Tall Dark Stranger found
Buck Owens returning to the Billboard's Country Album Top Ten after the hiccup of I've Got You on My Mind Again. The resurgence is due in part to the smash success of the fuzz-drenched non-LP single "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" which hit number one early in 1969, the same position the galloping title track of Tall Dark Stranger achieved later that year.
Owens' streak was revived commercially and, as an album, Tall Dark Stranger creatively bettered I've Got You on My Mind Again, too, even if it similarly expanded
the Buckaroos' signature Bakersfield sound in unexpected ways. Where I've Got You on My Mind Again was layered in vocal harmonies, there are strings draped throughout Tall Dark Stranger, sometimes adding sweetness but just as often lending a sense of drama to the proceedings. These lush strings, sometimes accompanied by horns, align Tall Dark Stranger with the progressive elements in mainstream country at the dawn of the 1970s, a move that suits
Owens quite well. He's a sharp songwriter and vocalist, while the
the Buckaroos remain a muscular, versatile band, so they sound good in these burnished surroundings. Tall Dark Stranger expands
the Buckaroos formula just enough to suggest that the 1970s would be as fruitful as the 1960s for
Owens and
the Buckaroos. Instead of opening a new chapter, though, this closed the door on
Owens' peak, a transition that's impossible to view outside of the prism of Hee Haw, as this was the last album he completed before starring in that variety show smash. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine