2023/4 Albums Thing 434 - Dwight Yoakam “Guitars, Cadillacs Etc. Etc.”
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The Wonder Stuff's Bob ‘The Bass Thing’ Jones, all dreadlocks, motorbike boots, leather jackets and snarling at the front of the stage absolutely bloody loved the title song from this album, “Guitars, Cadillacs” and the unsaid Hillbilly Music.
Dwight Yoakam’s debut album was released in 1986 at the height of the smooth Urban Cowboy pop-country style that had taken over Country Music in the wake of John Travolta’s 1980 movie of the same name (I honestly never associate Travolta with Country Music so how that happened, who knows ?). Yoakam’s style of Hillbilly Honky Tonk was seen as old fashioned and not what the country music audience wanted by the Nashville “tastemakers”. Shows what they know as it was the first of Dwight’s three consecutive albums to reach #1 in the Billboard Country charts.
Having found no route to success in Nashville Yoakam moved to LA where he continued to write songs and play in clubs not generally seen as hosting Country music. He did gigs in Punk clubs playing alongside the likes of The Blasters and X. Eventually he hooked up with guitarist/arranger/producer Pete Anderson who has said of the partnership “he didn’t want to do any of the things I wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do any of things he wanted to do, which made it non-competitive”. Anderson added his skills to Yoakam’s songwriting and vocals and a partnership was born that lasted 18 years.
This is most definitely not the glitzy pop country of the mid 80’s. This is the music of the Honky Tonks that Hank Williams sang about, beer, dancing, saw dust covered floors to help clean up the spilt beer and Saturday night fight blood and, if you were lucky, a l’il lovin’ to end the night. Dwight lays it all out there in the first song, Johnny Horton’s 1956 hit “Honky Tonk Man”. By the second song it ain’t gonna hurt when Dwight gets down from that bar stool. The title song itself is a Country Music classic and one I DJ when the opportunity presents, much to some peoples surprise.
It’s not all frivolous bars, cars and heartache songs I have to stress. “South Of Cincinnati” is the classic displaced Southern man longing for home song and “Miner’s Prayer” falls into that category of country songs that tell you of the trials of ordinary working people “When the whistle blows each morning and I walk down in that cold, dark mine, I say a prayer to my dear Saviour, Please let me see the sunshine one more time”.
You should be aware by now that travels to America developed an appreciation of Country Music in me and gawd bless ya Bass Thing for pointing me toward this one.
Guitars, Cadillacs - https://youtu.be/LEcfQHKZppk?si=uu9u4gLCxM014NM0