The death of former country music star Buck Owens was announced a few minutes ago.

As far as I know, Buck Owens has no direct connection to Route 66, other than being born in Texas and raised in several other Mother Road states (Arizona, California). But he was such a dominant country artist in the 1960s and early ’70s that you know that thousands, if not millions, of travelers listened to him on their car radios during Route 66’s heyday. Just look at the hits: “Together Again,” “Tiger By the Tail,” “Love’s Gonna Live Here,” “Act Naturally,” “I Don’t Care (As Long As You Love Me),” “Only You (Can Break My Heart)” … there are many others, believe me. Great, great stuff.

All I know is that heaven has gained one heck of a honky-tonker. At least he’ll be reunited with his longtime Buckeroos guitarist and backup vocalist Don Rich, who died in a motorcycle crash in 1974. Owens’ interest in music slid drastically after that, and it took until nearly the 1990s before Dwight Yoakam coaxed him out of his shell.

Here’s Owens’ Web site.

The famous Brooks Catsup bottle water tower in Collinsville, Ill., will be on the Travel Channel’s “Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo” at starting Tuesday.

The Brooks Catsup bottle isn’t on Route 66; it’s about a mile and a half from the Mother Road. But it’s an inextricable part of Collinsville and is frequently featured in Route 66 guidebooks as a prime example of roadside kitsch. The bottle even has its own festival.
The “Catsup, Mustard, Relish” episode will air first at 7:30 p.m. CST Tuesday, then 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and 4:30 p.m. April 1.

Hat tip: To Mike Gassman, who’s the Catsup bottle’s biggest champion.

The Cibola County Beacon reports that Dennis Kinch, the man who’s walking west on Route 66 for the National Pain Foundation, discovered that his specially designed wheelbarrow and harness had been stolen as it sat outside his motel room in Grants, N.M.

A photo of Kinch with his old custom wheelbarrow is above.

A company found out about Kinch’s plight, gave him a new wheelbarrow and cash so Kinch could buy new supplies.

The newspaper said Kinch didn’t seem rattled or angry about his loss.

“We are given pain,� Kinch said, “but it’s up to us if we want to suffer.�

He said that, for him, there is grace to found even in pain. “When I resent, then all this negative stuff begins to happen. When I rejoice, the world’s happy.