It took people like us to make people like him.

Buck Owens, who passed away Saturday, had a stretch of success between from 1963 to 1972 that was rivaled only by The Beatles - one that he will not be remembered for so much as his television career. Although TV fans owe a debt to Owens - while he had nothing to do with getting the Smothers Brothers off the air (they shot their own selves in the foot on that one), it was "Hee Haw" that replaced their show on CBS - he should be also fondly remembered for more so than the hayseed character he played on that show.

Country music owes a debt to Owens, one that only a few artists today are willing to acknowledge and repay. Yet from "Act Naturally" in 1963, Owens' first #1 hit, to 1972's "Made in Japan," his final #1 hit, Buck was consistently atop the charts with a sound that ushered in a new era in country music - one that appealed to fans of pop as well as country: Buck and the Buckaroos had the flash to go with the songs. His biggest hit was "Love's Gonna Live Here," a tune that, despite the fact it didn't even break 2 minutes, spent an astounding 16 weeks atop the charts.

He was hesitant to call himself a "country" artist, though, preferring to call his music "American music." To that end, Buck even had a #1 with 1969's "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass," on which Don Rich's fuzztone guitar gave it an almost-psychedelic feel. Buck's crossover appeal landed him gigs at the Fillmore in San Francisco at a time when there was a great divide between the anti-war, hippie movement and the part of America now known as the "red states" - his appeal was such that his name was dropped in one of CCR's biggest hits, "Lookin' Out My Back Door."

The gigs that he still played at his Crystal Palace on Friday and Saturday nights (simulcast on the Internet) were for the pure joy of playing music, not because he needed to make ends meet; Buck's business acumen during his heyday ensured that he would live the rest of his life in comfort.

Buck Owens will be missed.