A country artist who was more appreciated by the punk audience than by
Nashville, Ohio-raised but Los Angeles-based signer Dwight Yoakam is a
disciple of the honky-tonk school of such irregulars as Buck Owens and Merle
Haggard but came to symbolize the neo-traditionalist school of country music.
Yoakam's simple, unadorned, plain revisitation of the tradition on the
EP A Town South of Bakersfield (Oak, 1984)
and the album
Guitars Cadillacs Etc Etc (Reprise, 1986), that contains
Johnny Horton's Honky Tonk Man and especially Guitars Cadillacs,
was as exciting as someone singing Bob Dylan's acoustic songs 30 years later,
but somehow that style and that "twang" represented the mood of the times
as effectively as punk-rock was doing.
The album codified his three-pronged artistic persona:
the travelling hobo, the desolate loser and the stubborn optimist.
Hillbilly Deluxe (Reprise, 1987) turned him into a star, thanks to
Little Sister,
Little Ways (perhaps the standout),
Please Please Baby, and Always Late with Your Kisses.
A different mood emerged from
Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room (Reprise, 1988), a darker set that
emphasizes the psychological nuances of his delivery (songs such as
Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room and
I Got You)
and gave him two country hits:
Homer Joy' Streets of Bakersfield, a duet with Buck Owens, and especially I Sang Dixie, one of his all-time best.
Yoakam's music got even more personal on
If There Was a Way (Reprise, 1990), that also pays attention to rhythm
with the rockabilly Takes A Lot To Rock You Baby,
the bluegrass Since I Started Drinkin' Again
the southern boogie Dangerous One,
and the country-rock of It Only Hurts When I Cry.
This Time (Reprise, 1993) presented an eclectic artist, whose voice is
finally surrounded by adequate arrangements and can leverage the unassuming
melodies of Ain't That Lonely Yet,
A Thousand Miles from Nowhere (one of his best Roy Orbison impersonations),
and Fast As You. The rock side of his art is well represented by
Wild Ride, that betrays his secret passion for the Rolling Stones.
Gone (Reprise, 1995) develops those ideas with fewer concessions to
the radio-friendly ideology, and remains one of his best albums:
Sorry You Asked (Mexican trumpets),
Baby Why Not (cajun accordion),
Heart Of Stone (string orchestra),
Never Hold You (Rolling Stones beat).
Under the Covers (Reprise, 1997) is a collection of cover songs.
A Long Way Home (Reprise, 1998) is an album in the vein of the
smooth pop ballad.
La Croix d'Amour (Wea, 1999) collects rarities and more covers.
Last Chance for a Thousand Years (1999) is a career anthology that
includes
a cover of the Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
Dwightyoakamacoustic.net (2000) collects acoustic versions of his
classics.
Tomorrow's Sounds Today (2000) picks up from Gone's
cosmopolitan pop-oriented production
(What Do You Know About Love, For Love's Sake) with
only bland nods at rockabilly (A Place To Cry).
South of Heaven West of Hell (Warner, 2001) is the soundtrack to
Yoakam's first film, and overall one of his best, running the gamut from
the gospel-ish Who At The Door Is Standing to the rave up
The Darkest Hour.
Population Me (2003) seemed to end an era of experimentation:
Population Me matches the banjo with a trumpet, but
The Late Great Golden State (one of his best), Fair To Midland,
I'd Avoid Me Too, and If Teardrops Were Diamonds
(a duet with Willie Nelson) return to his original vein.
Blame The Vain (New West, 2005), the first album that Yoakam recorded without producer and guitarist Pete Anderson, continues that return to his roots,
but there is little to break the monotonous parade of dejavu moments after the
rockabilly Blame The Vain.
He seemed to turn away from the Bakersfield sound on
3 Pears (2012), that contains
Take Hold of My Hand and
the Beck-produced garage-rocker A Heart Like Mine.
Second Hand Heart (2015) contains the catchy
In Another World
and She.
Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars (2016) is an album of bluegrass reinterpretations of some of his old songs by a combo comprising
guitarist Bryan Sutton, fiddler Stuart Duncan, banjo player Scott Vestal, mandolinist Adam Steffey and bassist Barry Bales
