Don Rich, a key architect of the Bakersfield sound and Buck Owens’ closest musical collaborator, is remembered 85 years after his birth in Olympia, Washington. As lead guitarist, fiddler, harmony singer and bandleader of the Buckaroos, Rich helped turn Owens into one of country music’s defining stars of the 1960s, showing the importance of the backing band in shaping a frontman’s sound and success.

A musical prodigy, Rich played fiddle from age three, opened for Elvis Presley at 16 and joined Owens in Bakersfield in 1960 after initially pursuing teacher training. He persuaded Owens to record the 1963 chart-topper “Act Naturally”, led the Buckaroos as they recorded eight bestselling albums in three years and won four consecutive Academy of Country Music Band of the Year awards; he died aged 32 in a 1974 motorcycle crash near Morro Bay, California.