Buie was born in Marianna, Florida, and raised in Dothan, Alabama.[2] He was at high school with Bobby Goldsboro and managed his band The Webbs. He introduced The Webbs to Roy Orbison in a show Buie organized and they became their backup band for two-and-a-half years.[3]
He was best known as a prolific songwriter, with 340 songs registered in the BMI catalog. His first success came in 1964 when Tommy Roe took "Party Girl", which Buie co-wrote with Billy Gilmore, into the BillboardHot 100. In 1967, he started working with the group Classics IV, writing with the group's guitarist, James Cobb, to add lyrics to Mike Sharpe's instrumental "Spooky".[4] Subsequent songs co-written with Cobb included Sandy Posey's "I Take It Back" and the Classics IV hits "Stormy", "Traces", "Every Day With You Girl" and "What Am I Crying For?"[5]
In 1978, Buie and marketing executive Arnie Geller founded the recording management company Buie/Geller Organization, and Polydor imprint BGO Records in Doraville, Georgia.[7]