Sings George Jones

Buck Owens was so hot in the 1960s that Capitol Records gave his backing band, the Buckaroos, their own contract. Between 1966 and 1971, they made a dozen (mostly) instrumental albums, with lead guitarist and sometime vocalist Don Rich up front. This album was recorded in about 1970, but somehow stayed in the vault until 2013. That’s too bad, because it’s killer. Rich’s guitar playing — on his trademark Fender Telecaster — is one of the most recognizable and thrilling elements of the Bakersfield sound, and the short but potent solos on these mostly uptempo, hard-driving honky-tonk songs will get your heart racing. Rich’s voice is nice and serviceable, if maybe a little too indebted to the boss’s style to truly stand out from the pack, but songs like “She Thinks I Still Care,” “White Lightning,” “The Race Is On,” and “Walk Through This World With Me” retain their power in his hands.