| Don Rich | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Donald Eugene Ulrich |
| Born | August 15, 1941 Olympia, Washington, US |
| Died | July 17, 1974 (aged 32) California |
| Genres | Country |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, Fiddle, Vocals |
| Years active | 1959–1974 |
| Associated acts | Buck Owens, Doyle Holly |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul | |
Donald Eugene Ulrich, best known by the stage name Don Rich (August 15, 1941 - July 17, 1974) was a country musician who helped develop the Bakersfield sound in the early 1960s. He was a noted guitarist and fiddler, and a member of the Buckaroos, the backing band of country singer Buck Owens.
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Donald Eugene Ulrich was born in Olympia, Washington on August 15, 1941. He was the adopted son of Bill and Anne Ulrich. Don grew up in the Tumwater area at 6th and Ferry on Tumwater Hill. Bill and Anne both enjoyed performing music and soon began teaching young Don the fiddle, even as early as age three. Bill also constructed a smaller-than-average violin for Don to play. His parents were quite active in finding talent contests and performing venues where Don could play. Don also moved to the guitar in his youth.
Don played both in and out of school, often working the circuit in the local area playing his new Fender Stratocaster. Don was only 16 years old when he opened for Elvis Presley in September 1957 at the Tacoma Lincoln Bowl. While in high school he formed an early Rock and Roll band called the Blue Comets with his friends drummer Greg Hawkins and pianist Steve Anderson. By 1958 Don was playing regularly in Steve's Restaurant in South Tacoma. Buck Owens observed one of his shows and immediately went to speak with Don. Don was soon playing fiddle with Buck at local venues. They were featured on the weekly BAR-K Jamboree on KTNT-TV 13. Soon after, Buck's "Under Your Spell Again" made it to #24 on the charts and Capitol Records wanted Buck to return to Bakersfield, California.
Buck tried to convince Don (who was fresh out of high school) to come with him to Bakersfield, but to no avail. Don opted to go to Centralia College so that he could become a music teacher while tutoring and playing local venues. While at one of those gigs during college, Don met Marlane Schindler who was also a student at Centralia.
After a year of college, Don decided to drop out and join Buck in Bakersfield. Don signed on with Buck for $75 a week in December 1960. Not long after, Don returned to Washington to marry Marlane, who would work with the pair on their music, keeping Buck and his band performing. Don and Marlane would have two children, Vic and Vance Ulrich.
Now Don was now settled in and ready to start with Buck. The first single he played on was "Excuse Me (I Think I've Got A Heartache)" which peaked at #2. When Buck and Don weren't recording, they would throw Buck's Telecaster and Bassman Amp and Don's fiddle into the back of Buck's old Ford pickup and hop from bar to bar, dance hall to dance hall, while playing with whatever house band they could find.
Buck and Don continued recording singles back in Bakersfield. In 1961 "Foolin' Around" spent eight weeks on the #2 slot. In 1962, change came to Buck and Don. Up until that point Buck had stuck to the Texas Shuffle style, with Don playing the role of the lonesome fiddler. That sound would change with Buck's single, "You're For Me", a song he'd written several years prior. The shuffle on the snare drum moved to a tightly closed high-hat. The off-beat was accented by an aggressive half-rimshot half-click on the snare drum. The bass went from upright to electric. Buck dubbed it the "freight train" sound, and it is now often referred to as the "Bakersfield Sound".
In 1963, Buck decided to create a backing band for the sake of convenience when recording and touring, including drums, bass, and pedal steel. Don, naturally, was chosen as the band leader. Buck's old Ford gave way to a Chevrolet camper. During the early years of the band, members came and went quickly. Former members include Ken Presley (who died in a car accident while a member), Jay McDonald, Mel King, Wayne Stone, and Merle Haggard. Before leaving, the latter christened the band "The Buckaroos" and the name stuck.
In early 1963, the Johnny Russell song "Act Naturally" was pitched to Buck. Buck initially didn't like it, but Don enjoyed it a lot. It eventually grew on Buck and he recorded it with the Buckaroos on February 12, 1963. It was released on March 11 and entered the charts of April 13. By June 15 the single began its first of four non-consecutive weeks at the #1 position. It was Buck's first #1 hit.
"Act Naturally" also marked Don's first appearance on lead guitar. Over the years Buck had taught Don his guitar style and by 1963 Don was ready to put down the fiddle and pick up Buck's Telecaster. Buck was more than happy to oblige, as this allowed him to concentrate on singing and being the frontman.
Buck and Don followed up with another freight train rhythm song, "Love's Gonna Live Here". It spent eight weeks at #1.
During the summer of 1963, Buckaroo's bassist Kenny Pierce walked out on the band during a tour. Don called in a bass-playing acquaintance named Doyle Holly. Shortly thereafter, Steel player Jay McDonald quit and was replaced by Tom Brumley.
Buck, Don, and the boys soon recorded two songs to release as a single in late January 1964. One was a fast song entitled "My Heart Skips a Beat". The other was a slow ballad about a returning love called "Together Again". Don played an excellent ride on "My Heart Skips a Beat" and Tom played what has been called one of the greatest steel guitar solos ever on "Together Again". Both songs shot up to #1 simultaneously and switched spots multiple times.
