I've Got a Tiger By the Tail

The album was released in 1965 and reached number one on the Billboard country albums chart and number 43 on the pop albums chart. It was Billboard's first number one country album of the year. It is an example of the Bakersfield sound, built around the sound of Don Rich playing a Telecaster, and the core band was Owens, Rich, bassist Doyle Holly, steel guitarist Tom Brumley and drummer Willie Cantu. Ken Nelson of Capitol is credited as producer, though the Hall of Fame says he only nominally produced Owens, who shaped the band's sound and songs himself.

Side one opens with the title song, written with Harlan Howard, and includes Wham Bam, a song written by Owens, Bonnie Owens and Rich with a lead vocal by Rich. Side two carries Cryin' Time, the Owens song that Ray Charles later made a hit, and covers of Chuck Berry's Memphis and Bob Wills's A Maiden's Prayer. Doyle Holly sings lead on Streets of Laredo. Sundazed reissued it on CD in 1995 with two bonus tracks recorded live at the Bakersfield Civic Auditorium in October 1963, This Ol' Heart and Act Naturally.

AllMusic's Cub Koda called it Owens's Bakersfield honky tonk sound at the height of its freight-train rumbling powers.