My introduction to this week's tune came courtesy of a one time employee of mine at Camelot Music. She had heard good things about Dwight Yoakam and asked if we could open his latest for our in store play list. Always open to a good new tune, I told her to give it a shot--the entire crew ended up loving the record and if I remember correctly I sold a copy to every employee I had working for me at that time. Funny thing, too--the young lady told me at one time that she hated Country music. Oh the things we'll learn when our minds get opened up a bit.
Dwight Yoakam has made a career out of playing music the way he wanted to play it--and while he hasn't always been the most popular music artist among music industry insiders, he's certainly had one hell of a career. Yoakam left Columbus, Ohio in 1977 for Nashville, and when he found out Nashville wasn't interested in his honky tonk music, he set his sights on Los Angeles. Once there, Yoakam got his start by opening for punk bands. Eventually his style caught on in a big way, and the rest, as they say, is history. For his career, Yoakam has released 17 studio albums (his first three all went to #1 on the Billboard Country Album chart), nine compilations, and two live albums. He's also released 49 singles, with two of those hitting the top of the chart. Yoakam is also quite the Renaissance man, having appeared in 22 movies and 14 television shows. He's also played with more musicians than a human being ought to be allowed, won two Grammy Awards (among 16 nominations), and has his own line of food called Bakersfield Biscuits.
Fun Fact: This probably isn't of much interest to anyone outside of my family, but Dwight Yoakam's mother and my mother shared the same name: Ruth Ann. Yet more fascination from Friday Night Jukebox....
"Streets of Bakersfield" was released as a single in 1988 from Yoakam's marvelously titled LP, Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room. Both the single and the album would hit #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard charts. The song was originally released as a single in 1973 by Buck Owens (who duets with Yoakam on the version featured this week), but it wasn't much of a hit.
"Streets of Bakersfield" tells the story of Homer Joy, the song's writer, who, after being invited to Bakersfield to write some songs for Buck Owens' new album agreed to do such only if he was given some time to record his own material. Once he got there, though, he got the brush off from Owens' management, and the song chronicles his walking the streets of Bakersfield and being pissed off over being screwed out of his studio time. Yoakam and Owens do a wonderful job vocally of capturing Joy's frustration, and Yoakam, ever the creative musician, turns the song into a Tex-Mex masterpiece. There's some dynamic guitar picking from Yoakam, and a nice turn on an instrument that never gets used enough, the accordion. In the end, "Streets of Bakersfield" showcases the best of old Country and the best of new Country--and takes its place among the greatest Country songs ever.
Lyric Sheet: "I came here looking for something/I couldn't find anywhere else/Hey, I'm not trying to be nobody/I just want a chance to be myself..."
Enjoy:
200,000+ Dead Americans
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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