“Made in Japan”
Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
Written by Bob Morris and Faye Morris
Billboard
#1 (1 week)
July 15, 1972
“He was like a brother, a son, and a best friend. Something I never said before, maybe I couldn’t, but I think my music life ended when he died. Oh yeah, I carried on and I existed, but the real joy and love, the real lightning and thunder is gone forever.” – Buck Owens on Don Rich.
“Made in Japan” was something of a comeback record for Buck Owens, and by the time it reached No. 1, Don Rich was the only original Buckaroo still recording with Owens. Rich had just finished in the studio with Owens when he died on the way home, his motorcycle crashing into the median of a highway.
His death would’ve been a tragedy at any time, but it coming as Owens had re-established himself as a creative force to be reckoned with changed the course of country music history. But they didn’t know that at the time, of course, and “Made in Japan” just sounds like the innovative California country record that it is.
I especially like the subtlety of the approach, using just a hint of Eastern instrumentation to elevate a simple country record. Owens sounds suitably heartsick, and given how easy it would’ve been to make this story an overseas one night stand, I appreciate how he played against expectations here. It’s the woman who is already committed to another man, and Owens is the one who gets his heart broken.
Buck earned four additional top ten hits through the end of 1974, but a few scant years later, he was effectively retired from being a recording artist. He left Capitol in 1975 and recorded a pair of albums for Warner Bros. right after. Beyond 1977, Owens primarily resurfaced on duets, starting with an Emmylou Harris collaboration in 1979 and culminating in another comeback as he returned to No. 1 with Dwight Yoakam in 1988.
“Made in Japan” gets an A.
Every No. 1 Single of the Seventies
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I found this song through the Kentucky Headhunters’ cover on their “Big Boss Man” album in 2006.
I think it’s an extremely tasteful use of Japanese imagery (and the pentatonic scale!) to color an evergreen country song setup. Sometimes depictions of other countries in media don’t age well, but this one holds up extremely well.
…”I’m trying to operate on an assumption of good intent here, but I’m struggling to read this in a way that isn’t the kind of racist Asian joke…” (jonathan keefe, album review roundup: vol. 1, no. 23 comments). like in soccer, sometimes the gods like to play with us a little.
sometimes you guys see a forest, where there’s there’s hardly a shrub. and then you don’t see the forest even when being poked with a seqouia. like when toby keith’ “courtesey of the red, white and blue” was the topic here a day or so after the u.s. bombings of iranian nuclear sites recently. not that i feel this wasn’t a viable strategic option nor that kevin’s points of view – as a new yorker and american – on the song weren’t relateable, but for me, perhaps more than anything, this song (which i always liked for capturing an extraordinary historical moment/mood) raised the question, whether it always might have been more of a somewhat accidentally disturbingly frank description of one of america’s most striking characteristics (the boot part) too – rather than just the jingoistic outburst that many – for their peace of (american) mind – prefer to see it as.
Great lyrics, production, and vocal. A solid “A”. I see nothing racist at all here. The complete opposite as he is discovering nothing but beauty from the Girl From Japan. There isn’t ONE single person who understands ALL cultures as we sometimes pretend we do. This song is a guy who is discovering and that is such a good thing.
Never heard this one before but it was a refreshing discovery, both the song itself and that Buck Owens had a leftover #1 hit in the 70s. The melody and arrangement was satisfying and unique and the lyrics were wistful in the most endearing way. As a guy immersed in a long distance relationship with a fiancee from abroad, I connect with Buck’s longing here.
Grade: A
Billboard had slowed down on Buck Owens during the late 1960s; however, Buck continued to have #1 hits on both Cash Box and Record World with five late 60s songs reaching #1 on Record World (including “Big In Vegas”) and “Ruby (Are You Mad)” and “Rolling In My Sweet Baby’s Arms” reaching #1 on both Cash Box and Record World in 1971″. Since the radio stations I listened to seemed to use Cash Box or Record World for their Sunday Chart Countdowns, as far as I knew “Made In Japan” was Bucks 28th #1 record.
Unfortunately, this would indeed prove to be Buck’s last solo #1 regardless of which chart you reference. While Don would still be around a few more years the magic seemed to disappear from Buck’s “sure hit songwriter pen” and subsequent material showed a distinct decline in quality.
I thoroughly agree with Kevin’s assessment of this song