Don and Doyle soon hired a young man from Texas named Willie Cantu to play drums for the Buckaroos in January 1964. In July of that year, the new band recorded "I Don't Care (Just As Long As You Love Me)". This too went to #1 and brought forth another twangy guitar solo from Don's bag of tricks.
In 1965, the hits just kept coming. There was "Tiger by The Tail", "Before You Go" (which Don co-wrote), "Only You (Can Break My Heart)" and "Buckaroo" which was the only instrumental ever to go #1 on the country charts.
Also around that time, Fender took notice of the Buckaroo's popularity. They had given Buck a golden sparkle Telecaster prior, but this time they outfitted the whole band. Buck received a Fender Acoustic, Don a Champagne Sparkle Fender Telecaster, and Doyle a Champagne Sparkle Jazz Bass. On top of that, Willie received a sparkle Drum Kit from Rodgers and Tom got a 11-string pedal steel from ZB guitars (This allowed Tom to play Don's licks during the choruses of songs, leaving Don free to harmonize with Buck).
On January 3, 1966, "Waitin' in Your Welfare Line" was released which went to #1. On March 15, Buck and his Buckaroos began filming a half hour television show entitled "The Buck Owens Ranch Show" (the show was filmed and distributed for several years, being canceled because it came into conflict with Buck's other project, Hee Haw).
Ten days later the group would travel to New York City to play Carnegie Hall. The show was recorded live and is considered by many to be one of the finest live country music records of all time. Buck would later say that the band was so tight that they didn't have to go back in post-production and fix any mistakes, as there were none to be found.
Buck and Don continued recording, scoring #1 hits in 1966 with "Think of Me" (which was penned by Don), "Open Up Your Heart" and "Where Does The Good Times Go?". In late 1966 Doyle Holly left for a nine month period and his vacant spot was filled by Wayne Wilson. That didn't slow Buck and Don down, scoring two #1 hits in 1967 ("Sam's Place" and "Your Tender Loving Care") and recording another live album, this time in Japan, which also went on to great success.
During 1968, Buck and Don decided to start experimenting outside of the freight train sound, but the success continued. "How Long Will My Baby Be Gone?" hit #1 and the group recorded another live record at The White House. That LP would not be released until 1972. Buck also signed onto Hee Haw in 1968, and Don was appointed as the musical director.
In 1969, Buck and Don hit #1 with both "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass?" and "Tall Dark Stranger". Don added a new experimental fuzztone guitar part to the former. Hee Haw aired on CBS from 1969 through 1971 and afterward promptly went into syndication in 1971 and remained a weekly series through the summer of 1992. The Buckaroos served as the house band, and Buck was suddenly getting national exposure on a weekly basis. Another live record was also recorded in 1969, "In London".
Buck and the Buckaroos continued playing, recording, and filming Hee Haw episodes. The Buckaroos continued changing and morphing, until Don was the only original member. Buck and Don together would reach #1 one last time with "Made in Japan" which was released in 1972. Buck started to turn his music back towards the style he had in the earlier years, but the short success of this turnaround would be cut short in an instant on July 17, 1974.
On July 17, 1974, after finishing work at Owens' Bakersfield studio, Rich was killed in a motorcycle accident.[1] He had been en route to join his family for vacation on the central coast of California. For unknown reasons, his motorcycle hit a center divider on northbound Highway 1 at Yerba Buena Road in Morro Bay. He was pronounced dead at 10:37 that evening. California Highway Patrol officials stated that there were no skid marks and no apparent mechanical problems. Reports indicated that Owens had pleaded with Rich not to take his motorcycle that day and had been pleading with him for years to quit riding.
Owens was devastated by the news, and for years did not talk about Rich's death. In a late 1990s interview, Owens said, "He was like a brother, a son, and a best friend. Something I never said before, maybe I couldn't, but I think my music life ended when he died. Oh yeah, I carried on and I existed, but the real joy and love, the real lightning and thunder is gone forever."[2]
Don Rich used primarily Fender guitars and amps. In the early days, Don would play Buck's ’51 Telecaster through a Bassman amplifier. In 1964, Fender gave Buck Owens an endorsement deal and the band gained instruments. Don received a Telecaster that had both its body and headstock finished in champagne metal flake in addition to having checkerboard binding on both sides of the guitar's body. The band received Fender amplifiers as well, so Don played through a Twin Reverb amplifier.
Buck and Don received new guitars in 1966, a pair of Silver Flake Telecasters that were double bound in plain black. Also around 1966, Buck had Bakersfield guitar repairman/technician Gene Moles finish another set of guitars in Red White and Blue. Fender would also give Don a Gold Sparkle Tele in the late 60's that was bound in plain black. It had no finish on the headstock.
Fender's deal with most of their artists was that they would exchange their instruments for new ones every 7 years or so. Buck refused to return the instruments given to them by Fender, so Fender stopped giving them instruments. Gibson picked up on this and in the early 70's they struck up a deal with Buck. Don received an ES-335 as well as a Les Paul Professional model.
Buck and Don would later go back to playing their Red, White and Blue Telecasters.
| Year | Album | US Country | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | We're Real Good Friends (with Buddy Alan) | 36 | Capitol |
| 2000 | Country Pickin': The Don Rich Anthology | Sundazed |
| Year | Single | US Country | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | "Cowboy Convention" (with Buddy Alan) | 19 | We're Real Good Friends |
| 1971 | "I'm on the Road to Memphis" (with Buddy Alan) | 54 |