Trigger Reviews 2 Comments
The Bakersfield Sound (#510.6) on the Country DDS.
It’s only due to a few simple twists of fate that Bakersfield, California and nearby Los Angeles didn’t emerge in the ’60s as the new home of country music. It wasn’t just top names like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard who built their careers in the town. Bill Woods, Billy Mize, Bonnie Owens, Red Simpson, Rose Maddox, and many more made Bakersfield a power base for country music on the West Coast, and a mecca for country fans and hopefuls from all around the United States.
But over the decades unfortunately, the community of musicians and musical infrastructure in Bakersfield has slowly eroded to the point where it’s only a ghost and relic of its previous self. Many of the oldtimers, from the featured stars to the side players who backed them, they’ve passed on. Earlier this year, even Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace that acted as a shrine to The Bakersfield Sound announced its shuttering…