Dwight Yoakam - the sentence is..?

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Then from 2015:
Dwight Yoakam's Second Hand Heart didn't immediately flip me into the back of a pickup truck, not like 3 Pears, but it sure does build. First three tracks seem a tad studious, which shouldn't be necessary after 14 previous albums drawing on mid-60s Buck Owens/Beatles crosstalk, and what the latter, at least, drew on from the Everlys x various Southwestern crossover artists. But then he starts stretching and flexing the Sunbelt accents, adding Alabama-style syllables to a droll drawl over a "She's About A Mover"-type riff, dropping in some Jordanaires-type vocal encouragement, just for a second ( like some other fleet touches, on this and other tracks: acoustic guitar back here, steel over thar), and the arc of the set really takes off, doesn't let go. For instance, "Man of Constant Sorrow," with a vocal not that far from old timey versions, maybe a little faster---or that's just an illusion created by the slamming electric rhythm tracks, which fit perfectly, without jiving up the high lonesome vibe---they just respond, in a plugged-in, open-flap tent revival way: "Tell us how lost we all are, Brother, that's the first step to bein' found!" (Or maybe just, "Rave on, let it bleed, I'm with ya.")
Yoakam continues to crank up his rock and country connections while passing through, getting cooler and hotter at the same time, eventually ending with a ballad, but one with a beat; sounds like he's been listening to New Morning, the way Dylan was maybe listening to Van Morrison around the time of NM (long enough to concur with an overall sense of the bucolic/boondocks consolations, and the short sharp outbursts of "If Not For You," at least).

dow, Tuesday, 22 October 2019 22:22 (four years ago) link

2016:
Dwight Yoakam, Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars…: he's high & lonesome, but not too thin, nasal or tight, got that bluesier side of bluegrass, flexible enough for all the twists and turns of yonder Hollywood and Beverly Hills, also almost a bit of blue yodel, at appropriate intervals. Like the occasional guest voices too, would like more or any females, since female voices have kept me listening to contemporary bluegrass, somewhut (also to contemporary punk-new-wave-etc).
Took me a couple of tracks to focus, but particular faves so far incl. "Listen", which is a little slower than usual and has kind of an Everlys feel, also Dolly Parton's"Two Doors Down", with the barstool as tombstone and/or urn: seems like that honky tonk bluegrass I've always wondered about (title of an early Ricky Skaggs album, but considering how pious he got and maybe already was, hard to picture him in such a place). Good if not strictly necessary revamp of "Guitars Cadillacs and Hillbilly Music", also, fave of all so far is "Purple Rain", now with a brisker, still pensive bluegrass cadence, reminding me a little of Hindu Love Gods' version of "Raspberry Beret."
(Would like to hear Willie sing "Purple Rain" at the original tempo(Also him and/or Yoakam doing "Pale Blue Eyes", but that's another matter
.
The ideel "PBE" would involve Lee Ann Womack (what the heck, she's gone almost that far, like with Marc Ribot's "Meds").

dow, Tuesday, 22 October 2019 22:28 (four years ago) link

3 pears sounded great to me today on first listen.

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Tuesday, 22 October 2019 22:31 (four years ago) link

this is so simple but still very effective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzDgd3Fl0IY

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Tuesday, 22 October 2019 23:27 (four years ago) link

He's playing Terminal 5 in NYC in a couple of weeks.

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Tuesday, 22 October 2019 23:35 (four years ago) link

I got into his stuff on the back of those last two (brilliant ) albums

The World According To.... (Michael B), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 10:05 (four years ago) link

The string of albums he did with Pete Anderson are pretty much all killer.

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 11:36 (four years ago) link

He's a fantastic duet partner at live shows. However don't recall him doing many duets on his albums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIsqN4BTvuw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw0gdKJ5mpw

that's not my post, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 14:56 (four years ago) link

Well, there's the stuff with Buck, of course.

Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 15:03 (four years ago) link

right... there's that of course

that's not my post, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 15:07 (four years ago) link

timely (or coincidental) revive - just learned on Twitter that it's Dwight's birthday today. Happy birthday, Dwight!

Paul Ponzi, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 15:59 (four years ago) link

ha, purely coincidence! just been on a dwight deep dive and had to share.

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 16:32 (four years ago) link

Been obsessing over "Sorry You Asked?" lately.

a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 16:40 (four years ago) link

the trumpet into the key shift >>>

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 16:46 (four years ago) link

weird choice on the fade out tho

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 16:49 (four years ago) link

'Nothing' might just be my favorite song of his thus far
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVrCmg5Q6rw

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 16:53 (four years ago) link

Good video, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeuRMOkaohY

shared unit of analysis (unperson), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 17:11 (four years ago) link

weird choice on the fade out tho

I like that! It's funny and implies the song will just keep going, adding more tmi, and you'll really be sorry you asked. I get the feeling the next (unheard) verse is about their waning sex life.

a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 17:23 (four years ago) link

Blame the vane.

dow, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 17:29 (four years ago) link

love this. melody is very climson and clover
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzChx-3sqXk

de-mamba mentality (Spottie), Wednesday, 23 October 2019 22:34 (four years ago) link

two years pass...

^ came here to post about this song. what a jam!

j.o.h.n. in evanston (john. a resident of chicago.), Thursday, 7 July 2022 13:43 (one year ago) link

eleven months pass...

The bar played “turn it on, turn it up, turn me loose” last weekend and I’ve hardly had anything else on my mind since then

calstars, Sunday, 2 July 2023 04:05 (ten months ago) link

«Lonely moves here and there.
Sometimes it stays in one place and just stares.»

Love him so much.

Mule, Sunday, 2 July 2023 08:33 (ten months ago) link


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