Bottom Line:
Hard to believe it's been twenty years since a big-mouthed, whip-thin boy from the hollers of Pikeville, Kentucky (by way of Cincinnati and Los Angeles), thundered onto the radio and helped change the direction of country music for the decade. With painted-on jeans, Manuel jackets, a low-slung Stetson and a pure, honest, 100% authentic hillbilly sound, Dwight Yoakam captured an awestruck mainstream audience and thrilled the traditionalists, as well.
From the opening track of the original Guitars, Cadillacs, etc., etc, Yoakam's first hit
single "Honky Tonk Man", it was obvious this boy was something new and special.
While Yoakam's big mouth got him into more than a little trouble with the industry, it was still a
time when the music really meant something, and DJs would play your songs if the audience
wanted them, and the audiences wanted Dwight Yoakam. Back in '86, it seemed to me you
couldn't turn on a radio without hearing "Honky Tonk Man." Drove me crazy at the time.
Never imagined how I'd feel twenty years down the road. Now comes the revised, re-mastered,
and expanded ultimate edition of this groundbreaking disc, and when it comes to "expanded,"
this release absolutely cannot be beat. Rhino has not only re-mastered the original ten tracks,
but added ten more tracks - Yoakam's demo recordings from 1981, which were released on the
Rhino box set a couple of years ago - and a second disc, as well, which includes a twelve-track
live concert recorded at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles in 1986, consisting of mostly
previously unreleased material. When it comes to early Yoakam recordings, this package is
truly the real deal.
Now it's true that Dwight's time as a massive stadium draw passed. Radio stations consolidated
and corporations took over who scratched his name off playlists because he was way "too
country," and even though he'd toned down his outspoken opinion of that, he was still known as
the guy who said radio was to blame for the disappearance from the airwaves of his heroes.
After the phenomenal success of his 1993 album This Time, Dwight Yoakam seemed to
disappear - I even met people who didn't know he continued recording, with disc after disc of
magnificent music, as well as touring, although playing to smaller and smaller audiences. It
didn't change the fact that Yoakam's music was still superior - those that came were those that
knew it, and the shows became about quality, not size or quantity. Things may have changed a
bit on the stage in those twenty years, but the music has always remained just as pure, just as
honest and authentic. Listening to these old recordings shows just how close to his roots
Yoakam has always remained. The only difference between this 1986 recording and the show I
saw a few weeks ago is the song selection. Never that incredible sound. Listen to it anew;
you'll be glad you did.
Track List:
Disc 1The 1981 Demos:
- This Drinkin' Will Kill Me
- It Won't Hurt
- I'll Be Gone
- Floyd County
- You're the One
- Twenty Years
- Please Daddy
- Miner's Prayer
- I Sang Dixie
- Bury Me
Guitars, Cadillacs, etc., etc.:- Honky Tonk Man
- It Won't Hurt
- I'll Be Gone
- South of Cincinnati
- Bury Me (duet with Maria McKee)
- Guitars, Cadillacs
- Twenty Years
- Ring of Fire
- Miner's Prayer
- [link url=http://gofish.about.com/detail.html?gfid=11-891421]Heartaches by the Number
Disc 2
Live at the Roxy 1986:
- Can't You Hear Me Calling
- Honky Tonk Man *
- Guitars, Cadillacs *
- Rocky Road Blues *
- Heartaches by the Number
- I'll Be Gone *
- It Won't Hurt *
- My Bucket's Got A Hole In It
- South of Cincinnati *
- Mystery Train *
- Ring of Fire *
- Since I Started Drinking Again *
* Previously Unreleased
