Oby Edgar "Buddy" Starcher (March 16, 1906 – November 2, 2001) was an American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

singer whose first record releases were in 1946, although he had been performing since his teens, often billed as "The Boy from Down Home". Born in

Ripley Ripley may refer to: People and characters * Ripley (name) * ''Ripley'', the test mannequin aboard the first International Space Station space station Dragon 2 space test flight Crew Dragon Demo-1 * Ellen Ripley, a fictional character from the Ali ...

, West Virginia, he starred on his own show on WCHS-TV from 1960 to 1966, and ran a record label named B.E.S. (for his initials) during this time. However, he is best known for his

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

recording entitled " History Repeats Itself", written with Minnie Pearl. Originally released on his own label in 1965, it was re-released on the larger and better distributed Boone Records in 1966. The track recounts uncanny similarities between the assassinations of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

and

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

, accompanied by a musical background featuring " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and " America the Beautiful". The re-released single hit No. 39 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

and the album of the same name from which it was drawn peaked at No. 37 on the US Country Albums chart. His wife, Mary Ann Starcher (née Estes), was also a musician and often appeared with him on his television show.Ivan Tribe, ''Mountaineer Jamboree: Country Music in West Virginia'', 1996,

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starcher, Buddy 1906 births 2001 deaths American country singer-songwriters Four Star Records artists Starday Records artists People from Randolph County, West Virginia 20th-century American singers People from Ripley, West Virginia Country musicians from West Virginia Singer-songwriters from West Virginia