Hee Haw

Buck Owens was born Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. in Sherman, Texas to Alvis and Maicie Owens on Aug. 12, 1929. Regretfully, Buck passed away on Mar. 25, 2006.

Buck got his nickname from a mule on the family's farm. When he was around 3 or 4 years old he came into the house and told everyone that his name was Buck too. From then on the nickname stuck.

During the late 1940s Buck Owens worked as a truck driver. He has said that while driving his truck he happened to go through Bakersfield, California and he was so impressed by it that he and his wife decided to move there in 1950.

Bucks music career really took off in 1959 when his Second Fiddle made it to number 24 on Billboard's Country Music Chart. Soon after that he had two more songs that made it to the top 5. Under Your Spell Again at number 4 and Above and Beyond at number 3.

In 1963 Buck Owens and the Buckaroos made it to number 1 on the charts with Act Naturally

By the time Buck started co-hosting Hee Haw with Roy Clark in 1969 he was already well established and well loved in the world of country music.

The Official Buck Owens Website

Roy's full name is Roy Linwood Clark and he was born in Meherrin, Virginia on Apr. 15, 1933. Roy began playing guitar, banjo and the mandolin when he was 14 years old. By the time he was 17 he had won two national banjo championship cometitions.

In 1955 Roy was a regular cast member on the Jimmy Dean show, but he was fired for being late all the time. In 1960 Roy went out to Las Vegas and played guitar for Hank Penny.

Roy's first time before a national audience was when he appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in Jimmy Dean's place. Roy went on to make appearances in The Beverly Hillbillies. By 1963 Roy had 3 top hit records.

In 1969 Roy joined Buck Owens to host Hee Haw

The Official Roy Clark Website

Grandpa Jones real name was Louis Marshall Jones. He was born Oct. 20, 1913 in Niagara, Kentucky. As a teenager he spent quite a bit of time in Akron, Ohio singing country songs for a small radio station. In 1935 Jones went to WBZ, an AM station based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was a WBZ where he first got the nickname Grandpa. Bradley Kincaid, a songwriter and musician remarked that Jones was grumpy as a grandpa and the name stuck.

Grandpa Jones played music and performed songs on Hee Haw, but what he is probably most remembered for is the Hey Grandpa, what's for supper? sketch. Various cast members would call out with the question Hey Grandpa, what's for supper? Grandpa Jones would be looking out a window, pretending to clean the glass and he would list off what was going to be supper. Sometimes it was something delicious to which the cast would reply with a Yum, yum!, but other times it would be something that sounded awful to which the cast would reply Yuck!

As an interesting note Grandpa Jones sometimes poked his fingers through the imaginary glass window he was cleaning as a gag.

Junior Samples was, in real life, Alvin Samples, Jr. Junior was born on April 10, 1926 in Cumming, Georgia. He worked as a farmer, at a sawmill, a carpenter and driving stock cars.

Sometime in his late thirties Junior told a tall tale about a big fish he had caught. His story was recorded by an investigator for the Game Commission and later played on the radio. The producers of Hee Haw were so impressed with his humorous story and delivery that they invited him to join the cast. Junior appeared on the Hee Haw show for 14 years in a row until his death on November 13, 1983, he was 57.

Junior Samples did a sketch about a used car lot called Samples Sales. In each segment he would try to sell an old clunker that was about ready to fall apart. Junior bragged about how good the cars were and how low his prices were. Junior held up a hand written sign with the phone number BR-549 telling viewers to call in so they can buy this nice car.

Minnie Pearl was, in real life, Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon. Sarah was born on Oct. 25, 1912 in Centerville, Tennessee. She died in 1996, she was 83 years old.

Sarah was known by the nickname Minnie Pearl long before she joined the cast of Hee Haw. The first time she performed using the name Minnie Pearl was in 1939, 30 years before the Hee Haw show was created!

Minnie Pearl was known for introducing herself with "Howdeeeeee! I'm jest so proud to be here!" in as loud a voice as she could muster and for her practice of wearing a hat with a $1.98 price tag still hanging from it.

On Hee Haw Minnie Pearl often joked abouth her hometown of Grinder's Switch and her dimwitted brother and Uncle Nabob.

Archie Campbell was born on Nov. 7, 1914 and died at the age of 72 on Aug. 10, 1987.

After graduating from college Archie started working with Roy Acuff for WNOX radio from Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1941 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in WW II. After his discharge from the military Archie helped create the Country Playhouse for Knoxville, Tennessee's WROL TV. The Country Playhouse ran from 1952 until 1958. After the Country Playhouse was cancelled Archie became a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Archie joined the cast of Hee Haw during its first season in 1969 as one of the main writers as well as acting in various sketches. His most well known character was the Barber, who was always getting his words mixed up. Archie also created the sketch "Where Oh Where Are You Tonight?"

Archie Campbell was also an accomplished singer who had several hit songs during the 1960s as well as some comedy albums he recorded in the 1970s.

Hee haw was the ultimate variety show for country music fans as their were always some great guest stars like Johnny Cash, Merle haggard, Loretta Lynn, Conway Twitty, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Tammy Wynette, George Jones and many more. Even Eddie Van Halen and Sammy Davis Jr. appeared on the show!

Today Hee Haw is the ultimate "way back machine" for country music fans to take a blast to the past and enjoy the great country legends in their heyday along with lots of laughs.

Gloom, Despair and Agony On Me

This was a regular skit on the show where 4 people, usually men, would be sitting around surrounded by jugs of moonshine, a hound dog and dressed as "hillbillies" and looking very depressed and miserable. Later the skit was even performed by an all woman quartet who lip synched the mens voices and then sometime after that the women got to sing their own version of the song which went:

Gloom, despair and agony on me-e!
Deep dark depression, excessive misery-y!
If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all!
Gloom, despair and agony on me-e-e!

John Aylesworth (August 16, 1929 - July 28, 2010), television writer and producer, and co-creator of the comedy-variety show "Hee Haw" has died aged 81.

According to his wife, Anita Rufus, he died Wednesday at Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage because of complications of pneumonia.

Born in Canada, Aylesworth broke into television in 1953 and moved to the US in 1958 to write the music show "Your Hit Parade".

Aylesworth and his Canadian writing partner Frank Peppiatt teamed up in 1959 to write "The Andy Williams Show". They also wrote for " Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall," "Hullabaloo," "The Judy Garland Show," the 1965 special " Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music," "The ABC Comedy Hour" and numerous other shows.

However, their biggest success was found with the creation of "Hew Haw". The show hosted by Buck Owens and Roy Clark, featured the top country singers of the day and was famous for its distinctly cornball humor.