About The Song
“Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” is both a Buck Owens single and the title track of his 1973 Capitol album. The song was co-written by Owens and Glen Garrison, and issued as a 7-inch 45 on Capitol with catalogue number 3563, credited to Buck Owens & His Buckaroos. Chart summaries place its U.S. country release in early 1973, tied directly to the album of the same name.
The song actually has an earlier studio history. American Songwriter notes that Owens first cut “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” on January 28, 1964 at Capitol’s Hollywood studios, during the same legendary session that produced “My Heart Skips a Beat” and “Together Again.” At the time Capitol chose to focus on those two sides, leaving “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” in the vault. Owens revisited and re-recorded the song in the early 1970s; this later version became the title track of the 1973 album and the one issued as a single.
The album Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie was released on March 14, 1973, coming just a short time after Owens’ previous studio set In the Palm of Your Hand. Discography and label sources describe it as a ten-track LP of around 23–24 minutes, cut with the Buckaroos and produced in the familiar Bakersfield style. It includes “Long Hot Summer,” “She’s Had All the Dreamin’ She Can Stand,” “Your Monkey Won’t Be Home Tonight,” and the first released version of Homer Joy’s “Streets of Bakersfield,” which would later be re-cut as a 1988 No. 1 duet with Dwight Yoakam.
Lyrically, “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” is a straightforward love song built around gratitude and amazement. The narrator addresses Gracie directly, marvelling at how much he loves her after travelling “all over this world” and never finding another girl who could thrill him the same way. Lines in lyric and chord sheets describe him proudly ringing out her name and promising that, no matter where he goes, his thoughts return to her. The text avoids specific narrative episodes, focusing instead on the repeated idea that their bond still surprises him with its strength.
Musically, the track fits neatly into Owens’ early-’70s Bakersfield output. The recording runs just over two minutes and features his typical tight rhythm section, bright electric guitars, pedal steel and Buckaroos harmony vocals. Reissue notes describe the album as honky-tonk-rooted but streamlined, with Owens’ voice pushed up front and arrangements kept lean compared to heavily orchestrated Nashville productions of the same era. Within that context, “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” functions as an accessible mid-tempo piece: melodic, radio-friendly and clearly shaped for country singles playlists of the period.
On the charts, the single gave Owens another solid showing. Billboard-based discographies and label retrospectives agree that “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” reached No. 14 on the U.S. country singles chart in 1973, while the album climbed to No. 17 on the country albums chart, continuing his run of Top 20 LPs. Although it did not cross to the pop Hot 100, the track has remained in circulation through reissues: Omnivore’s CD and digital editions restore the original sequence, and modern write-ups often highlight the title song alongside “Streets of Bakersfield” as key reasons the 1973 album still attracts interest.
Over time, “Ain’t It Amazing, Gracie” has come to represent the more relaxed, affectionate side of Buck Owens’ 1970s work. It appears on complete Capitol-era overviews and on playlists that dig deeper than the 1960s No. 1 hits, illustrating how he could take a song first tracked during his mid-’60s peak, reshape it a decade later and still find an audience for it as both a single and an album centerpiece.
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Lyric
I’ve been all over the world but no other girl ever thrilled me the way that you do
Ain’t it amazing how I love you
Well I left my Gracie and I cought a big train searching for wealth and fame
But every clickety-clack of the railroad track seemed to bring out my Gracie’s name
Well ain’t it amazing Gracie how much that I love you
I’ve been all over the world but no other girl ever thrilled me the way that you do
Ain’t it amazing how I love you
Well she’s not the prettiest girl in the world I know she’s not the smartest one too
But she’s always there and I know she cares and I know her little heart is true
Well ain’t it amazing Gracie…
I met a lot of pretty girls wherever I’d go none could ever take her place
`Cause everytime I’d look into their eyes I keep a seein’ my Gracie’s face
Well ain’t it amazing Gracie…