In December of 1964 a song was released that had an unmistakable sound and singer.  And in mere weeks, the entire country was singing along.

'I've Got A Tiger By The Tail' was the 6th #1 chart topping hit for Buck Owens and the Buckaroo's and helped Buck pretty much own the peak position of the Country Music chart for the decade of the 1960's.

In his liner notes to 'The Buck Owens Collection: 1959-1990', Buck says that he and Harlan Howard were having some difficulty writing songs when Buck saw an Esso gas station sign urging people to 'put a tiger in your tank'....and an idea was born!

The song went to #1 in February of 1965, and in fact was also a Top 40 Pop/Rock hit as well.  In fact the song replaced a Hall of Famer, Sonny James with 'You're The Only World I Know' at the top, and then was itself replaced at #1 by another Hall of Famer, Roger Miller with his iconic 'King of the Road'.

No, 'I've Got A Tiger By The Tail' wasn't Buck's biggest hit ever (he had several songs stay at #1 from 6 to 16 weeks!), but it definitely is one of his signature songs...and one of the greatest classics in country music history!

 

 

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