[6] By 1910 Buck was writing lyrics for composer Dave Stamper; his first hit was "Daddy has a Sweetheart, and Mother is her Name".

[10] In the August 1915 Frolic he gave Will Rogers a break, permitting him to introduce topical humour into his act despite Ziegfeld's misgivings.

[16] Buck was president of ASCAP from 1925 to 1942,[18] an era in which the growing popularity of radio was hitting songwriters' previously primary market for sheet music.

His tenure also coincided with several anti-trust investigations by the US government,[19] and the 1941 ASCAP boycott when radio stations demanded reduced performance royalties.

[21] In 1940, he served as Master of Ceremonies for the popular song portion of a "Carousel of American Music", a famous concert series held in San Francisco on September 24.

The concert had Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, WC Handy, Johnny Mercer - and many more of America's top songwriting talents performing their own compositions.

[23][24] Buck married actress Helen Falconer (d.1968[25]) in a Catholic ceremony in New York City on 2 October 1919.