, California. They eventually divorced but moving to Bakersfield jumpstarted both their careers in music.
[edit] Fame
Bonnie Owens' first recording was a duet with Fuzzy Owen called "A Dear John Letter" and was on Mar-Vel Records #MV-102 and dates about 1950. Side B contained a song titled “Wonderful World”. Bonnie and Fuzzy’s “A Dear John Letter” was not a remake of the 1953 Jean Shepard/Ferlin Husky version as some believe, as theirs predated Shepard/Husky by 3 years.
Bonnie Owens recorded on numerous labels during the 1950’s and early 1960’s including Merle Haggard’s and Fuzzy Owens own Tally label, all of which were singles. Her first album titled “Don’t Take Advantage Of Me” came in 1965 on Capitol Records # ST-2403.
Bonnie was named “Female Vocalist Of The Year” in 1965 by the Academy Of Country Music and Bonnie and Merle Haggard were married that same year. From that point on Bonnie dedicated her time to Merle’s children and his career, touring with Merle’s band “The Strangers” as a backup vocalist.
Little known to many is the fact that during the early stages of Bonnie and Merle’s careers together, Bonnie was the headliner, and Merle, the up and coming (and underlining) new star.
Bonnie and Merle divorced in 1978, and after a brief hiatus, Bonnie continued touring with Merle.
Bonnie had hits on the Country charts in the early 1960’s with songs like, "Why Don't Daddy Live Here Anymore?" and "Don't Take Advantage Of Me". In 1965 Merle Haggard and Owens recorded the song called "Just Between the Two of Us", a duet hit and probably Bonnie's best known hit. It was also the title song to their 1966 duet album on Capitol Records #ST-2453.
In 2006, Owens died in a hospice, not even a month after her first husband Buck Owens died. She was 76 years old.
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Don't Take Advantage of Me | |
| 1966 | Just Between the Two of Us | with Merle Haggard |
| 1967 | All of Me Belongs to You | |
| 1968 | Somewhere Between | |
| 1969 | Hi-Fi to Cry By | |
| 1969 | Lead Me On | |
| 1970 | Mother's Favorite Hymns | |
| 1999 | The Best of Bonnie Owens |
