Donald Lee Owens was born in Chester, PA, on October 30th, 1932, and in his teens played all over eastern Pennsylvania with several local bands. By 1953 he was stationed at Luke Air Force Base just outside Phoenix, where he began singing on local television stations and playing the clubs at night. After his discharge in 1954, he joined Johnny Dakota and The Western Playboys, who held down the bandstand at The Silver Saddle Club. Singer and producer Jimmy Wakely caught the band while driving through town and asked them to come to LA and record with him. Owens and Dakota drove to LA two weeks later for the session. Two country-tinged Coral singles from the one long session were released with no response, only making Owens even more determined to record a hit.
On a Saturday morning in early July of 1958, Wheeler opened the front door of the new Viv studio to discover his singer outside, sleeping. Owens recalled, “It was a Saturday and Jimmie Gray brought me to the studio. We had been up all night partying and got there early so I took a nap on the bus bench in front of the studio. Buddy had gone over the song with me a couple of days earlier, but I really didn’t know what to expect when we were in the studio.” Casey suggested the triplet musical figure for Duane Eddy to play, giving “Need You” a more up-tempo feel. Don Rollins played piano and Bob Taylor was behind the drums. There were ten takes that morning before Wheeler was satisfied with the last try. Later that evening, when Wheeler returned after his job at the Mirador Ballroom, he listened to the session again and decided that the first take was the best after all.
Owens appeared on the Saturday night Dick Clark show. Two more Wheeler-penned releases followed. “Tomorrow” b/w “Out Of My Heart” (Guyden 2006), which Owens sang on the Dick Clark show. on January 14th 1959. His final Guyden record, “Between Midnight And Dawn” b/w “Ask Me Anything” (Guyden 2013), appeared in March, 1960.
Owens performed off and on until his untimely death on October 27th, 1994. During an altercation with a tenant, in a hotel he was managing at the time, his girl friend coming to his defense fired a warning shot that ricocheted and struck Owens. He died several hours later in a Phoenix hospital. He was buried with full military honors the following week at the National Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix.
