Was The Fiddler On This Show
Don Rich was the leader of the Buckaroos, Buck Owens's Band.
Was He On Hee Haw's First Episode, and all the others until 1974.
when he died.
According to the book Life in the Kornfield by Sam Lovullo the Buckaroos were their "first house band" and they "accompanied all our musical guests". So I guess Don Rich was in the 1st episode. Mr. Lovullo goes on to say that "Don died in 1971 from injuries he sustained in a motorcycle accident".
shareI watched a couple of episodes last night on CMT, and Don Rich was there playing fiddle with Buck Owens and the Buckaroos and picking guitar backing up Lynn Anderson on "Rocky Top".
I don't know what year he died but I would imagine he was on the show until then. I remember the bio about Buck Ownes on TV years ago, and they claimed that Don Rich was like a brother to Buck, and Buck was devestated after he heard that Don had died.
IMO, they were one of the greatest duets of all time.
Thank you both for answering me.
shareHe Died in 1974.
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