| "Act Naturally" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos | ||||
| B-side | "Over and Over Again" | |||
| Released | March 11, 1963 | |||
| Recorded | February 12, 1963 | |||
| Studio | Capitol, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:19 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Johnny Russell, Lavonia Inez Morrison (“Voni Morrison”) | |||
| Producer(s) | Ken Nelson | |||
| Buck Owens and the Buckaroos singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Act Naturally" is a song written by Johnny Russell, with a writing credit given to Voni Morrison and publishing rights transferred to Buck Owens. It was originally recorded by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, whose version reached number one on the Billboard Country Singles chart in 1963,[1] his first chart-topper.[2] In 2002, Shelly Fabian of About.com ranked the song number 169 on her list of the Top 500 Country Music Songs.[3]
The song tells the tale of someone who has been jilted and, because of that, can play a film part of someone sad and lonely without knowing anything about acting. It has been recorded by many other artists, including Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakam, Kidsongs (Debbie Lytton), and Mrs. Miller.[4] The best-known other version is by the Beatles in 1965. Featuring Ringo Starr taking the lead vocal, it became a featured performance number of his in concert, both with the Beatles and later with His All-Starr Band. Owens and Starr went on to record a duet version in 1989. The song was also covered by Betty Willis in 1978, and by Riders in the Sky in 2000 for the album Woody's Roundup: A Rootin' Tootin' Collection of Woody's Favorite Songs.
- ^ "Buck Owens: Charts & Awards: Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
- ^ "Buck Owens: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
- ^ Fabian, Shelly (2002). "Top 500 Country Music Songs". About.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
- ^ ""Act Naturally" Performers". Allmusic. Retrieved January 1, 2011.[permanent dead link]