John Buck Wilkin: I Didn't Know You Died

Article published at: Nov 28, 2024 Article author: Sam Phillips
John Buck Wilkin: I Didn't Know You Died
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I've been looking for people to do interviews with for the magazine. We have some pretty cool ones lined up but, I wanted to bring attention to someone that isn't as well known. I decided John Buck Wilkin would be the way to go.

Wilkin put out two records. 1970's In Search of Food, Clothing, Shelter and Sex and 1971's Buck Wilkin. I found his personal Facebook page, and after not hearing back I starting looking up how to get in contact with him. It turns out he died last April. It made no news. His former Nashville roommate and friend died in September and we're still hearing about it. 

Wilkin met Kris Kristofferson when Kristofferson sent his demo's to Wilkins mother, a music publishing exec. Wilkin picked Kris up when her first got to town in 1965 and they lived together for a while. Through Kris, Wilkin met Dennis Hopper. He provided much of the soundtrack to Hopper's Easy Rider follow up, the art-house feature and studio nightmare The Last Movie (Trailer). Wilkin sums up the The Last Movie in a song that only exists in the documentary The American Dreamer (Watch), which loosely follows Hopper going crazy in Taos while editing the film. 

"Here's to Mr. Hopper, who's traded in his Chopper for a gamble in the South American Sun/Got some heads from Hollywood who think things might be pretty good, if they can figure out what Denny's done"

-Screaming Metaphysical Blues (Listen)

The Last Movie was Kris Kristofferson's first time on camera and John Buck Wilkin's last. Wilkin's presence plays a larger role in the film that Kristofferson's. His songs soundtrack major moments and provide the only real continuity of the whole experience. It's possible that if the studio, critics, and audiences hadn't hated The Last Movie, Hopper had to go work in Europe for almost a decade, John Buck Wilkin may be a household name. We'll never know. 

After his two records and his experiences with Hopper, Wilkin existed as a studio musician, working with Waylon Jennings, Kinky Friedman, and others. He wrote and released demos of his music himself until he died.

I came across his work, unsurprisingly, at the same time I really dove deep into what Hopper. How else do you end up watching The Last Movie? His two records and his soundtrack evoke emotions and memories in me I won't try to explain. Half the memories aren't mine anyway. 

After coming up together John buck Wilkin and Kris Kristofferson died months apart from each other. One was honored over and over and memorialized around the world. The other died in obscurity. I'm a fan and I'm just finding out, 9 months later. I feel as if the least I can do is tell some more people about him. 

Below are some links to his work. Of course, most of it can't be found on Spotify. But, please, give it a listen. If you like it half as much as me, you'll still love it. 

SONGS:

My God and I

Apocalypse 1969

Only When It Rains

Sun Moon and Stars

ALBUM:

In Search of Food, Shelter, Clothing and Sex

John Buck Wilkin in the glasses on the set of The Last Movie

Wilkin on stage in the early 2000's

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