Buck Owens – Foolin’ Around

About The Song

“Foolin’ Around” is one of the records that cemented Buck Owens as a rising force of the early 1960s Bakersfield Sound. Co-written by Owens and Harlan Howard, the song was released as a Capitol single in January 1961, following the success of “Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache).” Cut at Capitol Studios in Hollywood in late 1960, it runs just under two minutes and forty seconds but carries the punch of a full honky-tonk drama: sharp guitars, a driving shuffle and a lyric that sounds like a breakup speech delivered straight across a kitchen table.

Session reports and fan research place the recording on December 3, 1960, in a midday date at Capitol’s Hollywood studio with producer Ken Nelson supervising. Owens had been pushing Nelson to let him use a leaner, more hard-edged sound than the polished Nashville records dominating the charts, and “Foolin’ Around” captured exactly that. By the time Capitol issued the single, Owens’ self-titled debut LP was ready to go, and as “Foolin’ Around” bounded up the charts, the album arrived to showcase the sound of his West Coast band to a national audience.

On the country charts, the single was a major breakthrough. “Foolin’ Around” climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart in 1961 and held that position for multiple weeks, blocked from the top spot but clearly establishing Owens as more than a one- or two-hit wonder. It also slipped onto the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, where it reached No. 13, a sign that its sharp, twangy feel was beginning to catch the ear of pop listeners as well. Later discographies often point to its eight weeks parked just below No. 1 as proof of how dominant Buck was becoming on country radio in the early ’60s.

The story the song tells is brutally clear. The narrator has discovered that his partner has been seeing someone else “right from the start,” and he decides he has finally had enough. Instead of threats or pleading, he calmly announces that he is taking back his ring and his heart, and that she is now free to run with the people she has chosen. There is bitterness in the way he talks about being played for a fool, but there is also a stubborn dignity: he will walk away with his pride, even if it hurts, rather than stay in a love built on lies.

Musically, “Foolin’ Around” is pure early Bakersfield. Owens sings in his bright, urgent tenor, sitting slightly ahead of the beat as if he cannot wait to get the words out. The band locks into a shuffling groove, with clean electric guitar and pedal steel darting between vocal lines, and the snare drum snapping like a closing door. Ken Nelson’s production keeps everything dry and close-miked; there are no strings or choruses to soften the edges, only a small, tight band that sounds like it could be set up on the floor of any California roadhouse on a Saturday night.

The single’s success also helped showcase the partnership between Buck Owens and Harlan Howard, one of the most important writer–artist combinations in country music of that era. Together they would be responsible for a string of classics, including “Above and Beyond,” “Excuse Me (I Think I’ve Got a Heartache),” “Under the Influence of Love” and, a few years later, “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail.” When Owens cut the tribute LP Buck Owens Sings Harlan Howard in 1961, “Foolin’ Around” became closely associated with that project in reissues, underlining how central the song was to their shared catalogue.

Over time, “Foolin’ Around” has taken its place as a core Buck Owens track, appearing on greatest-hits sets, box collections and streaming anthologies of his Capitol years. Live videos from the 1960s show Buck and lead guitarist Don Rich tearing through it with effortless precision, the crowd clapping along while Owens spits out each line of wounded resolve. For fans of classic country, it remains one of the clearest examples of how the Bakersfield Sound could turn everyday heartbreak into something tough, catchy and impossible to forget – a man done wrong, finally drawing the line, with every snap of the snare drum backing him up.

Video

Lyric

I know that you’ve been foolin’ around on me right from the start
So I’ll take back my ring and I’ll take back my heart
And when you’re tired of foolin’ around with two or three
Come on home and fool around with me

I wasn’t foolin’ around the day I said I do
But many a night I wished that I had been a-foolin’ too
I know it’s foolish taking all this misery
But when it’s you, a fool I’ll always be

I know that you’ve been foolin’ around on me right from the start
So I’ll take back my ring and I’ll take back my heart
And when you’re tired of foolin’ around with two or three
Come on home and fool around with me

So honey fool around, you know right where I’m at
Don’t worry if I’m lonesome cause I’m used to that
And when you’re tired of foolin’ around with two or three
Then come on home and fool around with me

I know that you’ve been foolin’ around on me right from the start
So I’ll take back my ring and I’ll take back my heart
And when you’re tired of foolin’ around with two or three
Come on home and fool around with me